Survival, Growth and Orygmophora mediofoveata Shoot Borer Attack of Nauclea diderrichii Progenies Established in Three Ecological Zones in Ghana

Paul P. Bosu, Stephen Adu-Bredu, Yaovi Nuto, Kouami Kokou

Département de Zoologie, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Lomé, Lomé, Togo.
Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Kumasi, Ghana.
Laboratoire de Botanique et Ecologie Végétale, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Lomé, Lomé, Togo.

DOI: 10.4236/ojf.2013.34023                

Abstract

Nauclea diderrichii is a tropical African hardwood species and a suitable candidate for plantation development. However, attack by the Orygmophora mediofoveata, Hamps shoot borer threatens establishment of the species in plantations. A genotype * environment assessment of 15 N. diderrichii progenies from Ghana and Togo was conducted in the Wet Evergreen, Moist Semi-deciduous and Dry Semi-deciduous forest zones. Progeny performance (Attack intensity, survival and growth) varied significantly between sites, and marginally within sites after 2.7 years. Overall, incidence of shoot borer attack was lower at the wet zone than at the moist or dry zones. Percent survival was higher at the wet (79.5%) than at the moist (50.8%) or dry (55.0%) forest zones. Mean height across the 15 progenies was 5.40 m, 4.30 m, and 2.73 m at the wet, dry and moist forests, respectively. Similarly, mean diameter was 5.31 cm, 4.58 cm, and 2.83 cm at the wet, dry and moist zones, respectively. The relatively low growth rate recorded at the moist zone was attributed to the paucity of soil conditions at the experimental site. Three wet forest zone progenies (BS9, BS3 and BS2) and two moist forest zone progenies (BE2 and GA1) performed better than average and have been recommended for planting.

Keywords

Genotype * Environment Assessment; Nauclea diderrichii ; Orygmophora mediofoveata ; Growth Rates; Survival Rate; Ghana; Togo

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Addo-Danso, S. D., Bosu, P. P., Nkrumah, E. E., Pelz, D. R., Coke, S. A., & Adu-Bredu, S. (2012). Survival and growth of Naucleadiderrichii (De Wild.) and Pericopsiselata (Harms) in monoculture and mixed-species plots in Ghana. Journal of Tropical Biology, 24, 3745.
[2]	Bosu, P. P., & Nkrumah, E. E. (2011). Companion planting of insect repellent plants with Khayaivorensis and its impact on growth and Hypsipyla shoot borer attack of the host species. Ghana Journal of Forestry, 27, 40-51.
[3]	Bosu, P. P., Adu-Bredu, S., & Nkrumah, E. E. (2004). Observations of insect pest activities within selected nurseries in Ashanti, Ghana. In: J. R. Cobbinah, D. A. Ofori, & P. P. Bosu (Eds.), Pest management in tropical plantations (pp. 154-162). International Workshop Proceedings, Edited Powerpoint Presentations, Forestry Research Institute of Ghana.
[4]	Eidt, D. C. (1965a). The Opepe shoot borer, Orygmophora mediofoveata Hmps. (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), a pest of Nauclea diderrichii in West Africa Commonwealth. Forestry Review, 44, 123-125.
[5]	Eidt, D. C. (1965b). Description of the larva of Orygmophora mediofoveata Hampson (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Canadian Entomology, 612-617. http://dx.doi.org/10.4039/Ent97612-6
[6]	Fawupe, J. A., Onyekwelu, J. C., & Adekunle, V. A. J. (2001). Biomass equations and estimation for Gmelina arborea and Nauclea diderrichii stands in Akure forest reserve. Biomass and Bioenergy, 21, 401-405. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0961-9534(01)00036-8
[7]	Hawthorne, W. D. (1995). Ecological profiles of Ghanaian forest trees. Tropical Forestry Papers, 25 p.
[8]	Ofori, D. A., Opuni-Frimpong, E., & Cobbinah, J. R. (2007). Provenance variation in Khaya species for growth and resistance to shoot borer Hypsipylarobusta. Forest Ecology and Management, 242, 438-444. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2007.01.090
[9]	Onyekwelu, J. C. (2007). Growth, biomass yield and biomass functions for plantation-grown Naucleadiderrichii (de wild) in the humid tropical rainforest zone of south-western Nigeria. Bioresource Technology, 98, 2679-2687. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2006.09.023
[10]	Opuni-Frimpong, E., Karnosky, D. F., Storer, A. J., Abeney, E. A., & Cobbinah, J. R. (2008). Relative susceptibility of four species of African mahogany to the shoot borer Hypsipylarobusta (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) in the moist semideciduous forest of Ghana. Forest Ecology and Management, 255, 313-319. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2007.09.077
[11]	Parry, M. S. (1956). Tree planting practices in tropical Africa. FAO Forestry Development Paper No. 8, 298 p.
[12]	Zobel, B., & Talbert, J. (1991). Applied forest tree improvement. IL: Waveland Press, Inc.