Treesearch

The objective of this study was to examine the toxicity of strobilurin fungicides against wood decay fungi in order to assess their potential to act as a co-biocide for copper-based wood protection. Two strobilurin fungicides, Heritage (50% azoxystrobin active ingredient) and Insignia (20% pyraclostrobin active ingredients), and copper sulfate pentahydrate were tested against one white rot fungus (Trametes versicolor) and two brown rot fungi (Gloeophyllum trabeum and Fibroporia radiculosa). SHAM (salicylhydroxamic acid) was also included in the study because it is a known potentiator of...

We present the results of an assessment of participants in the TreesCount! tree census initiative, which occurred in New York City during 2015 and 2016. We posed questions to volunteers about their motivations and experiences of the program and their feelings on how they or their neighborhood may have been changed by the experience of counting trees. We sent the assessment to all TreesCount! volunteers that had taken the training and signed up for events (n=2,348). The assessment opened on May 11, 2015 and closed on January 1, 2016. The assessment contains 34 questions, including yes/no,...

Yellowwood (Cladrastis kentukea) grows in small, widely scattered populations in the wild, but is also a popular ornamental tree that thrives when planted in urban areas outside its natural range. Since the small native populations of yellowwood in several states are considered at risk of extirpation, the cultivated population could serve as an ex situ repository of yellowwood genetic diversity that could be used to restore lost local populations of the species. The potential value of cultivated yellowwood for conservation depends on the genetic diversity among cultivated trees compared to...

Common walnut (Juglans regia L) is an economically important species cultivated worldwide for its high-quality wood and nuts. It is generally accepted that after the last glaciation J. regia survived and grew in almost completely isolated stands in Asia, and that ancient humans dispersed walnuts across Asia and into new habitats via trade and cultural expansion. The history of walnut in Europe is a matter of debate, however. In this study, we estimated the genetic diversity and structure of 91 Eurasian walnut populations using 14 neutral microsatellites. By integrating fossil pollen,...

The termite hindgut contains a microbial community that symbiotically aids in digestion of lignocellulosic materials. For better understanding of the dynamics of the bacteria-termite relationship, a species survey of bacterial hindgut microbes in subterranean termites (Reticulitermes flavipes: Kollar) collected from Louisville, Mississippi was performed after exposure to chitosan-treated and control (water-treated) wood samples. Total genomic DNA was isolated from termite hindguts, amplified and 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene fragments were analyzed using next-generation sequencing technique...

BACKGROUND: Turbidity has been used as an indicator of microbiological contamination of drinking water in time-series studies attempting to discern the presence of waterborne gastrointestinal illness; however, the utility of turbidity as a proxy exposure measure has been questioned. OBJECTIVES: We conducted a review of epidemiological studies of the association between turbidity of drinking-water supplies and incidence of acute gastrointestinal illness(AGI), including a synthesis of the overall weight of evidence. Our goal was to evaluate the potential for causal inference from the...

Annual cumulative soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions calculated from discrete chamber-based flux measurements have unknown uncertainty. We used outputs from simulations obtained with an agroecosystem model to design sampling strategies that yield accurate cumulative N2O flux estimates with a known uncertainty level. Daily soil N2O fluxes were simulated for Ames, IA (corn-soybean rotation), College Station, TX (corn-vetch rotation), Fort Collins, CO (irrigated corn), and Pullman, WA (winter wheat), representing diverse agro-ecoregions of the United States. Fertilization source, rate, and...

Forested watersheds provide approximately 80% of freshwater drinking resources in the United States (Fox et al. 2007). The water originating from forested watersheds is typically of high quality when compared to agricul¬tural watersheds, and concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus are nine times higher, on average, in agricultur¬al watersheds when compared to forested watersheds (Fox et al. 2007). Silvicultural activities typically occur on a low percentage of forested lands in any one year, and effects on water quality from silvicultural operations are typically localized and short-lived...

Climate change is altering the distribution of foundation species, with potential effects on organisms that inhabit these environments and changes to valuable ecosystem functions. In the Gulf of Mexico, black mangroves (Avicennia germinans) are expanding northward into salt marshes dominated by Spartina alterniflora (hereafter Spartina). Salt marshes are essential habitats for many organisms, including ecologically and economically important species such as blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) and Penaeid shrimp (e.g., Penaeus aztecus), which may be affected by vegetation changes. Black...

Background: Analysis of volatile metabolites derived from the human breath or biofluids provides noninvasive means of detecting and monitoring diseases that occur throughout the body. Diseases arise from different mechanisms that cause alterations in normal physiological processes. Mechanisms of disease (pathogenesis) result in the production of unique mixtures of abnormal volatile organic compounds (VOCs), referred to as disease biomarker metabolites when associated with specificdiseases. Regardless of where disease biomarkers originate in the body, they are picked up by the circulatory...