A review of dipterocarps - Center for International Forestry Research

Root Symbiosis and Nutrition
concentrated on surveys and the effectiveness of
ectomycorrhizas in promoting growth of seedlings under
adverse conditions. Presently dipterocarp mycorrhizal
research is not very active and progress has been slow
due to the limited number of researchers and funds
available (Sangwanit 1993).
Philippines
Work on dipterocarp mycorrhizas in the Philippines
started about five years ago at the University of Los
Baños, Laguna (de la Cruz 1993) with attempts to
combine dipterocarps propagated by cuttings/tissue
culture and mycorrhizal inoculation. Results will be
reported in a forthcoming publication (de la Cruz in
press). Considerable research has been focused on the
development of mycorrhizal inoculum delivery systems,
mainly for use with pines and eucalypts. Some of these
systems may be effective for dipterocarps but tests need
to be carried out, especially under field conditions.
Recently a survey of ectomycorrhizal fungi associated
with pines and dipterocarps was undertaken with funding
from the EEC (Zarate et al. 1993).
Other Groups
Some preliminary research on dipterocarp mycorrhizas
has also been carried out in Sri Lanka (Abeynayake 1991).
However, such work is not given much emphasis as
reforestation of degraded lands with dipterocarps has not
been successful and Sri Lanka is presently not using
dipterocarps for reforestation on a large scale
(Abeynayake 1991). In India some research was
conducted on ectomycorrhizal fungi associated with
Shorea robusta in the early 1970s (Bakshi 1974) but
since then there have been no new reports of mycorrhizal
research on dipterocarps.
Mycorrhiza Network Asia
Mycorrhiza Network Asia was established at the Tata
Energy Research Institute, New Delhi on 1 April 1988.
This network serves as a point of reference for
mycorrhizal scientists in Asia and provides various
services such as literature searches, a directory of Asian
mycorrhizal researchers, a germplasm bank, organisation
of meetings and symposia, and the publication of a
quarterly newsletter, Mycorrhiza News. Mycorrhizal
researchers from the various Southeast Asian countries
are members or are aware of the existence of this network
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and meet from time to time at the Asian Conference on
Mycorrhizae (ACOM); the Third ACOM was held in
Indonesia in April 1994. Previous meetings were held in
India (1st ACOM) and Thailand (2nd ACOM).
However, rapid progress on dipterocarp mycorrhizal
research in the Southeast Asian region is constrained by
several factors:
1. Insufficient numbers of suitably trained and active
mycorrhizal researchers in most Southeast Asian
countries. For example, there are only two scientists
actively working on dipterocarp mycorrhizas in
Malaysia and Thailand respectively.
BIOTROP has conducted several training courses on
mycorrhizas for participants from the ASEAN
countries but it is unfortunate that most trainees do
not engage in mycorrhizal research upon returning
to their own countries. A slightly different problem
is encountered in the Philippines where many trained
researchers leave the country for better opportunities
abroad. In Indonesia an encouraging situation has
recently developed where practising foresters were
sent by their employers, the various concession
holders, to attend a two-week local training course
on mycorrhizal techniques conducted by BIOTROP.
2. Insufficient budget to undertake such research.
Most local governments do not allocate sufficient
funds for basic research including mycorrhizal
research. De la Cruz (1993) pointed out that much
of the productive mycorrhizal research came from
external grants.
3. Lack of regional collaboration.
Much has been spoken about the need for regional
research collaboration in many fields, including
mycorrhizal research, but to date no concrete
proposals have materialised for regional mycorrhizal
research.
4. Lack of expertise in some fields of mycorrhizal
research, such as identification of ectomycorrhizal
fungal associates, culture and propagation of
mycorrhizal inoculum.
A local or regional flora of potential ectomycorrhizal
fungi is needed as baseline information for many
studies. A start has been made in several Southeast
Asian countries to collect and collate such
information. However, most of the research is only
possible because of the collaboration of foreign
experts working on short-term projects.