Silvicultural systems for plantation mahogany in Africa: Influences of canopy shade on tree growth and pest damage

Overexploitation of the African mahoganies, Khaya anthotheca and K. ivorensis, could lead to their commercial extinction in the near future. Efforts to establish plantations to sustain supply have been discouraged by the shoot borer Hypsipyla robusta Moore. We hypothesized that there is a shade leve...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Forest ecology and management 2008-03, Vol.255 (2), p.328-333
Main Authors: Opuni-Frimpong, E., Karnosky, D.F., Storer, A.J., Cobbinah, J.R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African mahogany
boring insects
canopy
Canopy shade
density
forest pests
forest plantations
forest trees
height
Hypsipyla
Hypsipyla robusta
Khaya
Khaya anthotheca
Khaya ivorensis
Leaf area index
light
overstory
Pest management
Seedling growth
shade
tree growth
tropical and subtropical forestry
tropical forests
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Overexploitation of the African mahoganies, Khaya anthotheca and K. ivorensis, could lead to their commercial extinction in the near future. Efforts to establish plantations to sustain supply have been discouraged by the shoot borer Hypsipyla robusta Moore. We hypothesized that there is a shade level at which Hypsipyla attack and branching are reduced, but height growth is adequate. We report on the growth of these African mahoganies and Hypsipyla attack under three different forest canopy shade levels: open (55% open sky), medium shade (26% open), and deep shade (11% open). Hypsipyla attack on K. anthotheca was 85%, 11%, and 0% attack in the open, medium, and deep shade treatments, respectively. However, growth in medium and deep shade was slow. Mean tree height for K. anthotheca was 413.8, 126.2, and 54.5 cm in the open, medium and deep shade treatments, respectively. K. ivorensis showed similar trends. The reduced growth under these shade levels limit the use of this strategy for controlling Hypsipyla attack.
ISSN:0378-1127
1872-7042
DOI:10.1016/j.foreco.2007.09.078