From the Telegraph Journal, Page B1
February 1, 2012
CHRIS MORRIS
LEGISLATURE BUREAU
Research taps into forestry possibilities
FREDERICTON – From budworm-resistant trees, to perfumes made from smelly pulp effluent, to bio-pharma and bio-fuels, innovative, bio-tech breakthroughs are shaking Canada’s forestry sector to its roots. People working in the industry, whether they’re in charge of large forest companies or private woodlots, are realizing there’s more to trees than wood.
“As far as new products go, we all have heard that there has to be more to our forests than just lumber and pulp,” said Peggy Mc-Dougall, a professional forester who helps look after a 5,500-acre woodlot at Thulium Farm in southeastern New Brunswick.
“There are other resource values. Medicines, oils, fuels – we have First Nations who are very knowledgeable on this and we should be working with them. There are a lot of products we can get from our forests and we need to take a harder look at the opportunities.” State-of-the-art research includes new ways to protect forests. But when it comes to guarding against spruce budworm infestations, it turns out that a strange, symbiotic relationship from our prehistoric past may be the key to establishing bug-resistant forests for the future.
Research spearheaded by New Brunswick native David Miller is shedding new light on the natural ability of softwood trees to fend off budworm attacks.
Miller, a professor of biochemistry at Carleton University in Ottawa, has found that a naturally occurring fungus in the needles of trees like white spruce is instrumental in keeping budworm populations in check.
“It turns out that many plants have made a deal with fungi, natural fungi, to live inside them,” Miller, an expert in fungal toxins, said in an interview.
“In return for the bed and board, the fungus makes chemicals that do something for the plant. It’s a deal between two organisms that can live pretty well by themselves, but there are benefits that occur for both when they get together.” He says these fungi, called endophytes, are well known in certain seaweeds and in grasses. In fact, grasses with endophytes are the preferred choice for golf courses and lawns because their natural insect-fighting abilities mean they don’t require as much pesticide treatment.
“It turns out that trees do the same thing,”Miller says.
He said the relationship goes back millions of years, but it has been disrupted in recent times by the activities of humans.
Miller says conifer seedlings get the fungus spores from the forest floor, spread by the falling needles of larger trees. But he says that infection method has been disrupted by clear-cutting for farms, urban development, forestry, fires and the nursery incubation of seedlings.
Giving the trees back the fungus infection, he says, restores their natural ability to better withstand budworm attacks.
“When the trees have endophytes in them, the budworm doesn’t grow as fast – that means there’s more time for them to get sick, more time for birds to pick them off, that kind of thing,” Miller says.
“It doesn’t make the trees invulnerable – if you put enough budworms on a tree it will eat it to the ground. But it makes the forest a little bit more tolerant to the budworm and makes it less likely that their populations will go critical.” Budworm infestations long have been a serious and costly problem in the forests of eastern Canada, where large tracts of woodland have been lost to the voracious, needle-eating pest. Spray programs to limit budworm damage are controversial, expensive and unpopular.
Miller, whose independent research has been aided by industrial partner, J.D. Irving, Limited, says the reintroduction of the fungus will not eliminate the budworm or the need for control programs.
But he says the development of budworm-resistant trees is another tool in the forester’s arsenal.
“The point is, the budworm is part of the ecology and we don’t want to rub it out, but when it gets out of control it’s a big problem for the landscape,” Miller says.”Just go to parts of Cape Breton where they didn’t manage the budworm and you can see the losses to this day.” The forestry sector is embracing the growing trend toward potentially lucrative bio-products and value-added products, industry experts say.
A recent study by the Forest Products Association of Canada found that markets already exist and the global demand for forest bio-products by 2015 will reach about $200 billion per year.
“We can make plastic out of trees. We can make car parts out of trees. We can make aviation fuels out of trees now. These technologies have been rapidly developing,” says Catherine Cobden of the Forest Products Association.
Jim Irving, president of J.D. Irving, Limited – New Brunswick’s largest forestry company – says he was astonished when he learned recently that effluent from the Saint John pulp mill contained an ingredient used in the production of perfume.
“We have been doing research on our effluent from the pulp mill and one of the things we found out in the process as we captured all these various components is an ingredient that is a fundamental ingredient in perfume,” Irving told the editorial board of the Telegraph-Journal.
“Perfume! Who would ever have thought? But you know if you’re working at things, and you’re being progressive and you’re trying new things, there are opportunities. We have to turn the stones over.” On the energy front, the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters group has been in talks with the provincial energy commission about forestry biomass, says David Plante, a vice-president with the organization.
It’s been estimated that about 40 megawatts of energy could be generated annually in New Brunswick sawmills, Plante says, and about 55 jobs could be created for each 100 megawatts of biomass generation. He says the use of biomass presents some opportunities for New Brunswick’s forestry sector in terms of expanding its value-added capabilities.
“It’s not quite to the extent of cooking trees to make jet fuel, but it’s an opportunity that exists right now.” Researchers have tied white bags containing budworms to the limbs of test softwood trees infected with a fungus that slows down the growth of the insect pest.
