Treesearch

This study investigates the effects of chemically functionalized cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) coatings on glass fiber (GF)‐epoxy laminate properties. Different types of modified CNCs, including sulfated, ion‐exchanged with MePh 3 P, silylated with (3‐Aminopropyl)triethoxysilane, oxidized and oligomerized with tannic acid, and grafted with hexadecylamine, are slot die coated onto unidirectional GF fabrics prior to laminate fabrication. The CNC coatings are examined using scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and contact angle measurements to evaluate the...

Developing green, sustainable, and high-performance cellulose-based paper materials to replace single-use plastic packaging is both promising and essential to meet consumer demands and industry targets for renewable packaging. Herein, a novel starch-cellulose nanofibril multilayer coated paper with excellent oxygen and improved water vapor barrier properties was developed. Starch was used as a base layer to fill the porous structure of the paper, thereby reducing the amount of functional TEMPO-mediated oxidized cellulose nanofibrils (TCNFs) required to achieve oxygen barrier properties....

The Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) national forest inventory estimates site productivity for every forested plot. In the Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the site class is not estimated because data are not collected on site trees due to the lack of both annual growth rings and growth and yield references, so default values are assigned. We calculated site productivity values by island, forest type and major soil taxon, stand characteristics by these same strata, and explore hurricane impacts. Generally, stand density measures decreased from drier to wetter forest types, while...

The construction sector increasingly emphasizes renewable materials like wood from sustainably managed forests due to wood’s low embodied carbon and carbon storage potential, contributing to climate change mitigation. This study applies life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental impact of softwood lumber manufacturing in New Brunswick, Canada. Data were gathered from a local softwood sawmill through survey questionnaires and on-site visits, capturing details on raw material extraction, production processes, and fuel sources used to power the sawmill. A life-cycle inventory...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program provides this resource update yearly as an overview of forest resources in Tennessee. These estimates are derived from field data collected across a systematic network of fixed-radius forest monitoring plots located on both public and private land. New updates are provided annually as a subset of plots within the State are remeasured. Each year, field crews visit and measure a subset of all FIA plots across the entire State (the size of the subset varies by State and year). Combining all...

Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been widely used in food packaging due to their thermal and liquid resistance; however, health and environmental concerns have driven efforts to develop safer alternatives. This study investigates the production of PFAS-free molded pulp trays using a pilot-scale fiber molding system scalable for industrial applications. The process involves vacuum-assisted fiber deposition, membrane prepress dewatering, and hot pressing. Process parameters were first optimized using a formulation of bleached hardwood kraft pulp, bio-based wax, alkyl ketene dimer, and...

Smooth brome (Bromus inermis) is a Eurasian prairie grass whose roots in America can be traced to 1884, when the California Agricultural Experimental Station began studying its potential as forage for the country’s burgeoning cattle industry. Germinating earlier in the spring with protein-rich foliage and blades wider than native grasses, smooth brome was described in a 1915 Canadian Department of Agriculture circular as “a promising grass, possessing the necessary qualifications to the prairie climate.”

Passive acoustic monitoring is widely used in conservation but often limited by delayed results due to manual retrieval and post‐processing. To explore the feasibility of real‐time monitoring in remote landscapes, we conducted field evaluations of a prototype automated surveying unit (ASU). The ASU integrated onboard convolutional neural network‐based sound classification with satellite data transmission for near real‐time species detection. We deployed ASUs alongside conventional autonomous recording units at eight sites to survey for northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) and...

Large wildfires are a dominant type of disturbance in North American forests that have caused significant environmental impacts and economic damages. A potential approach to mitigate wildfire spread risk is to segment the landscape with fuel breaks or similar areas with reduced fuel content. However, fragmenting the landscape may undermine other ecosystem services, such as the provision of wildlife migration routes. We present a mixed-integer programming fuel break planning model that minimizes wildfire hazard while protecting migration routes for an endangered wildlife species population...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program provides this resource update yearly as an overview of forest resources in Oregon. These estimates are derived from field data collected across a systematic network of fixed-radius forest monitoring plots located on both public and private land. New updates are provided annually as a subset of plots within the State are remeasured. Each year, field crews visit and measure a subset of all FIA plots across the entire State (the size of the subset varies by State and year). Combining all the...