Treesearch

Access to highly detailed models of heterogeneous forests, spanning from the near surface to above the tree canopy at varying scales, is increasingly in demand. This enables advanced computational tools for analysis, planning, and ecosystem management. LiDAR sensors, available through terrestrial (TLS) and aerial (ALS) scanning platforms, have become established as primary technologies for forest monitoring due to their capability to rapidly collect precise 3D structural information directly. Selection of these platforms typically depends on the scales (tree-level, plot, regional) required...

Polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) are widely used polymers but significantly contribute to plastic waste. Effective recycling of PP and PE is essential for reducing plastic pollution and enhancing sustainability. Collection of post-consumer PP and PE wastes forming comingled mixtures is routinely done due to the difficulty of sorting. While polymer blending offers a cost-effective way to recycle these mixtures, their inherent immiscibility limits the development of high-performance blends. This review provides an overview of recent advances in compatibilization strategies aimed at...

Forest products transportation in the US South is an essential component of the wood supply chain connecting raw materials with manufacturing facilities. Owners and operators of log trucks face many challenges to business success. This review analyzed variables associated with owning and operating commercial trucks in the United States to compare raw forest products transportation and general trucking applications. The variables for both log trucks and general trucking included fuel costs, fuel economy, insurance, driver characteristics and availability, driver wages, truck and trailer...

Enhancing the performance of polypropylene (PP)/high-density polyethylene (HDPE) blends is crucial for valorizing mixed plastic waste. This study incorporated microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), combined with maleic anhydride grafted polyethylene (MAPE), into a PP/HDPE blend to enhance its performance. Mechanical results showed that the addition of MCC increased strength, stiffness, and toughness of the PP/HDPE blend, with further enhancement achieved through adding MAPE. Morphological observations and thermal analyses revealed that the enhanced mechanical properties were attributed to the...

Understanding the correlation between morphology and the fundamental behavior of blends is crucial for tailoring their properties. This study investigated the effects of phase morphology on mechanical performance, rheology, and non-isothermal crystallization kinetics of immiscible polypropylene (PP)/high-density polyethylene (HDPE) blends. Nanometer-scale HDPE phases dispersed within PP, co-continuous phases, and micrometer-scale PP phases dispersed within HDPE were formed at 75/25, 50/50, and 25/75 PP/HDPE weight ratios, respectively. Mechanical results indicated that the co-continuous...

Wildfires are growing in destructive power, and accurately predicting the spread and intensity of wildland fire is essential for managing ecological and societal impacts. No current operational models used for fire behavior prediction resolve critical fire-atmospheric coupling or nonlocal influences of the fire environment, rendering them inadequate in accounting for the range of wildland fire behavior scenarios under increasingly novel fuel and climate conditions. Here, we present a new perspective on a dominant fire-atmospheric feedback mechanism, which we term wildland fire entrainment...

DNA analysis of environmental samples (eDNA) provides a non-intrusive approach to identify organisms, characterize biological communities, and assess biodiversity, including the detection and monitoring of invasive plant effects. However, the use of eDNA for specific applications, such as targeted-species detection, geographic and floral source tracing, and assessment of invasive plant ecological and environmental effects, requires the development of species-specific genetic primers. Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera (L.) Small) is a non-native high-impact invader, capable of changing fire...

The intensity of catastrophic weather events, such as hurricanes, are projected to increase across the Southeastern United States (US). With nearly half of the region's land covered by productive forests, periodic large-scale storms frequently disrupt timber supply and destabilize local markets. We investigate the impact of Hurricane Michael (2018) on timber markets in the Southeastern Coastal US, employing a Regression Discontinuity in Time (RDiT) design. Using bi-monthly stumpage price data from hurricane-affected and surrounding micro-markets, we estimate causal effects on market...

Accurate biomass estimation is essential for carbon stock assessment and coastal ecosystem management. Despite decades of research and interest in Puerto Rican mangroves, we lack species specific allometric models with only 10 Rhizophora mangleindividuals having been collected previously. To address this gap, we developed allometric equations for four mangrove species (Avicennia germinans, Laguncularia racemosa, Rhizophora mangle, and Conocarpus erectus) by harvesting and analyzing 152 individuals. Biomass estimation models were developed using standardized major axis (SMA) regression,...