New Grant Funding for Rhino Beetle Control

May 22, 2020

Press Release PDF

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

 

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New Cycad Walk on UOG Campus

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.

 

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Focus on Science in the Marianas

November 22, 2019

The 3^rd 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.

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Paying it Forward Guam Style

Article in Guam Daily Post

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.

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Special Seminar: Plant Water Transport Traits

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.