Stem Carbohydrates and Adventitious Root Formation of Cycas micronesica following Aulacaspis yasumatsui Infestation

Abstract

Large stem cuttings were removed from Cycas micronesica K.D. Hill trees and used for asexual propagation to more fully understand resource factors that influence adventitious root formation success. Healthy source trees had received insecticide protection from ubiquitous Aulacaspsis yasumatsui Takagi infestations and unhealthy source trees had suffered from chronic A. yasumatsui infestations. Nonstructural carbohydrates were quantified from stem tissues at the base of each 1-m cutting, and induction of adventitious roots was attempted using field soil as the medium. Carbohydrate concentrations were increased in healthy, protected tree cuttings above those in unhealthy, infested tree cuttings. The relative increase was greatest in the hexoses, intermediate in sucrose, and least in starch. The total nonstructural carbohydrate concentration in cuttings of infested trees was 54% of that of protected trees, and the sugar/starch quotient of infested trees exceeded that of protected trees. Asexual propagation success was 30% for the unhealthy tree cuttings and 100% for the healthy tree cuttings. These manipulative experiments confirm that chronic A. yasumatsui herbivory of C. micronesica trees reduces stem carbohydrates and decreases asexual propagation success. The results indicate that the use of large cuttings from unhealthy C. micronesica trees to rescue tree populations from construction sites is not a wise conservation decision in habitats where A. yasumatsui herbivory has been uncontrolled. Protocols for future rescue operations designed to transplant C. micronesica trees from construction sites may be improved by this new knowledge.