General Impact
According to Foster and Wallis (1974), the fungus grows in the phloem and bark with no visible symptoms for at least three years, when white blister-like fungal fruiting bodies (aecia) break through the bark. C. ribicola is particularly serious in young trees; very few survive infection and are killed within a few years. Cankers on young trees generally occur within 2.5m of the ground, where environmental conditions are favourable. Open-grown trees with persistent branches are more likely to be infected than trees with self-pruned branches growing in dense stands. In older trees, the rust is often confined to isolated branches or the upper crown so that only part of the tree is killed. According to Scharpf (1993), some stands have been completely destroyed in the western United States and Canada. C. ribicola has caused more damage and costs more to control than any other conifer disease in North America.
Location Specific Impacts:British Columbia (Canada) 
Economic/Livelihoods: In many regions of B.C., the volume of white pine has been depleted to the point where it is no longer considered a viable commercial species (Foster and Wallis, 1974).
Herbivory: In the western United States and Canada, some stands of white pine have been completely destroyed (Scharpf, 1993). Quebec (Canada)
Economic/Livelihoods: According to Scharpf (1993), in North America, white pine blister rust has caused more damage and costs more to control than any other conifer disease.
Herbivory: In the western United States and Canada, some stands have been completely destroyed (Scharpf, 1993). United States (USA)
Economic/Livelihoods: According to Scharpf (1993), in North America, white pine blister rust has caused more damage and costs more to control than any other conifer disease.
Herbivory: In the western United States and Canada, some stands have been completely destroyed (Scharpf, 1993).
Modification of nutrient regime: White pine blister rust has the potential to destroy native whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) stands, diminishing the food supply for grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) in the Greater Yellowstone Area, as they currently depend on pine seeds as one of their food sources (Reinhart et al 2001).
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