College of Natural Resources researchers are improving loblolly pine trees to draw in more carbon dioxide, a common greenhouse gas.

More than 50 years of genetics work to increase loblolly pine production in the Southeast has improved the trees’ ability to act as carbon sinks that mitigate climate change, according to a new study by North Carolina State University researchers from the College of Natural Resources.

“We’ve been working to create trees that grow faster and produce more wood, and what this research shows is that at the same time we’re enhancing environmental quality by scrubbing as much carbon out of the atmosphere as we possibly can,” says Dr. John King, an NC State forest ecologist and co-author of a paper published this month in the journal Forest Science.

The study estimated a 17 percent increase in stem-wood production and a 13 percent increase in carbon uptake in improved loblolly pines planted throughout the Southeast between 1968 and 2007. Three generations of enhanced seedlings were released over that 40-year period. Pine plantations cover about 15 percent of forested land in the South. Each year, almost a billion loblolly pine seedlings are planted, typically taking 25 years to reach maturity.

“We’re reaping the benefits today of work our predecessors did, and our work will affect our children and grandchildren,” says co-author Dr. Steve McKeand, NC State forestry professor and director of the Cooperative Tree Improvement Program, a public/private partnership founded in 1956.

The study marks one of the first attempts to quantify the effects of improved tree genetics on carbon sequestration across a large landscape, McKeand and King say.

The lead author of the study, Dr. Mike Aspinwall of the University of Texas at Austin, worked with McKeand and King while completing his doctorate at NC State.

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Media Contacts:
Dr. John King, 919/513-7855 or john_king@ncsu.edu
Dr. Steve McKeand, 919/886-6073 or steve_mckeand@ncsu.edu
D’Lyn Ford, News Services, 919/513-4798 or dlyn_ford@ncsu.edu

Note: An abstract of the paper follows.

“Carbon Sequestration from 40 Years of Planting Genetically Improved Loblolly Pine Across the Southeast United States”

Authors: Michael J. Aspinwall, University of Texas at Austin; Steven E. McKeand and John S. King, North Carolina State University

Published: April 2012, in Forest Science

Abstract:
Highly productive, widely deployed genetically improved loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) may play an important role in mitigating rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) via carbon (C) sequestration. To understand the role of loblolly pine genetic improvement in future C sequestration strategies, we examined the historical (1968 – 2007) impact of operationally deploying improved families of loblolly pine on productivity and C sequestration across the southeast U.S. Since 1977, nearly 100% of loblolly pine plantations in the southeast U.S. have been established with genetically improved loblolly pine. In recent years, over 400,000 ha of genetically improved loblolly pine are planted annually. Between 1968 and 2007, we estimate that genetically improved loblolly pine plantations have produced a total of 25.6 billion m3 of stem-wood volume, and have sequestered 9,865 Tg C in live and dead biomass. Our estimates also indicate that genetic improvement has resulted in an additional 3.7 billion m3 (17% increase) and 1,100 Tg C (13%) of volume production and C sequestration, respectively, relative to volume production and C sequestration with no genetic improvement. We expect that loblolly pine plantation C sequestration will increase as more productive families and clones are deployed, and as currently deployed genetic material continues to mature. Together, genetic improvement, intensive silviculture, and longer rotations aimed at producing long-lived wood products will be important tools for maximizing C sequestration in loblolly pine plantations.

A North Carolina State University study shows that, for the first time since testing began several years ago, feral pigs in North Carolina have tested positive for Brucella suis, an important and harmful bacteria that can be transmitted to people.

The bacteria are transmitted to humans by unsafe butchering and consumption of undercooked meat. Clinical signs of brucellosis, the disease caused by the bacteria, in people are fairly non-specific and include persistent flu-like symptoms. The bacteria can also spread in pig populations, causing abortions in affected swine.

In a study conducted to test N.C. feral pig populations for several types of bacteria and viruses, about 9 percent of feral pigs studied in Johnston County and less than 1 percent of feral pigs surveyed randomly at 13 other sites across the state showed exposure to B. suis.

Dr. Chris DePerno, associate professor of forestry and environmental resources at NC State and the corresponding author of a paper describing the research, says the results are troubling for people who hunt feral pigs for sport or food.

