Influence of male cones on early season vegetative growth of Pinus contorta trees

On average, branches of Pinus contorta Dougl. bearing male cones had 35 fewer needle pairs than equivalent vegetative branches, and significantly fewer differentiated primordia (i.e., male cones + needle pairs + sterile cataphylls). It was estimated that the formation of male cones results in a 27-50% reduction in the number of needles per male cone-bearing branch. In early spring, branches bearing male cones had on average 23% (0.44 g) more dry weight than vegetative branches. On average, 95% of the dry weight of male cone-bearing branches was allocated to the terminal shoot (54% of which was male cones) and 5% to the lateral shoots. By comparison, vegetative branches allocated 85% of their total dry weight to the terminal shoot and 15% to the lateral shoots. These findings suggest that male cones may reduce the photosynthetic potential of the trees which bear them.     

Physiological, environmental and genetic variation in apical dominance as determined by decapitation in Triplochiton scleroxylon

Patterns of lateral shoot growth following decapitation in 1-meter tall, rooted Triplochiton scleroxylon K. Schum. cuttings varied with clone and in response to a range of environmental conditions and growth regulator treatments. Two phases of bud activity were identified, the Sprouting Phase, in which many buds were released from correlative inhibition, and the Dominance Phase (starting 3-4 weeks after decapitation) in which uppermost laterals began to dominate and suppress growth, and sometimes cause apical abscission of lower lateral shoots. Except in non-erect plants, the most distal lateral to elongate became the new leading shoot. During the Sprouting Phase, the proportion of active buds was increased by removing leaves from the upper part of the stem, and by reducing the photoperiod from 13-15 h to 11 h, particularly at 20 degrees C rather than 25 degrees C. Conversely, the proportion of sprouting buds was decreased by injecting plant stems with NAA (250 microg/plant). During the Dominance Phase, suppression of lateral shoot growth was hastened by stem injection with GA(3) (200 microg/plant), especially when applied to the uppermost shoot at the end of the Sprouting Phase. Reimposition of dominance was delayed, however, by (1) high rates of N:P:K fertilization, (2) low temperature (20 versus 25 degrees C) under relatively long days (13 and 15 h), (3) low photon flux density (160 micromol m(-2) s(-1)) and (4) severe defoliation. Plant orientation had no effect on bud activity of decapitated plants, but affected the relative vigor and orientation of new lateral shoots. High temperature (25 versus 20 degrees C) and injection with GA(3) increased the erectness of newly developing lateral shoots.     

Influence of female cones on the vegetative growth of Pinus contorta trees

Branches of Pinus contorta Dougl. bearing two-year-old female cones initiated fewer lateral buds than vegetative branches. However, the number of lateral shoots that differentiated and grew was not reduced on female cone-bearing branches. Neither the number nor the weight of female cones influenced the length of the terminal shoot. The total length of all lateral shoots was positively associated with the weight of two-year-old female cones. Branch units with two-year-old female cones produced significantly more total dry weight in the current year than vegetative branch units. There was, however, no significant reduction in the dry weight of terminal and lateral shoots. Branches bearing female cones allocated between 17 and 45% of the current year's dry weight to two-year-old cones and between 1 and 5% was allocated to one-year-old female cones. Female cones therefore apparently do not reduce the photosynthetic potential of trees. The influence of female cones compared with male cones on the growth of trees is discussed.     

Tree domestication in tropical agroforestry

Agroforestry Systems - We execute tree ‘domestication’ as a farmer-driven and market-led process, which matches the intraspecific diversity of locally important trees to the needs of...     

Domestication of Irvingia gabonensis: 3. Phenotypic variation of fruits andkernels in a Nigerian village

Domestication of Irvingia gabonensis, a fruit tree grown in agroforestry systems in West and Central Africa, offers considerable scope for enhancing the nutritional and economic security of subsistence farmers in the region. Assessments of phenotypic variation in ten fruit, nut and kernel traits were made on twenty-four ripe fruits from 100 Irvingia gabonensis trees in Ugwuaji village in southeast Nigeria, a center of genetic diversity for this species. There were important differences between the young planted trees of this study and the older unplanted trees of a similar study in Cameroon. Significant and continuous tree-to-tree variation was found in fruit mass(69.0–419.8 g), flesh mass (59.5–388.8 g), nut mass (9.5–40.6 g), shell mass (4.9–30.9 g) and kernel mass (0.41–7.58 g); fruit length (49.2–89.3 mm) and width (46.2–100.5 mm) and flesh depth (12.9–31.4 mm), as well as considerable variation in flesh colour, skin colour, fruit taste and fibrosity. Some fruits were considerably bigger than those found in Cameroon. These quantitative results will help in the development of cultivars within participatory approaches to agroforestry tree domestication, and so promote poverty alleviation and sustainable agriculture. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Evidence that subsistence farmers have domesticated indigenous fruits (Dacryodes edulis and Irvingia gabonensis) in Cameroon and Nigeria

