Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of Pterocarya stenoptera, a tall deciduous tree of the family Juglandaceae

Pterocarya stenoptera, also called Chinese wingnut in China, is a tall deciduous tree of the walnut family (Juglandaceae). P. stenoptera is one of the most popular shade trees owing to its tall and graceful form and rapid growth rate. In the present study, the chloroplast genome of P. stenoptera was assembled and analyzed phylogenetically. The chloroplast genome of P. stenoptera is 160,212 bp in length, with a large single-copy region (LSC) of 88,724 bp, a small single-copy region (SSC) of 18,396 bp, and a pair of inverted repeat regions (IRs) of 26,046 bp, forming a typical quadripartite structure. A total of 130 genes are annotated from the chloroplast genome of P. stenoptera, including 82 protein-coding genes, 40 transfer RNA (tRNAs) genes, and 8 ribosomal RNA (rRNAs) genes. The GC content of the chloroplast genome is 36.2%. Phylogenetic analysis based on the common proteins from P. stenoptera and 14 related species confirmed the close relationship between Pterocarya and Juglans.

Life History of Parthenolecanium spp. (Hemiptera: Coccidae) in Urban Landscapes of the Southeastern United States

This study was conducted to better understand the life history of Parthenolecanium corni (Bouché) and Parthenolecanium quercifex (Fitch) (Hemiptera: Coccidae), and to develop degree-day models for crawler emergence of the two soft scale species in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Both species were univoltine in the southeastern United States. In South Carolina, eggs hatched from mid-April to early June; second instars began to appear in September and migrated to twigs to overwinter in October; and third instars and adults appeared in mid-March to early April. Each parthenogenetic female produced on average 1,026 ± 52 eggs. Fecundity was positively correlated to the fresh weight, length, width, and height of gravid females. Gross reproductive rate (GRR) was 695.98 ± 79.34 ♀/♀, net reproductive rate (Rº) was 126.36 ± 19.03 ♀/♀, mean generation time (TG) was 52.61 ± 0.05 wk, intrinsic rate of increase (rm) was 0.04 ♀/♀/wk, and finite rate of increase (λ) was 1.04 times per week. Crawlers first occurred across Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia in 2011-2013 when 524-596 Celsius-degree-days (DDC) had been accumulated with the single sine estimation method, or 411-479 DDC with the simple average method, at the base temperature of 12.8 °C and the start date of 1 January. These regional models accurately predicted the date of crawler emergence within 1 wk of the actual emergence in 2014.

Patterns in hydraulic architecture from roots to branches in six tropical tree species from cacao agroforestry and their relation to wood density and stem growth

For decades it has been assumed that the largest vessels are generally found in roots and that vessel size and corresponding sapwood area-specific hydraulic conductivity are acropetally decreasing toward the distal twigs. However, recent studies from the perhumid tropics revealed a hump-shaped vessel size distribution. Worldwide tropical perhumid forests are extensively replaced by agroforestry systems often using introduced species of various biogeographical and climatic origins. Nonetheless, it is unknown so far what kind of hydraulic architectural patterns are developed in those agroforestry tree species and which impact this exerts regarding important tree functional traits, such as stem growth, hydraulic efficiency and wood density (WD). We investigated wood anatomical and hydraulic properties of the root, stem and branch wood in Theobroma cacao and five common shade tree species in agroforestry systems on Sulawesi (Indonesia); three of these were strictly perhumid tree species, and the other three tree species are tolerating seasonal drought. The overall goal of our study was to relate these properties to stem growth and other tree functional traits such as foliar nitrogen content and sapwood to leaf area ratio. Our results confirmed a hump-shaped vessel size distribution in nearly all species. Drought-adapted species showed divergent patterns of hydraulic conductivity, vessel density, and relative vessel lumen area between root, stem and branch wood compared to wet forest species. Confirming findings from natural old-growth forests in the same region, WD showed no relationship to specific conductivity. Overall, aboveground growth performance was better predicted by specific hydraulic conductivity than by foliar traits and WD. Our study results suggest that future research on conceptual trade-offs of tree hydraulic architecture should consider biogeographical patterns underlining the importance of anatomical adaptation mechanisms to environment.

Seasonal Abundance of Aphids and Aphidophagous Insects in Pecan

Seasonal occurrence of aphids and aphidophagous insects was monitored for six years (2006–2011) from full leaf expansion in May to leaf fall in October in “Desirable” variety pecan trees that were not treated with insecticides. Aphid outbreaks occurred two times per season, once in the spring and again in the late summer. Yellow pecan and blackmargined aphids exceeded the recommended treatment thresholds one time and black pecan aphids exceeded the recommended treatment levels three times over the six seasons. Increases in aphidophagous insect abundance coincided with aphid outbreaks in five of the six seasons. Among aphidophagous insects Harmonia axyridis and Olla v-nigrum were frequently collected in both the tree canopy and at the ground level, whereas, Coccinella septempunctata, Hippodamia convergens were rarely found in the tree canopy and commonly found at the ground level. Green lacewing abundance was higher in the ground level than in the tree canopy. Brown lacewings were more abundant in the tree canopy than at the ground level. Dolichopodid and syrphid fly abundance, at the ground level increased during peak aphid abundance in the tree canopy. Application of an aqueous solution of fermenting molasses to the pecan foliage during an aphid outbreak significantly increased the abundance of ladybeetles and lacewings and significantly reduced the abundance of yellow pecan, blackmargined and black pecan aphids.