Marcella Corcoran

Toumeyella parvicornis (Hemiptera: Coccidae), Causing Severe Decline of Pinus caribaea var. Bahamensis in the Turks and Caicos Islands

ABSTRACT Since it was first formally recorded there in 2005, the Nearctic pine tortoise scale Toumeyella parvicornis (Cockerell) (Hemiptera: Coccidae) has caused severe decline of the Caribbean pine, Pinus caribaea var. bahamensis (Grisebach) W. H. Barrett & Golfari, in the pine forests on the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI). The scale infestations reduce host vigor, cause dieback and high levels of mortality. Honeydew excreted by the insects enables the growth of associated sooty molds to smother the under-storey plants inhibiting their growth. Surveys carried out on the islands suggest that the entire Caribbean pine population in the TCI is under immediate threat from this invasive pest, with potentially devastating effects on the pineyard ecosystem. The biology, distribution, impact and economic importance of the pine tortoise scale are reviewed.

Four new submontane species of Psychotria ( Rubiaceae ) with bacterial nodules from Western Cameroon

SummaryFour new Psychotria species with conspicuous bacterial nodules in their leaf-blades, P. njumei Cheek, P. ngollengollei Cheek, P. darwiniana Cheek and P. babatwoensis Cheek are described, mapped and illustrated from the submontane forests of the Cameroon Highlands. Their taxonomic and conservation status are assessed.

Using the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation to guide conservation implementation in the UK Overseas Territories

SummaryThe Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) was adopted by the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 2002. Staff at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew were closely involved in the development of the GSPC and contributed to the development of several of the targets and the plan of work which resulted from its adoption. The GSPC has become a key document for Kew to help guide its conservation policy and implementation. The UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) Programme is one of Kew’s cross-departmental science teams whose members work in collaboration with UKOT Governments and NGOs on conservation projects with the overall aim of supporting them in the implementation of the GSPC and in achieving its targets. The GSPC has provided an excellent overall framework to help shape conservation strategy, planning, and action in UKOTs. Like many small islands, UKOTs face a wide range of challenges in conserving their biodiversity and retaining ecosystem services whilst enabling development and maintaining livelihoods. Habitat loss and fragmentation, invasive alien species, development, and the increasing threat of global climate change present the most significant conservation challenges. At the heart of the UKOTs programme is a comprehensive work plan of specimen and data collection, mapping and capacity building in Territories plus facilitating access to historical specimens and data held at Kew. This enables progress towards achieving Targets 1, 2 and 3 (understanding and documenting plant diversity) and Targets 5, 7, 8 and 10 (conservation of plant diversity). All of these activities are accompanied by an extensive programme of capacity building to help support the development of technical skills and infrastructure to enable UKOTs to implement the GSPC (Targets 15 and 16) and the production of materials and interactions with schools and community groups to promote education and awareness-raising of plant conservation to achieve Target 14. UKOTs have been working with RBG Kew to prioritise activities in order to implement the GSPC and to identify those targets of most relevance locally. The main focus has been in documenting and understanding plant diversity and Targets 1 and 2 are close to completion for most UKOTs with good developments towards Target 3 for many. There is mixed progress with Objective 2 of the GSPC: conserving plant diversity. Excellent progress has been made with the ex situ Target 8, but more limited progress with the in situ targets and plant species still face many threats. Some Territories, most notably the Falkland Islands have made a good start with an Important Plant Areas programme. Although good progress has been made in documenting invasive species, there is major resource investment needed to implement the invasive species control strategies that have been identified. Good progress has been made with Target 14 and awareness is increasing, but there is a definite need for mainstreaming plant conservation issues. Some progress with Objective 5, building capacity for plant conservation, has been made, but a large ‘capacity gap’ remains and more trained personnel are needed with improved facilities and resources in order to implement the GSPC and meet its demanding targets. The GSPC has provided a unifying framework to enable conservation implementation across the UK’s Overseas Territories and will continue to do so in the post-2010 period.

The Scope for Using the Volatile Profiles of Pinus caribaea var. bahamensis as Indicators of Susceptibility to Pine Tortoise Scale and as Predictors of Environmental Stresses

Climate change, unseasonal fire and urbanization are contributing to the decline of Pinus caribaea var. bahamensis populations in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI). Infestation of pines with the invasive pine tortoise scale (PTS, Toumeyella parvicornis) is accelerating this decline. Pine trees in the Bahamas are larger and healthier and are not infested with PTS although they are subject to some of the same environmental pressures as the trees in TCI. Volatile compounds were collected from wild and nursery‐reared P. caribaea var. bahamensis from TCI and the Bahamas and characterized using GC/MS analysis, to look for differences between the compounds detected in insect‐infested pines of TCI and the healthy pines of the Bahamas. Ten compounds contributing at least 1% of the total detected peak areas in any one of the samples were selected for further study. Eight of these compounds were identified using authentic standards and mass spectral libraries. The main constituents in the samples were α‐ and β‐pinene as well as β‐phellandrene, and, together with β‐myrcene, their contents varied the most between samples collected at different locations. Principal‐component analysis showed that the two structural isomers of pinene, together with β‐myrcene and β‐phellandrene, contributed 98.4% of the variance between samples. There was a positive relationship between the concentrations of the two structural isomers of pinene and between levels of β‐myrcene and β‐phellandrene. The results are discussed in relation to the biology and adaptations of invasive scale insects, the importance of monoterpenes in pine as a defense against insect predation, whether these compounds can be used as indicators of tree health, and future directions for research into conserving the Caicos pine.

Conserving and restoring the Caicos pine forests: The first decade

The severe and rapid attack on the Caicos pine Pinus caribaea var. bahamensis (Pinaceae) by the non-native invasive pine tortoise scale, Toumeyella parvicornis, has resulted in the death of most of the trees in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) in just over a decade. Local and international conservation efforts have enabled the necessary multi-disciplinary research, data gathering, and monitoring to develop and implement a restoration strategy for this endemic tree from the Bahaman archipelago. The native plant nursery established on North Caicos and horticultural expertise acquired throughout the years were crucial to the successful rescue of Caicos pine saplings from the wild populations and cultivation of new saplings grown from locally sourced seeds. These saplings have been used to establish six Restoration Trial Plots on Pine Cay and a seed orchard on North Caicos in TCI. Core Conservation Areas (CCAs) for the Caicos pine forests have been identified and mapped. To date, forest within the Pine Cay CCA has been supplemented by planting more than 450 pine trees, which have survived at a high (>80%) rate.

Three new or resurrected species of Leptonychia (Sterculiaceae- Byttneriaceae-Malvaceae) from West-Central Africa

SummaryThe name Leptonychia kamerunensis Engl. & K. Krause is resurrected for an understorey tree of submontane forest in the Cameroon Highlands. L. subtomentosa K. Schum. is resurrected for a tree of the hilly semi-deciduous forests around Yaoundé in Central Province, Cameroon. L. moyesiae Cheek, a shrub of lowland coastal evergreen forest of SE Nigeria, SW Province Cameroon and Bioko, is newly described. The taxonomic affinities and conservation status of these three species are assessed.