Ten fruit and kernel traits were measured in 152 Irvingia gabonensis and 293 Dacryodes edulis trees from 6 villages in Cameroon and Nigeria. Frequency distribution curves were used to examine the range of variation of each trait of each species in each village and aggregated into national and regional populations. There were differences between the village sub-populations, with regard to the normality (e.g., mean kernel mass of D. edulis) or skewness (e.g., mean flesh depth of D. edulis) of the distribution curves and in the degree of separation between the individual village populations along the x axis, resulting in the development of a bimodal distribution in the regional population. For all traits, populations of both species differed significantly between countries, but only in D. edulis were there significant differences between the Cameroon populations. On the basis of the results of this study, D. edulis can be said to be virtually wild in Nigeria but semi-domesticated in Cameroon, while I. gabonensis is wild in Cameroon and semi-domesticated in Nigeria. These results are discussed with regard to a hypothesis that the range and frequency of variation in the different populations can be used to identify five stages of domestication. From a comparison of the frequency distribution curves of desirable versus undesirable traits, and statistically identifyable changes in skewness and kurtosis, it is concluded that as a result of the farmers’ own efforts by truncated selection, D. edulis is between Stages 2 and 3 of domestication (with a 67% relative gain in flesh depth) in Cameroon, while I. gabonensis in Nigeria is at Stage 2 (with a 44% relative gain in flesh depth). In this study, genetic diversity seems to have been increased, and not reduced, by domestication. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The domestication and commercialization of indigenous trees in agroforestry for the alleviation of poverty

New initiatives in agroforestry are seeking to integrate into tropical farming systems indigenous trees whose products have traditionally been gathered from natural forests. This is being done in order to provide marketable products from farms that will generate cash for resource-poor rural and peri-urban households. This poverty-alleviating agroforestry strategy is at the same time linked to one in which perennial, biologically diverse and complex mature-stage agroecosystems are developed as sustainable alternatives to slash-and-burn agriculture. One important component of this approach is the domestication of the local tree species that have commercial potential in local, regional or even international markets. Because of the number of potential candidate species for domestication, one crucial first step is the identification of priority species and the formulation of a domestication strategy that is appropriate to the use, marketability and genetic potential of each species. For most of these hitherto wild species little or no formal research has been carried out to assess their food value, potential for genetic improvement or reproductive biology. To date their marketability can only be assessed by their position in the local rural and urban marketplaces, since few have attracted international commercial interest. To meet the objective of poverty alleviation, however, it is crucial that market expansion and creation are possible, hence for example it is important to determine which marketable traits are amenable to genetic improvement. While some traits that are relatively easy to identify do benefit the farmer, there are undoubtedly others that are important to the food, pharmaceutical or other industries that require more sophisticated evaluation. This paper presents the current thinking and strategies of ICRAF in this new area of work and draws on examples from our program. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Vegetative propagation of African Mahogany: effects of auxin, node position, leaf area and cutting length

Applied auxin, node position, leaf area and cutting length were examined to investigate the requirements for rooting stem cuttings of Khaya ivorensis. All these variables were shown to be important factors affecting rooting, confirming the hypothesis that successful rooting can be achieved if these primary variables are optimised.The best concentration of the auxin IBA was found to be 200 g per cutting, which hastened rooting, increased the percentage of cuttings rooted and increased the number of roots per cutting. One clone (8013) was unresponsive to auxins in terms of the percentage of cuttings rooted, but was the most responsive in terms of the numbers of roots per cutting. A greater percentage of cuttings from basal nodes were rooted than from apical nodes. Cuttings cut squarely at the base produced a radially-arranged root system, whereas an oblique cut resulted in a one-sided root system.Trimming the leaf area of cuttings to 10 cm² gave greater rooting percentages than trimming to 100 cm². In general, long cuttings (39 mm) rooted better than short cuttings (19 mm), however, there was an interaction between leaf area and cutting length, in which cuttings with short stems and large leaves had the lowest rooting percentage.     

Food for thought: lower-than-expected crop yield stimulation with rising CO2 concentrations

Model projections suggest that although increased temperature and decreased soil moisture will act to reduce global crop yields by 2050, the direct fertilization effect of rising carbon dioxide concentration ([CO2]) will offset these losses. The CO2 fertilization factors used in models to project future yields were derived from enclosure studies conducted approximately 20 years ago. Free-air concentration enrichment (FACE) technology has now facilitated large-scale trials of the major grain crops at elevated [CO2] under fully open-air field conditions. In those trials, elevated [CO2] enhanced yield by approximately 50% less than in enclosure studies. This casts serious doubt on projections that rising [CO2] will fully offset losses due to climate change.     

Quantitative descriptors of variation in the fruits and seeds of Irvingia gabonensis

Methods were developed to quantify variation in the fruit, nut and kernel traits using the fruits from four trees of Irvingia gabonensis, an indigenous fruit tree of west and central Africa. The measurement of 18 characteristics of 16–32 fruits per tree identified significant variation in fruit, nut and kernel size and weight, and flesh depth. Differences were also identified in shell weight and brittleness, fruit taste, fibrosity and flesh colour. Relationships between fruit size and weight with nut and kernel size and weight were found to be very weak, indicating that it is not possible to accurately predict the traits of the commercially-important kernel from fruit traits. Seven key qualitative traits are recommended for future assessments of the levels of genetic variation in fruits and kernels. These traits describe ideotypes for fresh fruit and kernel production.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.