Ecology

Guam conservation efforts progress

  2012 AUG 3 (VerticalNews) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Ecology, Environment & Conservation -- The local tree is known by botanists as Cycas micronesica and its seeds were once processed into the main source of starch for human consumption. Written accounts from the early European ships that visited Guam mention the prominence of the unique tree throughout Guam's terrain. Historical documents also indicate that reliance on the tree for food was crucial following typhoons when other crop plants had been damaged.

  Recent forestry surveys revealed that fadang was sustained as Guam's most abundant tree 10 years ago. But several alien insects that feed exclusively on cycad trees have invaded Guam in recent years. The University of Guam has partnered with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to study the survival of Guam's trees being threatened by these invasive insects. The research has validated that more than 90% of Guam's fadang trees have been killed by the insects since 2004.

  Keywords for this news article include: University of Guam.

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