Western Pacific Tropical Research Center
The Western Pacific Tropical Research Center is the research arm of the College of Natural & Applied Sciences (CNAS). WPTRC scientists explore topics that are germane to the wellbeing of the environment and people throughout the region. This includes research encompassing tropical agriculture, aquaculture, invasive species, plant pathology, protecting native plants, soil health and more.
Major funding for WPTRC research is provided through the Hatch, multistate Hatch, and McIntire Stennis programs administered by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the government of Guam. Additional funding comes from the National Science Foundation, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), USDA Forest Service, The US Department of Defense, and the private sector.
The Western Pacific Tropical Research Center concentrates on applied research that directly impacts agriculture in Guam, as well as in other tropical areas. Current areas of specialization are soils, horticulture, entomology, plant pathology, turf grass, human nutrition, aquaculture and forestry.
Research laboratories are located at the University main campus and in Yigo with three field research facilities located in areas representing the different soil types of Guam: Yigo, Inarajan, and Ija. WPTRC has collaborative research programs with several land-grant universities in the western United States, the College of Micronesia, the College of the Northern Marianas, the American Samoa Community College, and several international research centers. Most of the research projects are designed to have direct application to Guam, Micronesia, and other areas of the Western Pacific region, and the tropics in general.
In addition to concentrating on research, the Western Pacific Tropical Research Center faculty teach undergraduate courses in Agriculture and Life Sciences, graduate courses in Sustainable Agriculture, Food, Nutrition and Natural Resources, and Environmental Science. Through their classes, WPTRC scientists provide innovative research experiences to graduate students.
May 22, 2020
The US Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs (DOI-OIA) has awarded $239,994 to the University of Guam College of Natural and Applied Sciences in response to a grant proposal entitled Establishment of Self-sustaining Biological Control of Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle Biotype G in Micronesia submitted by UOG entomologist Dr. Aubrey Moore.
Dr. Aubrey Moore feeds a solution containing the naturally occurring insect virus OrNV to coconut rhinoceros beetles. This proven bio-control agent has been successfully used to control CRB populations. Dr. James Grasela is working to find the appropriate strain of the virus that will be effective for the biotype of beetle decimating coconut trees around Guam.
Funding from the grant will be used for partial support of an existing project aimed at implementing self-sustaining control of coconut rhino beetles (CRB) throughout Guam by introducing an insect disease caused by a naturally occurring insect virus which infects only rhino beetles. This virus is called Oryctes rhinoceros nudivirus, or OrNV for short. Different strains of OrNV have been very effective in providing long-lasting control of rhino beetles on many Pacific islands. Typically, after the virus is introduced into the CRB population, damage to coconut palms and other palms falls to very low levels within a few months and it stays at those low levels indefinitely.
Part of the grant funding will be used to pay the salary of Dr. James Grasela, an insect pathologist who has spent his career finding ways to control pest insects with insect diseases instead of poisoning them with insecticides. Grasela has been working under a contract at the University of Guam for the past two years under a previous DOI-OIA grant. He has screened OrNV strains collected from several locations in the Asia-Pacific region and has found two that have potential for controlling the biotype causing so much damage on Guam, CRB-G.
For more information regarding research on CRB and other insects conducted by scientists at the University of Guam, please visit www.uog.edu/wptrc/entomology.
For detailed information on the recent grant award, you can download Moore's grant proposal from: https://github.com/aubreymoore/2020-DOI-CRB-Biocontrol/blob/master/doi_proposal.pdf
Or contact him directly:
Dr. Aubrey Moore
Email: aubreymoore@triton.uog.edu
Cell: 1-671-686-5664
February 14, 2020
The Western Pacific Tropical Research Center (WPTRC) recently made a timely contribution
to the University of Guam, a Cycad Walk with cycads from around the world. The garden
was the brainchild of retired professor and WPTRC research scientist Thomas E. Marler.
He has spent much of his career studying this ancient lineage of seed producing plants
with a focus on the region’s only cycad, Cycas micronesica
“I developed the desire to build a learning garden based on cycad plants after visiting the Singapore Botanic Garden in 2005,” said Marler. “Their evolution garden included numerous cycad species and I felt that Guam residents would appreciate a similar learning venue.”
Ben Deloso examines a Cycas micronesica specimen in the Cycad Walk.
Marler began compiling potential cycad species immediately. When Benjamin Deloso came
to UOG to pursue a master’s degree and study with Marler, he moved the garden’s plans
from the back burner to the front burner. The pair of cycadophiles worked on the layout
and logistics following Deloso’s arrival in September 2016, and by October Deloso
began planting.
Throughout the years Marler has worked with botanical gardens in Florida and Thailand that have cycads as their research and scientific plant collection focus. He grew many of the plants in the Cycad Walk from seed and nurtured them in his cycad nursery on the UOG campus. Cycads from Australia, Mexico, Cuba, Africa and Micronesia are represented allowing for a visual journey around the world and back in time.
