Treesearch

TEMPO nanofibrillated cellulose (TNFC) fromtwo underutilized Appalachian hardwoods, Northern red oak (Quercus rubra) and yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), was prepared to determine its feasibility to be used as template for antimicrobial metallic copper particles. In addition, a comparison of the TNFC from the two species in terms of their morphological, chemical, thermal, and mechanical properties was also performed. The woody biomass was provided in the form of logging residue from Preston County, West Virginia. A traditional kraft process was used to produce the pulp followed by...

Habitat loss and fragmentation have caused population decline across taxa through impacts on life history diversity, dispersal patterns, and gene flow. Yet, intentional isolation of native fish populations is a frequently used management strategy to protect against negative interactions with invasive fish species. We evaluated the population viability and genetic diversity of 12 isolated populations of Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi located on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana, USA. Length-structured integral projection models (IPMs) were used to project population growth rate...

Logs provide an important form of coarse woody debris in forest systems, contributing to numerous ecological processes and affecting wildlife habitat and fuel complexes. Despite this, little information is available on the dynamics of log populations in southwestern ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) and especially mixed-conifer forests. A recent episode of elevated tree mortality in these forest types in northern Arizona caused a pulse in log inputs as dead trees broke and fell. We documented changes in these log populations from 2004 to 2009 in an earlier paper. Here, we extended that work...

Anthropogenic environmental changes are leading to habitat loss and degradation, driving many species to extinction. In this context, habitat models become increasingly important for effective species management and conservation. However, most habitat studies lack replicated study areas and do not properly address the role of nonstationarity and spatial scales in determining factors that limit species occurrence under different environmental settings. Here we provide an optimized multi-scale framework for analyzing habitat selection of the threatened Mexican Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis...

Over the last two decades, mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) populations reached epidemic levels across much of western North America, including high elevations where cool temperatures previously limited mountain pine beetle persistence. Many high-elevation pine species are susceptible hosts and experienced high levels of mortality in recent outbreaks, but co-occurring Great Basin bristlecone pines (Pinus longaeva) were not attacked. Using no-choice attack box experiments, we compared Great Basin bristlecone pine resistance to mountain pine beetle with that of limber pine (P....

The ability to recognize individuals within an animal population is fundamental to conservation and management. Identification of individual bats has relied on artificial marking techniques that may negatively affect the survival and alter the behavior of individuals. Biometric systems use biological characteristics to identify individuals. The field of animal biometrics has expanded to include recognition of individuals based upon various morphologies and phenotypic variations including pelage patterns, tail flukes, and whisker arrangement. Biometric systems use 4 biologic measurement...

Sprouting is an important source of regeneration for hardwood trees but has not been studied extensively in bottomland hardwood forests. We quantified the sprouting responses of 11 bottomland hardwood species or species groups after two levels of overstory harvest, including clearcutting with reserves (CCR) (residual basal area ∼2.0 m2/ha) and basal area retention (BAR) (residual basal area ∼8.0 m2/ha), in northern Missouri. The probability of sprout presence after one growing season decreased with increasing parent tree dbh for boxelder, river birch, hickories, hackberry, and American...

Hummel's observations on the limits of science to inform practice provides a useful starting point for a book chapter devoted to examining post-normal environmental policy where the "facts are uncertain, values in dispute, stakes high, and decisions urgent" (Funtowicz and Ravetz 1993, 739, 744). Central to the argument here is that the integration of science with practice requires greater attention to the science of practice, and not just the practice of science. In particular, a geographic or place-focused approach can help explain why the science-practice gap persists and why efforts to...

If you have recently harvested timber, a question you might have is, "Where did the logs go after they left my woodland?" Most likely, they were processed somewhere in the United States. Just over 2.3% of the total hardwood log volume harvested in the U.S. was exported in 2014, the latest year for which data are available. Considering only the higher value portion of the log market (sawlogs and veneer logs), the export volume was 6.8% (UNECE/FAO 2016). By contrast, 18.6% of the total volume of hardwood lumber sawn in the U.S. was exported, and the percentage would be much higher if...

The effects of climate on wildland fire confronts society across a range of different ecosystems. Water and temperature affect the combustion dynamics, irrespective of whether those are associated with carbon fueled motors or ecosystems, but through different chemical, physical, and biological processes. We use an ecosystem combustion equation developed with the physical chemistry of atmospheric variables to estimate and simulate fire probability and mean fire interval (MFI). The calibration of ecosystem fire probability with basic combustion chemistry and physics offers a quantitative...