Treesearch

This report details two studies focused on eight watersheds (Hydrological Unit (HU)-12s) in northeast Kansas. Hydrological Units are a national standard classification system developed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to facilitate water resource management in the United States (USGS, 2017). The watersheds analyzed in this report are given in Figure 1 and Table 1, along with their associated Hydrological Unit Codes (HUCs). The first study, referred to as the Land Cover Scaling Analysis, simulated changes in stream flow due to the effects of tree and impervious cover changes in...

The field of aerobiology is expanding due to a recognition of the diversity of roles microbes play in both terrestrial and atmospheric ecology. Smoke from global biomass burning has had significant and widespread ecological and human health consequences, but the living component of smoke has received little attention. Microbes aerosolized and transported by wildland fire may have profound effects on atmospheric and environmental factors, acting as nuclei for ice condensation, transporting pathogens or symbionts, and otherwise influencing ecosystems and human populations downwind. The...

The 2018 Woody Crops International Conference was held from 22 to 27 July 2018 throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin, USA, to unite world-leading short rotation woody crop (SRWC) organizations at a forum designed to enhance information exchange while also building a platform for developing future collaboration around SRWC production systems. The meeting included pre-conference and post-conference tours in Minnesota and Wisconsin and technical sessions in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Technical sessions were framed under the topics: Genetics and Physiology, Phytotechnologies, Stakeholders, Bioproduct...

The Little Missouri National Grassland is the largest designated National Grassland in the United States and represents one of the best examples of intact native mixed-grass prairie in the United States. The Little Missouri National Grasslands occurs entirely within the Williston Basin, which has been a leading source of conventional oil and gas production since the 1950s. Recent advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing (since 2000) have greatly increased energy extraction activities on the Little Missouri National Grassland. The objective of this assessment is to synthesize...

We applied a range of bole and root damage treatments to young Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) trees. Significant natural damage occurred to tree crowns over the course of the 10-year study allowing for an analysis of how damage severity to tree boles, tree roots, and tree tops impacts growth and cumulative survival of trees. Tree bole damage severity, measured by percent bole circumference removed, exponentially reduced cumulative survival across the study period, whereas damage to tree roots had no significant impact on survival. Bole damage had different impacts on...

Amphibians are declining worldwide due to habitat destruction, disease, and environmental stressors. Extremely variable breeding populations and a paucity of long-term monitoring data limits rigorous testing of amphibian population trends, or bias associated with sampling regimes. We used 24 years of continuous trapping data to compare annual probability of presence, and population trends and statistical power for six species among seven wetlands using five sampling scenarios (SS) based on the interval and span of years analyzed. Richness within a year and wetland ranged 29–89% of total...

Forest managers use mastication to grind or shed vegetation to remove competition, prepare a site for natural or artificial regeneration, or release sapling-sized trees; or they use mastication to convert ladder fuels to surface fuels and enhance decomposition of biomass. However, determining the best mastication configuration within the context of management objectives and site limitations is challenging. This report synthesizes our current knowledge on mastication as a forest management tool. We found that excavators, skid steers, and tractors can all be carrier machines and different...

In the present study, the authors explored the viability of dry-spinning to produce cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) and polylactic acid composite fibers from dimethylformamide solutions. Fiber surface morphology, crystallinity and mechanical properties were assessed for fibers with 0, 1, 3 and 5 wt% CNCs. The fiber morphology transitioned from smooth to sharkskin to severe melt fracture with increasing extrusion speed. Surface morphology appeared to be weakly dependent on CNC content and addition of CNCs did not reduce melt fracture. Addition of 1 wt% CNC resulted in the highest crystallinity,...

The improved fungal decay resistance exhibited by modified wood has been attributed to inhibited diffusion of decay precursors and subsequent degradation products through the wood cell wall. However, data relating the effect of modification to diffusion through wood cell walls is lacking. Synchrotron X-ray fluorescence microscopy paired with an in situ humidity chamber was used to observe the transport of an implanted model metabolite, potassium (K+) ions, in wood cell walls as a function of relative humidity (RH) and extent of the wood modification acetylation. The RH threshold for K+...