Ongoing Projects

The following are projects that Camcore is currently working on that Foundations, Industry and Private Citizens can financially support. Your contribution helps Camcore achieve its mission “To be a world leader in conservation and domestication of forest genetic resources for sustainable economic, ecological and social benefits of present and future generations”.

• Camcore Initiates Work with E. pellita in Indonesia
• Camcore Begins work with Teak
• Conservation of hemlock species in the eastern USA
• Genetic Conservation of Table Mountain Pine in the Southern Appalachians
• Conservation of Caribbean pine at El Pinal
• Evolutionary history study on the origin of Caribbean Pine at El Pinal
• Reintroductions of Pinus chiapensis into Mexico
• Reintroduction of dry zone broadleaf species into Central America
• Conservation of Eucalyptus urophylla
• Evolutionary history study of Pinus oocarpa
• Wood properties study of Gmelina arborea
• Graduate Programs and Training

Camcore Initiates Work with E. pellita in Indonesia

Eucalyptus pellita is a tropical species native to Papua, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Queensland, Australia. Even though much work has been done in the conservation and testing of tree populations from Papua New Guinea and Australia, little work has been conducted on region-wide sampling of the species in eastern Indonesia. In 2009 Camcore and its member PT Sumalindo Lestari Jaya began work to sample some of the most remote populations of the E. pellita in Papua, Indonesia.  This first seed collection sampled 6 populations and 99 mother trees. The genetic material will be distributed to Camcore members in Latin America, Africa, and possibly Australia for provenance/progeny testing and the development of ex situ conservation banks in 2010.

 

Camcore Begins Work with Teak

Camcore members will begin an exchange of Teak seeds as part of our effort to broaden the genetic base of Tectona grandis. Participating in this Teak exchange are companies and government organizations in Australia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia, Mozambique, Tanzania and Venezuela. Participating members from each of these countries will establish progeny trials that will be analyzed by Camcore. Our initial goal is to establish approximately 20 trials across these 8 countries in the first series of tests. From these trials we will identify the genetically best trees which will then be selected and moved onto the next cycle of breeding.

Check out our Teak and Gmelina Newsletter for more on our work with Teak.

back to top

 

Conservation of Caribbean pine at El Pinal

This 180-hectare (450 acres) natural stand contains only about 4000 mature trees. It is found in a seasonal swamp on the outskirts of Tikal National Park. The next nearest natural pine stand is 65 km away. El Pinal is the home of many native bird species and other wild life. Woodpeckers make their nests in the tops of dead and dying trees. Contributions are needed to better study the ecology of Caribbean pine at El Pinal to develop ways to promote natural regeneration. We will study the effects of seasonal flooding and historic role of fires in the development of pines at El Pinal.

back to top

Evolutionary history study on the origin of Caribbean Pine at El Pinal

Did the Mayan Indians actually plant the pine trees at El Pinal in 800 A.D.? Some archeologists think that this might a possibility. We know that the Mayan Indians used pine wood fuel for cooking fires and used pine needles in religious ceremonies. Camcore, North Carolina State University and researchers at the University of Georgia will use chemical molecular markers (allozymes) to determine the evolutionary history of the El Pinal stand. We will collect small amounts of seeds from neighboring natural Caribbean pine stands in Guatemala and Belize to see if any of these stands carry the same genes as trees at El Pinal. We will test the hypothesis that the El Pinal stand is natural (not planted). If we determine it was planted, our studies will try to determine where the Mayan Indians collected the seeds in Central America. The information will help us to develop better conservation strategies for El Pinal. Contributions are needed to support the seed collections and laboratory work and to develop a database on the use of Caribbean pines by the Mayan Indians.

back to top

The Camcore gene conservation approach is essentially to create “a zoo for threatened trees”. We collect small amounts of seeds from trees in natural stands in Mesoamerica and Southeast Asia and plant these in more protected areas like South America and southern Africa to conserve the species. When tree populations produce seed in these new environments, Camcore tries to reintroduce the plant material back into the area of original collection, just like zoos release animals back into the wild. We are attempting to replant Pinus chiapensis into southern Mexico in areas where we collected seed 15 years ago, but where now many of the stands have been destroyed. Our field conservation banks in South Africa are now producing seeds, and we are sending these seeds to Mexico. Contributions are needed to maintain these reintroductions in Mexico and to study how this new material does in the wild after being grown for one generation under climatic conditions in South Africa.

