2720 Faucette Drive
3229 Jordan Hall Addition
NC State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-8008
Phone: 919.515.6424
Fax: 919.515.6430
camcore@camcore.org
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conserving forest tree species in the tropics and subtropics.
Last edited
January 2010.
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.
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.
Collection of Teak seed by Camcore member “East
Africa”. Seeds from trees like these in Tanzania
will be included in the first international trial series.
(Photo courtesy of TAFORI) 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.
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.
Pinus chiapensis conservation bank in La Arcadia, Colombia.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.
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.
Old growth Eucalyptus urophylla trees in a park
on the island of Timor, IndonesiaThere 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.
Phylogenetic tree evolved from the progenitor Oocarpa showing relation between different subsections of Mexican Pines 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.

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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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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 |