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”.

• Conservation of hemlock species in the eastern USA
• 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
• Genetic diversity study of Pinus maximinoi
• Conservation of Eucalyptus urophylla
• Conservation of Pinus durangensis
• Evolutionary history study of Pinus oocarpa
• Wood properties study of Gmelina arborea
• Graduate Programs and Training

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Genetic diversity study of Pinus maximinoi

Can Camcore develop better conservation strategies to help governments in Central America and Mexico better protect their tree species? We are working with a species called Pinus maximinoi. It has a large geographic range of 2250 km (1400 miles) from Mexico to Nicaragua. Some of its populations are large in size, but woodcutters, especially in the region of Chiapas, Mexico-Guatemala-northern Nicaragua threaten many of the smaller populations. We are using chemical and molecular markers to determine which tree populations are the most genetically diverse. We then use the genetic data and the field trial data to develop a regional conservation strategy for the species, so that governments can protect those tree populations that are the most genetic diverse, and the ones that grow the best. Contributions are needed to expand our explorations for new populations of this species in Mexico and Central America and to better study the ecology of the species.

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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.

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Conservation of Pinus durangensis

Pinus durangensis is one of the more than 40 pine species native to Mexico. It is found primarily in the states of Durango (thus its name) and Chihuahua. It is a magnificient timber species that can withstand snow in the winter and very dry conditions in the summer. Because of its use as timber species and its need for conservation, Camcore is the first to make range-wide seed collections of P. durangensis. We will plant conservation banks and trials of the species in S. Africa, Brazil, Chile and New Zealand. Contributions are needed to further our explorations and seed collection work with Pinus durangensis.

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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.

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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.

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Graduate Programs and Training

Current Graduate Students

Juan Luis Lopez of Camcore is working on a PhD focusing on the economic returns of planting hybrids. He continues as the full-time technical manager for Camcore.

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
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

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