1.1 About Hevea brasiliensis
Hevea brasiliensis Müell.Arg., is the scientific name of the rubber tree or Para rubber tree. This species falls under the family of Euphorbiaceae. The size of this tropical tree ranges from medium to large. It may grow up to 40 m or taller in the wild, but the trees planted commercially generally reach heights of around 17 m. The leaves are around 60 cm long, thick and leathery. They are also compound, with 3 elliptic leaflets with entire margins and prominent secondary veins. The inflorescence is many-flowered with a small white petal-less female flower in the center. The fruit is a large ellipsoidal capsule containing gray-brown, flattened ellipsoidal seeds. The most important feature of this tree is the white latex formed when the bark is cut or tapped. It is this white latex which is vulcanized to form rubber (Navie and Adkins, 2008).
The origin of this species is the South America that is the Brazilian and Bolivian region covering Amazon and Orinoco river basins (Tropical Biology Association, 2010). Then, they were introduced to the Southern and South-eastern Asia including countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, as well as Western Africa.
According to Barlow (1978), the first nine rubber trees were brought to Kuala Kangsar, Malaysia on 1877. This introduction of species initiated the foundation of the successful rubber plantation industry in Malaysia and the region. At the end of 1992, a total of 1.81 million hectares of rubber plantations are found in Malaysia with 1.50 million hectares in Peninsular Malaysia, 0.21 and 0.09 million hectares respectively in Sarawak and Sabah.
In 2010, 11 countries were accounted for 92% of global production of natural rubber from Hevea brasiliensis a...
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Pu, J., Zhang, X., Qi, Y., Xie, Y., Zhang, H., Zhang, H. (2007). First record of Corynespora leaf fall disease of Hevea rubber tree in China. Australasian Plant Disease Notes, 35-36.
Radziah. N.Z, Hashim. I. (1990). Major leaf diseases of rubber and their management. Rubber Board Bulletin, 20-25.
Shimonski, J. (2009). About: Malaysia Flora. Retrieved March 8, 2014, from Malaysia Flora: http://www.malaysiaflora.com/index.php?option=com_contentandview=articleandid=5:a-brief-history-on-rubber-tapping-in-malaysiaandcatid=13andItemid=104
Sivanesan, A. and Holliday, P. 1976. Oidium heveae. CMI Descriptions of Pathogenic Fungi and Bacteria. 508
Tropical Biology Association, (2010). Usambara Invasive Plants - Amani Nature Reserve – Retrieved April 9, 2014 from www.tropical-biology.org/research/dip/species.htm
Invasive species as a whole have become a nuisance to many habitats and ecosystems around the world. What defines an invasive species is the following. It must be a species that is foreign to the habitat it resides in, have no natural predators which allow it to reproduce in such a rapid manner, and out compete native animals of food and shelter (Rosenthal 2011). These characteristics are what create such high populations of these invasive species in various habitats around the globe.
This invasive species originates from Southeast Asia. This mosquito has made its way to Africa, the Middle East, Europe and North and South America as an invasive species. The Asian Tiger Mosquito was introduced into the United States accidentally from tires imported from Asia. The islands of Torres Straight have numerous reports of this mosquito also. This invasive species was introduced into the United States, probably Houston, Texas, from Japan in 1985. The constant trade of used tires throughout the U.S. allowed the Asian Tiger Mosquito to disperse across America.
Initially, Portuguese traders began to export the brazil wood tree, Brazil’s namesake, for the luc...
In the 1880's a harmful fungus known as blight, inhabited the United States from imported Japanese chestnut trees. Blight quickly spread, killing chestnuts and chinquapins, which is another species of chestnut that produces 1 nut per bur. In 1904, Chestnut blight appeared infecting trees in New York City and spread at a rate of 20-50 miles per year. By 1906, W.A. Murrill reported that this disease is known to occur in New Jersey, Maryland, District of Columbia, and Virginia. In 1912, the Planet Quarantine Act was passed to reduce the chances of plant deterioration or devastation prevention. Chestnut Blight or Chestnut Bark Disease was originally found in 1904 and within 50 years, it spread across the eastern United States, from Maine to Georgia and as far west as the edge of Michigan. By 1950, the American chestnut was essentially eliminated as a forest tree. In 1972, importation from Italy gave a biological control in which a virus helped prevent the blight f...
