Research

Why a mild-mannered American beetle has become a tree killer in Asia
9 February, 2012
The story of the how the red turpentine beetle and its fungus turned aggressive after introduction into a new environment. Several researchers from FABI are collaborating with Americans and Chinese scientists to better our understanding of this phenomenon. read more Disease Warning – Puccinia psidii
6 February, 2012
Foresters in South Africa have been made conscious about Eucalyptus rust since the 1990's, and the pathogenPuccinia psidii has been feared in Australia ever since it first started causing disease on Eucalyptus in South America in the 1970's. This concern for... read more Large scale die-off of an Iconic South African Tree – Euphorbia Ingens
6 February, 2012
Unexplained die-off of Euphorbia ingens (Candelabra, Naboom or Mokgoto) in the Limpopo Province (Fig. 1) has captured the attention of researchers associated with the CTHB. Results from research on this phenomenon suggest that it is the product of a complex interaction between... read more Gonipterus Scutellatus
6 February, 2012
Gonipterus scutellatus, the Eucalyptus snout beetle, was first noted into South Africa in 1916 in Cape Town and by 1929 it had spread throughout eucalypt growing areas in South Africa. When initially reported it was causing severe damage, especially on E. globules and E. viminalis species but has... read more Cellulose Fibril Aggregation Studies of Eucalyptus Dissolving Pulps Using Atomic Force Microscopy
17 November, 2011
The work presented will report on the use of AFM to study the CFA characteristics of dissolving pulp of a clone of Eucalyptus grown in compartments with contrasting growth rates (low and high), at different stages of the pulping process (solid wood, unbleached [raw] and fully bleached) to... read more Identification of PCR-base markers linked to wood splitting in Eucalyptus Grandis
17 November, 2011
Wood splitting is a defect in eucalyptus which results in considerable losses when converting logs to solid wood products. Commonly in forestry, molecular markers are identified through studying pedigrees from a single cross. This limits the application of these markers to that population. The... read more Pest and disease threats to plantation forestry in South Africa
17 November, 2011
read more Unexplored Ophiostomatoid Fungal Diversity in South Africa
16 November, 2011
read more A fungus from Africa threatens our Eucalyptus plantations
16 November, 2011
read more Diversity and Evolution of Fusarium species in the Gibberella Fujikuroi Complex
16 November, 2011
read more Genome sequence of Pantoea ananatis – a Eucalyptus pathogen
16 November, 2011
read more UP scientists unravel hidden plant pathogenic fungi
16 November, 2011
read more Comparison of the biophysical and economic water-use efficiencies of indigenous and introduced forests in South Africa
6 June, 2011
Water resources in many catchments in South Africa (SA) are over committed and water is projected to become scarcer. The impacts of plantation forestry on water resources in SA are well known and legislation limits further afforestation. Nevertheless demands for wood continue to grow. A challenge... read more Measurement of Stickies (Macro, Micro and Potential Secondary Stickies)
3 January, 2011
Contaminants from synthetic polymers such as plastics, coatings, adhesives and waxes remain one of the biggest challenges for papermakers using recovered fibre. These contaminants are called "stickies" because they stick to paper machine felts and wires leading to operating problems,... read more A technique to identify annual growth rings in Eucalyptus grandis using annual measurements of diameter at breast height and gamma ray densitometry
7 June, 2010
A technique was developed to identify annual growth rings in E. grandis using a combination of annual measurements of diameter at breast height (DBH) from permanent sample plot (PSP) datasets and bark-pith density profiles. By assessing the pattern of radial variation in wood density within the... read more South African risk and vulnerability atlas
5 April, 2010
The South African Risk and Vulnerability Atlas was conceived and designed with the intent of providing up to date information for key sectors to support strategy development in the areas of risk and vulnerability. This volume presents a selection of such information, translated to communicate key... read more Acid bi-sulphite pulping effects on hardwoods and a softwood revealed by atomic force microscopy
7 December, 2009
Wood fibres are the raw material used in the production of dissolving pulp for the manufacture of cellulose derivatives such as viscose and cellulose acetate. At the microscopic level, the wood cell wall is organised in layers with different thicknesses and proportions of lignin and... read more Comparison of deterministically predicted genetic gains with those realised in a South African Eucalyptus grandis breeding program
8 June, 2009
Tree breeders attempt to predict the genetic gains that are likely to be achieved through selection and breeding of new generations, using stochastic or deterministic modelling. There are many factors that may cause a discrepancy between the predicted and realised genetic gains. Often the... read more Medium resolution image fusion, does it enhance forest structure assessment
7 July, 2008
This research explored the potential benefits of fusing optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) medium resolution satellite-borne sensor data for forest structural assessment. Image fusion was applied as a means of retaining disparate data features relevant to modeling and mapping of... read more