Objective
The proposal entitled "Ectomycorrhiza of indigenous and exotic trees in lowland Kenyan forests" will be undertaken by 4 research groups" 3 in EC member states and lin Kenya, with Oxford Forestry Institute (OFI) as the coordinating proposer. The field work will be conducted mainly in the Coast province of Kenya in both lowland forests containing 3 species of native leguminous trees and plantations of exotic pines and eucalypts, and at the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI). Laboratory, glasshouse and nursery-scale studies will be carried out at KEFRI and OFI, and at the University of Murcia (UM) where a Kenyan graduate will complete a 3-Year tudentship as an integral part of the proposal. The programme will also be augmented by DNA fingerprinting of ectomycorrhizas and their fungal associates at the Centre de Recherches Forestieres de Nancy of the Institut Nacional de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA).
In addition to the training elements for a Kenyan graduate and a Kenyan scientist, the proposal has seven main objectives as follows:- 1. To determine the symbiotic associations present on the roots of some indigenous and exotic trees in lowland Kenyan forests.
2. To identify and characterize any ectomycorrhizal associations. 3. To collect and identify putative ectomycorrhizal fungi and to study their biology.
4. To synthesize ectomycorrhizas on indigenous and exotic trees for the confirmation and characterization of host/fungus associations. 5. To determine host and fungus specificity and to study the interactions between fungi in dual or multiple cultures.
6. To determine the efeects of ectomycorrhizas on transplant survival and tree growth.
7. To identify the presence of particular fungi in ectomvcorrhizas usinq DNA fingerprinting techniques.
Fields of science
Topic(s)
Data not availableCall for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
OX1 3RB OXFORD
United Kingdom