The efforts required by reforestation may not initially be cost effective, but it will result in not only the survivability of the environment, but of the country’s economy. Widespread awareness of these ideas will help fight against the natural human tendency towards instant gratification and short-term goals. Different methods of logging can be utilized to allow the rainforests to survive and regrow naturally and at a sustainable
almost a quarter of the medicine we us today. The soil in rainforest is not the richest but on the
Niskern, Diana. Invasive species. Washington, D.C. (101 Independence Ave., S.E.): Science Reference Section, Science, Technology, and Business Division, Library of Congress, 2004.
Leaf scorch is a disease that's caused by the bacteria Xylella fastidiosa. Mainly found in California, this disease is spread from infected plants to health ones by 1/2-inch-long insects known as glassy-winged sharpshooters. When an oleander is infected, the transportation of nutrients and water from the roots to the leaves is blocked. This causes yellowing of the leaves from the tips inward, followed by drooping and eventually death. Although pruning affected plant parts can preserve the aesthetic interest of the oleander, there is no cure for this disease...
Humans are responsible for almost all of the invasive plant and animal problems. Many of our problem invasives were (and often still are) planted as landscape plants in New Jersey. These include: Norway Maple, Japanese Barberry, Asian Bittersweet, English Ivy, Mimosa, Wisteria, Japanese Honeysuckle, Bugleweed, Bamboo, Day Lily, Purple Loosestrife, Tansy, and Dame's
GreenPalm (2015) states how ‘the removal of acres of rainforest threatens the rich biodiversity’ in the ‘ecosystems’. Highlighting the risks of the cutting of the oil palm trees to produce the palm oil to both the environment and also the organisms which live within the areas, as certain species in the areas of the clearing of land, mainly with the palm oil ‘exported from Indonesia and Malaysia’ according to Say-No-To-Palm-Oil (2015), face possible extinction. There is still however ways in which the production of palm oil can be sustainable to the environment, as palm oil is essential for the use by humans because of the containment of the nutrients and also with the production of foods and
Cosmetics, soap, chocolate, and frozen meals. These general products all have something in common; they include palm oil, a resource found in oil palm trees located primarily in Indonesia and Malaysia. Palm oil is a valuable resource that is contained in many everyday products. However, the mass consumption of this ingredient caused wide deforestation in wildlife’s natural habitat and is leading to the endangerment of several animal species. Sustainable palm oil is grown and harvested by companies on private land to avoid deforestation and harm to wildlife, so people should consider purchasing products that include sustainable palm oil rather than palm oil taken from natural forests.
Invasive species, (also known as invasive alien species or simply alien species) are defined as any organism (plant, animal, pathogen, or other living thing) that is alien (non-native) to an ecosystem, which can cause adverse economical, ecological, or health effects to native species and/or humans. The roots of these problems all stem from the massive negative ecological impact these organisms are having on the environment (CBD, 2009). For all animal extinctions where the cause is known since the 1600’s, invasive alien species have been a contributing factor 40% of the time (CBD, 2006); the second most contributing factor to extinctions after loss of habitat (GC, 2013). By eliminating native species through competition for resources, predation, and transmittal of disease, invasive species continue to reduce biodiversity in almost all ecosystems around the world (CBD, 2009). In the future, this problem may worsen, and if no action is taken, could lead to a cascading ecological problem so large that whole communities or even ecosystems could collapse.
States and southern Canada. In the west, the species was found from Mexico to California.
The Amazon region is considered the birthplace of the wild cacao tree. T. cacao appeared with the arrival of human species in South American. It have been suggested that T. cacao is the result of a cross between T. pentagona and T. leiocarpa. Cacao was not been selected for its seeds, but instead for the pulp surrounding them. Selection for the seeds begin in Mesoamerica. The seed pulp was used as a beverage. Cacao cultivation by the Indians, notably the Aztecs of Mexico and Mayas in Central America was established before the New World was discovered. The next question would have to be how did the cacao tree cross the sea. Christopher Columbus brought a cacao beans back to Europe from the Gulf of Honduras. This cargo of cacao beans were the first specimens to enter Europe. The Aztecs settled in Mexico two hundred years before Cortes conquest of Mexico.
No one can deny the basic human need for housing. And no one can deny that any advanced culture requires a great deal of paper to transact its daily business. However, one must also recognize the importance of forests in and of themselves. We must fight against deforestation and international community must also introduce stricter policies to stop deforestation. 1) First, we will talk about the effects of deforestation and why it's a problem. 2) Second, we will learn about the many causes of deforestation. 3) Lastly, we will cover how to solve this problem.