back to top

Reintroduction of dry zone broadleaf species into Central America

Have you ever tried to climb a tree with thorns? Pachira quinata, known locally as red ceiba, is a thorny species that occurs throughout southern Central America and northern South America in areas with a well-defined dry season. It has a beautiful rosy-colored wood, and therefore is harvested intensively in its native range. As described for P. chiapensis above, Camcore is in the position of being able to reintroduce red ceiba previously planted in protected areas in Colombia and Venezuela back into areas in Nicaragua and Honduras. Some of the original Nicaraguan populations are now completely extinct, and the seeds from Camcore conservation are all that is left of the gene pool. We are looking for funds to maintain reintroduction plantings in Central America and to offer a full stipend for a student from Central America to do his/her graduate work with Camcore at NCSU. Our hopes that the student will further study the ecology and genetics of dry zone tropical broadleaf species.

back to top

Conservation of Eucalyptus urophylla

There are 600 to 700 different species of eucalypt trees and most of them are native to Australia. It is a fascinating genera, because as a group they are adapted to a myriad of climatic and environmental conditions. One eucalypt species, Eucalyptus urophylla, is found only in the mountains of eastern Indonesia. Furthermore, it is found on only 7 islands. It grows at elevations from about 300 m to 3000 m on volcanic soils in areas with a well-defined dry season. As human populations grow, new roads are being built into once isolated and pristine natural forests of Eucalyptus urophylla. With the help of a local Indonesian company called PT Sumalindo Lestari Jaya, Camcore is making seed collections of threatened E. urophylla populations. Natural stands at the lowest elevation are being destroyed by local woodcutters and farmers, and the only hope for there future is to collect seeds and plant populations in more protected areas. Contributions are needed to make further seed collections in Indonesia and to study the adaptability of the different populations to various climatic and environmental conditions.

back to top

Evolutionary history study of Pinus oocarpa

Have you ever wondered how pine species evolved? Pinus oocarpa must be a very old species because it has a geographic range of 3000 km (1860 miles) from Mexico to Nicaragua. It appears that it was the progenitor (original) species that served as the ancestor for some of the other pines of Mexico. We know now that Pinus oocarpa in eastern Mexico is genetically very different than P. oocarpa from western Mexico, and the two types may represent different migrations of the same species, but separated by millions of years. We plan to use molecular markers to better understand the history of P. oocarpa.

This ancestral species may carry with it useful genes for wood properties and disease resistance that have been lost by more recently emerging pine species. We will attempt to correlate the evolutionary history of P. oocarpa with what information is available on geologic history in Mexico. It could be that the window to the past may be our looking glass to the future. Contributions are needed to help support seed collections in isolated areas throughout Mesoamerica and to defray the high costs that molecular marker studies require.

back to top

Wood properties study of Gmelina arborea

People are not going to plant trees and practice conservation unless they understand the benefits both actions bring to their community. Gmelina arborea is a tropical hardwood that often grows together with a better known and valuable species called Teak (Tectona grandis) throughout Southeast Asia. Unlike Teak, gmelina has a whitish wood and can be used for a number of purposes including furniture frames, molding, pencils, and commercial uses. Many populations of gmelina are extremely degraded. Camcore has now sampled populations in Thailand, Myanmar, India and hope to work with Chinese researchers to sample small isolated provenances in Yunnan province, China. Still the work does not stop there. To improve its chances for conservation and encourage people to plant gmelina trees, we need to find more uses for its wood. We are beginning a project to look at the variation in wood properties of gmelina. Contributions are needed to support more research on wood properties so that we can encourage people to plant more areas with seedlings of this species.

back to top

Graduate Programs and Training

Current Graduate Students

	Juan Luis Lopez, Camcore Technical Supervisor, is continuing his Ph. D. research on “The economic value of pine hybrids”.  He is balancing his Camcore duties with the rigors of classes but hopes to complete his project in the next several years. Juan will be traveling to South Africa in 2010 to determine which pine hybrids to assess for his economic study. The project will involve some comprehensive wood analysis. Juan is studying under Dr. Robert Abt.
	Braden Ramage, from the west coast of the US, is a graduate student at NC State studying with Camcore.  The title of his MS research is, “The economic benefits of plantation forestry to small rural communities in northern Mozambique” (see species characterization section). He will be traveling to Mozambique twice under the sponsorship of Chikweti Forests in 2010 to complete the data collection for his research project.
	Zaidee Powers is a graduate student from New York State pursuing a Masters degree in Forestry and Entomology. She began work on her Masters thesis Fall 2011. She will be testing artificial infestation techniques of hemlock woolly adelgid on eastern, Carolina, and western hemlock species for use in resistance screening methods. The hemlock woolly adelgid is an invasive forest insect that has caused a decline in eastern hemlock and Carolina hemlock populations.Variation in susceptibility of Carolina hemlock half-sib families will also be analyzed for resistance breeding and restoration.
	Andy Whittier, Camcore Research Forester, began the Masters of Science in Forestry program during the fall of 2011. Andy began working part time with Camcore in 2003 while pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Natural Resources degree at NC State. On receiving this degree he joined Camcore full time as a Research Forester. His masters research will look at how the hardwood species of teak and gmelina respond to different nutrient solutions in a hydroponic system with a focus on genetic differences within both species.