Strolling through the Cycad Walk, visitors can learn about the individual plants by reading the interpretive signage posted and imagine how numerous these plants were during the time dinosaurs were present on the planet. In this age, cycads are the most threatened group of plants worldwide. Seventy percent of cycads worldwide are threatened with extinction including Cycas micronesica.
“The Cycad Walk showcases the beauty and unique aspects of these plants while raising awareness of the ongoing threats to their survival,” said Deloso.
November 22, 2019
The 3rd Marianas Terrestrial Conservation Conference & Workshop (MTCC) is over. Held for the first time in Saipan November 19-20, the conference attracted over 100 attendees with 28 presentations on the first day and nine scientific posters on the second day. Free and open to the public, the MTCC is the only conference held in the region that brings researchers together around conservation issues facing the islands that make up the Mariana archipelago. Talks included research on recovery of fanihi (Mariana fruit bat), såli (Micronesian starling) and åga (Mariana crow), native skinks, and snails. Talks can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2ycP1zJLco5-gR8rkL8m4Q/videos.
Several University of Guam (UOG) students and graduates presented at the conference including Maria Lynn Cruz, Jerilyn Calaor and Ann Marie Gawel. Calaor and Gawel are currently working toward their PhD degrees under Haldre Rogers at Iowa State University. Moneka de Oro, research technician at the Ecology of Bird Loss Project on Guam attended the conference and believes it is important to have a venue to showcase terrestrial research in the region. “It is vital for people to know about the research being conducted on native flora and fauna in order to understand where we are now and our relationship to the land,” said de Oro.
Jerilyn Calaor presents her research via online connection from Iowa on the role of spiders in arthropod communities in the absence of birds. Photo Credit: WPTRC
UOG, Western Pacific Tropical Research Center (WPTRC) was a major sponsor for the conference. “I was very impressed with the caliber of the research and presentations at the conference,” said WPTRC Associate Director Adrian Ares.
Researcher Michael Lanzone from Cape May, New Jersey, presented on an upcoming project tracking såli (Micronesian starling) on Guam at Anderson Air Force Base. “I believe this conference is critically important for understanding the conservation of island ecosystems. It brings people together to learn from each other and allows conservation players a chance to get on the same page,” said Lanzone.
Hawaii based USGS Pacific Island Ecosystem Research Center scientist, Eben Paxton, said, “This conference allows attendees to hear what researchers are doing in the field of conservation research and know that our science is applicable to the region. It is also important to hear the concerns and needs of other scientists and the public.”
Emma Hollowell, a recipient of the John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship that allows participants to gain hands-on experience at host government offices in Washington, D.C., transferring science to policy and management, attended the conference. She came because she personally cares about the issues around invasive species management and conservation and wanted to see firsthand what is happening in the Marianas. Working in D.C. with the office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Environment), she hears a great deal about environmental issues in the region.
The second day of the conference, scientists along with representatives from local and federal agencies, focused on brown tree snake research in the region. A panel discussion on conservation efforts in the islands brought together the issues of reintroducing birds on the island of Guam and brown tree snake eradication efforts. The well-attended poster session held at the Carolinian Utt drew conference participants and local people interested in conservation. The CNMI Department of Lands and Natural Resources hosted a BBQ as the culminating event of the conference.
The conference organizers included interesting field trips making the two-day conference overwhelmingly enjoyable. Thrilling pre-conference proa rides by Saipan-based nonprofit 500 Sails, Inc. and a hike to visit a Mariana swiftlet cave gave conference goers an introduction to Saipan. Multiple morning field trips included an early morning birding trip, tree planting for typhoon Yutu recovery efforts, and a native limestone forest hike.
“The zories-on-the-ground conference organizers, Jill Liske-Clark and Ann Marie Gawel, did a fantastic job in making the 2019 MTCC was a tremendous success,” said Rogers.
MTCC’s 2020 conference will be held in mid-November in Guam. For more information contact Haldre Rogers at haldre@iastate.edu.
August 15, 2019
Three University of Guam (UOG) graduate students are benefitting from the pay-it-forward philosophy of local entrepreneur Bob Salas. Actively involved with the Guam Chamber of Commerce and managing his landscaping company, LMS, Salas knows talent when he sees it.
Graduate students Mario Martinez, Gregorio “Goro” Borja III, and Jonathan “Kawika” Davis were also working full-time with the UOG Guam Plant Extinction Prevention Program (GPEPP). It was through GPEPP’s connection with LMS to transplant thousands of federally listed threatened orchids, that Bob Salas met the students. He was very impressed with the tenacity and hard work of the GPEPP team and decided to offer financial assistance to help with their studies. “Mario, Goro, and Kawika accepted my offer. I understand Mario recently had a very successful thesis defense on the essential stages of orchids’ growth and their conservation, which was heavily influenced by the projects we’ve been working on,” mentioned Salas, “I am so pleased to hear that.”
