Kimberly Ann Elliott is a research fellow at the Institute for International Economics and has a joint appointment with the Center for Global Development. She served on the National Academies Committee on Monitoring International Labor Standards in 2002–03 and, in 1999, as chair of the Task Force on Civil Society of the State Department Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy. Her p...

We examined the effects of polyphenols on the analysis of lignin by histochemical methods, namely, the Mäule color reaction coupled with microspectrophotometry and ultraviolet microspectrophotometry, in wood of Eucalyptus camaldulensis and E. globulus. Thin sections and wood meals were extracted with solutions of alkali at different concentrations. The amounts of alkali-soluble extractives incr...

In the worldwide search for new strategies in sustainable weed management, the use of plant species able to produce and release phytotoxic compounds into the environment could be an effective alternative to synthetic herbicides. Eucalyptus globulus Labill. is known to be a source of biologically active compounds responsible for its phytotoxic and allelopathic properties. Our previous results de...

Ceratocystis wilt, caused by Ceratocystis fimbriata, has become the most important disease in eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp. and hybrids) plantations in Brazil. To further our understanding of the epidemiology of this disease, we surveyed eucalyptus plantations in the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia that were known to have Ceratocystis wilt or were thought to have been planted with infected roote...

Mating studies showed that isolates of the insect-associated wilt pathogen Ceratocystis fimbriata from Eucalyptus spp., mango, fig, inhame (Colocasia esculenta), Gmelina arborea and sweet potato were interfertile, and progeny from those crosses showed normal segregation for microsatellite markers. Genetic diversity was compared among 13 populations of C. fimbriata collected from six states in B...

The replacement of native Portuguese forests by Eucalyptus globulus is often associated with deleterious effects on terrestrial and aquatic communities. Several studies have suggested that such a phenomenon is linked with the leaf essential oils released into the environment during the Eucalyptus leaf degradation process. However, to date, the way these compounds affect leaf degradation in terr...

Fine roots are a major pathway of C input into soils. The aim of this study was to quantify fine root stocks, production and turnover in natural forest and land use systems converted from forests in Ethiopia. The study was conducted in a remnant Afromontane forest, eucalyptus plantation and grass and cropland in NW Ethiopia. Fine root dynamics were investigated using three different methods: se...

A study of microfungi associated with living Eucalyptus leaves and leaf litter revealed several novel and interesting taxa. Cladoriella eucalypti gen. et sp. nov. is described as a Cladosporium-like genus associated with litter collected in South Africa, while Fulvoflamma eucalypti gen. et. sp. nov. is newly described from leaf litter collected in Spain. Beta-conidia are newly reported for spec...

When different ratios of Eucalyptus leaves and cow dung were mixed and analyzed for worm multiplication, amongst the three ratios (1:1, 3:1 and 3:2), 3:1 was the most suitable ratio as far as multiplication of worms is concerned. There was no multiplication of worms up to two weeks but the worms started multiplying at a significant rate after two weeks. After eight weeks of inoculation the numb...

Rapid extraction of total RNA from Eucalyptus leaves is difficult due to the high content of polyphenolics and polysaccharides. A rapid and simple method was developed by using an extraction buffer containing sodium isoascorbate at a concentration of 500 mM. This method consisted of one or two chloroform extractions, one acid guanidium-phenol-chloroform extraction, and isopropanol precipitation...