Previous Students

Students from member companies who have received the Camcore stipend:

Student Name	Company	Degree, year	Country	Research Project
Norha Isaza	Smurfit Carton de Colombia	MS, 2008	Colombia	Flower promotion in Pinus maximinoi and Pinus tecunumanii in a tropical environment and artificial screening of high-elevation P. tecunumanii for resistance to Fusarium circinatum
Kitt Payn	Mondi Forests	PhD, 2008	South Africa	Molecular genetic diversity and population genetic structure of the commercially important tropical forest tree species Eucalyptus urophylla
Jesús Espinoza	Smurfit Cartón de Venezuela	MS, 2003	Venezuela	Genetic variation in wood density of Gmelina arborea planted on different sites in western Venezuela
Terry Stanger	Sappi	PhD, 2003	South Africa	Variation and genetic control of wood properties in the juvenile core of Pinus patula grown in South Africa
Carlos Gantz	CMPC Forestal	MS, 2002	Chile	Evaluating the efficiency of the resistograph to estimate genetic parameters for wood density in two softwood and two hardwood species
Arnulf Kanzler	Sappi	PhD, 2002	South Africa	Genotype x environment interaction in Pinus patula and its implications in South Africa
Washington Gapare	Zimbabwe FRC	MS, 1999	Zimbabwe	Genetic parameters and provenance productivity of Pinus maximinoi, H.E. Moore in Brazil, Colombia and South Africa
Pablo Crespell	Arauco-Bioforest	MS, 1998	Chile	Evaluation of analytical models for reducing residual error and increasing selection efficiency in forest progeny tests

Students with graduate studies relating to Camcore’s work or with Camcore staff on their committee:

Student Name	Year	Country	Research Project
David Cerda Granados	2012	Nicaragua	Geographical variation of cold hardiness in Pinus patula provenances and genetic inheritance of cold hardiness in Pinus patula x Pinus tecunumanii hybrids
José Jimenez Madrigal	2011	Costa Rica	Tropical Pine Hybrid Verification using Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) Marker Technology: Case Studies and Applications to the Forestry Industry
Robert Jetton	2008	USA	Biological Control, Host Resistance, and Vegetative Propagation: Management Strategies for the Invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, Adelges tsugae Annand.
Micheal Tighe	2005	USA	Storage and management of tropical pine pollen
Gill Green	2005	USA	Pastoral resource management strategies in Cameroon
Bambang Hartono	2001	Indonesia	Can the industrial timber and pulp plantation program alleviate pressures on natural rainforests? An efficiency analysis of forest plantation development progress in Indonesia
Joshua Ringer	2000	USA	Improving farming systems in the uplands of Asia
F. Suhartono Wijoyo	2000	Indonesia	A study of genetic parameters of Gmelina arborea Roxb. from Thailand grown in 5 countries; and, Financial consideration for operational deployment of Gmelina arborea in Indonesia
Olman Murillo	1998	Costa Rica	The performance of Pinus oocarpa, Schiede provenances across environments in South America
Scott Stanley	1998	USA	Prescribed fire to augment the regeneration of mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) and Spanish cedar (Cedrela odorata) in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala
Bonnie Furman	1997	USA	Phylogenetically informative markers as diagnostic tools to identify species, hybrids and introgression in Central American and Mexican pines
R.C. Parfitt	1996	South Africa	Stem breakage in Colombia and South Africa of Pinus tecunumanii from high elevation sources
Francisco Zamudio	1995	Chile	On genotype by time interaction: growth increments, stability over time, and their effects on genetic gain
Pedro Ruiz	1994	Peru	Effects of soil management on vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and on soil phosphorus fractions in ultisols of the Peruvian Amazon
Rebecca Butterfield	1993	USA	Tropical timber species growth in the Atlantic Lowlands of Costa Rica and wood variation of two native species
Dennis Desmond	1993	USA	Adapting Multipurpose Tree Species for Acid Soils: Two Tests with Calliandra calothyrsus, Meissner.
Juan Jurado Blanco	1989	Venezuela	Heritability estimates and family x location interaction of Pinus tecunumanii from Belize
Ruy Lima	1987	Brazil	Stability of genotypes of Pinus oocarpa for specific gravity in three different environments in South America

back to top