This coming fall semester will mark five semesters of aid to both Borja and Davis. Martinez received four semesters of Salas’ generosity and graduated last May. He was the first to graduate from the Sustainable Agriculture Food and Natural Resources (SAFNR) graduate program.
GPEPP trained LMS personnel on identifying federally listed threatened species that are endemic to Guam. Together, GPEPP and LMS carefully salvaged and translocated over 5,000 Tuberolabium guamense, Bulbophyllum guamense, and Dendrobium guamense. In addition to providing maintenance and monitoring, their team had successfully created an adaptive methodology that helped these orchids become established in their relocation area where they can continue to not only survive but also thrive.
Bob Salas’s vision for Guam is large and all encompassing. LMS has a native plant nursery, a composting facility, and a machine that separates rebar from concrete to better repurpose concrete debris. He would like to see a greater collaboration between UOG and local businesses. Salas expressed his desire to continue working on projects with UOG; “With the expertise UOG faculty and staff provide, it makes good environmental and business sense for us to work more closely together.”
His son, Robert “Rob” Salas II, has started his own company, Pacific Federal Management, to better situate themselves for federal projects involving native plants. Bob Salas believes local companies should be contenders for the big contracts that are put out for bid by the federal government. “It is through receiving federal contacts that I am able to fund scholarships for local students so that when faculty retire from UOG there is someone qualified to replace them.” He is looking at funding off-island studies if any of the three master’s candidates wish to pursue a PhD.
A good-hearted man with a vision and a mission to help others can make an immense difference in peoples’ lives and keeps communities thriving.
August 1, 2019
While observing the macrocosm; climate change, life-threatening heat waves, sea level rise, species extinctions, Dr. Sean Gleason is focusing on the microcosm, the function of water transport in plants, to solve the issues of feeding an increasing global population in times when temperatures are the highest ever recorded on the planet.
As a plant physiologist with the Agriculture Research Service within USDA, Gleason
believes it is important to investigate the characteristics of xylem, the tissue responsible
for transporting water throughout plants. In a recent seminar, “Plant Water Transfer
Traits” at the College of Natural & Applied Sciences, University of Guam, Gleason
presented to a room full of CNAS researchers and graduate students. “With the increases
in temperature and population, precipitation gets harder to predict. As arid places
get drier, plants find it more difficult to thrive. If we can discover a way to help
plants transport and utilize water more efficiently, people can remain in these affected
areas with agriculture to support them,” said Gleason.
Gleason believes there are many unanswered questions as to what factors influence the efficiency of water transport. With a dearth of research in the scientific literature on this topic, Gleason is working to close this gap and welcomes other scientists to help unlock the pieces of this puzzle. To what degree will doubling xylem efficiency increase photosynthesis rates and therefore biomass production? Why does high xylem efficiency exist in wet environments but not in dry conditions? Are current plant hydraulic ideas being effectively transferred to other disciplines? These are a few questions Gleason posed to attendees of his seminar.
The CNAS Western Pacific Tropical Research Center (WPTRC) Associate Director, Adrian Ares, invited Dr. Gleason to Guam. During his visit, Gleason instructed CNAS graduate student, Pution Mendiola, on the procedure for measuring plant root pressure, a highly specialized, little known process. He also met with scientists from WPTRC. “Having lived in Hawaii and Kosrae, it was a real pleasure to be back in the islands. I greatly enjoyed meeting WPTRC researchers and seeing them so enthusiastic about the projects they are working on,” said Gleason.
When speaking with Gleason it is easy to see that researching plant water transport traits is not just a job, it is a passion.
Collective research to date regarding nutrients found in cycad leaves has been inconsistent and narrow in scope.
Research on cycad trees in Colombia, Guam, and the Philippines has illuminated how knowledge of their branching behavior may benefit conservation decisions.
UOG researchers have conducted a first-of-its-kind study on the use of anti-transpirants, used to reduce water loss, on cycads.
The keynote speaker will be Dr. Edison P. Manaloto, a two-time UOG alumnus and the 2006 UOG valedictorian.
Long-term data sets on cycad tree height studied by UOG reveal how height growth can inform conservation decisions.
Two forest-related publications have been completed with links below.
UPDATE: Due to COVID-19 the scheduled workshops have been canceled.
The Western Pacific Tropical Reseach Center in partnership with the US Forest Service will be hosting a series of workshops throughout Micronesia. Robert Bevacqua will offer the workshops as part of the management of tropical forest ecosystems in the region. “I look forward to the challenge and opportunity to apply previous experiences in agriculture, forestry, and invasive species,” said Bevacqua. “Many of my former students come from Micronesia and to be working with them in this new capacity is exciting.”
Find the Forestry Workshop schedule here!
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