“Now that exposure to Brucella suis has been found in North Carolina’s feral pig populations, people need to take care when hunting, butchering and cooking feral pigs,” DePerno says. “That means wearing gloves when field dressing feral pigs and cooking the meat to the proper temperature.”

Dr. Suzanne Kennedy-Stoskopf, an NC State research professor of wildlife infectious diseases and a co-author of the paper, says that testing positive for antibodies to B. suis means the feral pigs have been exposed to and mounted an immune response against the bacteria. Antibodies do not eliminate B. suis from pigs, so the animals are considered infected and capable of transmitting the bacteria to other pigs and people. She adds that control and eradication programs introduced in the late 1990s eliminated swine brucellosis from all commercial pig populations in the United States.

Kennedy-Stoskopf says that B.suis can be transmitted among pig populations when pigs ingest infected tissue or fluids. Direct contact with infected pigs or ingestion of contaminated food and water could cause currently uninfected pig populations to become infected.

“Spillover from infected feral pigs to commercial pigs is an economic and a public-health concern,” Kennedy-Stoskopf says. “The biggest public-health risk is to pork processors and hunters who field dress feral pigs. Although cases of brucellosis are rare in the United States, people need to understand the clinical signs – like intermittent fevers and persistent headaches – and go to the doctor for diagnosis and treatment if they have these flu-like symptoms.” Because clinical signs are so non-specific, it is important to tell your physician if you have had any exposure to feral swine carcasses and meat.

Feral pig populations are exploding across the country, DePerno says. Besides the rabbit-like reproductive proclivity of feral pigs, people are partially responsible for the population boom. There is strong evidence that humans have transported feral pigs into new areas for hunting.

“Control of feral pig populations is difficult at best,” DePerno says. “Research indicates that about 70 percent of the population will need to be removed each year to keep a wild population stable. Regarding feral pigs, hunting usually removes from 8 to 50 percent of a given wild population.”

Feral pigs can be destructive to the environment and can outcompete native animals. They dig, root and tear up crop lands; eat just about anything; and can spread disease to animals and people.

DePerno hopes that more research on how far feral pigs travel – and increased scrutiny of hunters who move feral pigs from place to place – will help keep feral populations from spreading.

NC State graduate student Mark Sandfoss and postdoctoral researcher Dr. Maria Palamar conducted research and co-authored the paper, which is published in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases. Researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Rollins Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory contributed to the research.

The study was funded by NC State’s Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Program and the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources; the Howell Woods Environmental Learning Center; and the U.S. Department of Agriculture/APHIS/Wildlife Services National Wildlife Disease Program.

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Note: An abstract of the paper follows.

“A Serosurvey of Feral Swine (Sus scrofa) in Eastern N.C.”

Authors: Mark R. Sandfoss, Christopher DePerno, Maria B. Palamar, and Suzanne Kennedy-Stoskopf, North Carolina State University; Carl W. Betsill. USDA-APHIS-Wildlife Services; Gene Erickson, Rollins Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory

Published: April 2012 in Journal of Wildlife Diseases

Abstract: As feral swine (Sus scrofa) populations expand their range and the opportunity for feral swine hunting increases, there is increased potential for disease transmission that may impact humans, domestic swine, and wildlife. From September 2007 to March 2010, in 13 North Carolina counties and at Howell Woods Environmental Learning Center, we conducted a serosurvey of feral swine for Brucella suis, pseudorabies virus (PRV), and classical swine fever (CSF); also, the samples obtained at Howell Woods were tested for porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV-2). Feral swine serum was collected from trapped and hunter harvested swine. For the first time since 2004 when screening began, we detected B. suis antibodies in 9.2% (9/98) of feral swine at Howell Woods and <1% (1/415) in the North Carolina counties. Also, at Howell Woods, we detected PCV-2 antibodies in 58.9% (53/90) of feral swine. We did not detect antibodies for PRV (n = 97, 415) or CSF (n = 56, 251) at Howell Woods or the 13 North Carolina counties, respectively. The detection of feral swine with antibodies to B. suis for the first time in North Carolina warrant

Media Contacts:
Dr. Chris DePerno, 919/513-7559 or csdepern@ncsu.edu
Dr. Suzanne Kennedy-Stoskopf, 919/515-8111 or suzanne_stoskopf@ncsu.edu
Mick Kulikowski, News Services, 919/515-8387 or mick_kulikowski@ncsu.edu