Treesearch

Ancient archeological wooden artifacts hold important stories from our history that can only be retold through wood conservation. Understanding the detailed mechanisms of how to stabilize these fragile artifacts dimensionally is necessary to effectively preserve them for the next generations. In this study, highly effective organosilicons are used to treat and infiltrate model degraded wood. We used wood dissolution techniques, in conjunction with two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, to characterize the changes occurring to native wood cell wall polymers before and...

Forest restoration treatments in dry conifer forests of the western United States are often done with objectives to move current forest structure toward historical conditions and, in turn, increase the system’s resilience to future wildfires. But little is known about their effects on understory plant composition, particularly over the long-term. This is especially true in the Colorado Front Range (CFR). We used a before/after control/impact study design to assess the effects of mechanical forest restoration treatments on forest structure, surface fuels and understory plant composition 1,...

New tools of synthetic biology that enable precise manipulation of genomes, metabolic pathways, and ecosystems present new opportunities, risks, ethical dilemmas, and responsibilities for stewards of biodiversity. We argue that the risks and benefits of synthetic biology for use in biodiversity conservation, which we term “synthetically assisted conservation,” can be better understood, evaluated, and regulated by precisely defining the techniques in relation to well-established and regulated conservation frameworks: conservation translocation and integrated pest management. Synthetically...

Moderate-resolution (30-m) national map products have limited capacity to represent fine-scale, heterogeneous urban forms and processes, yet improvements from incorporating higher resolution predictor data remain rare. In this study, we applied random forest models to high-resolution land cover data for 71 U.S. urban areas, moderate-resolution National Land Cover Database (NLCD) Tree Canopy Cover (TCC), and additional explanatory climatic and structural data to develop an enhanced urban TCC dataset for U.S. urban areas. With a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.747, our model estimated...

Climate change significantly affects hydrological processes in forest ecosystems, particularly in sensitive coastal areas such as the Croatan National Forest (CNF) in North Carolina. Accurate projections of future water yield are essential for managing agriculture, forestry, and natural ecosystems. This study investigates the potential impacts of climate change on water yield using a combination of statistical downscaling and machine learning. Two downscaling methods, a Statistical DownScaling Model (SDSM) and Multivariate Adaptive Constructed Analogs (MACA), were evaluated, with the SDSM...

Understanding the timing of key life history events is essential for effective fish conservation and management. Traditionally, predicting hatch and emergence timing in wild fish populations was challenging due to the reliance on average incubation temperature as a primary model parameter, which is often difficult to obtain in natural settings. Recent advancements have refined these models, enabling their application in wild environments using spawning dates and daily water temperature records. However, their broader use remains constrained by a lack of parameterizations for many species,...

Decades of literature on forest treatment – peakflow relations have generated considerable disagreements and turned the topic into one regarded as enigmatic. Factors affecting peakflows are multiple and chancy and, hence, can only be investigated via a probabilistic approach. We analyze peakflow data using the peakflow frequency distribution framework in two pairs of control-treatment watersheds in the rain environment of an experimental forest in North Carolina. We demonstrate how a range of forest treatments can change the magnitude and frequency of all peakflows on record and how such...

Managers across the western US seek effective fuel treatment strategies to mitigate hazardous fuel loads and risks of high severity fire in dry conifer forests. Conventional fuel hazard reduction treatments emphasis reducing canopy fuel continuity and surface fuel loading using an even spaced, thin-from-below approach, with pile or broadcast burning of residual surface fuels. Such treatments often result in forest structures that differ from the historical conditions. Ecological restoration treatments emphasize enhancing structural heterogeneity but may produce less fire-resistant stands...

A nanomaterial life-cycle risk assessment (Nano LCRA) was conducted for second-generation functionalized cellulose nanomaterials (CNs) in five case studies, including applications in water filtration, food contact packaging (including as an additive and coating), and food additives, to identify and prioritize potential occupational, health, consumer, and environmental risks. Exposure scenarios were developed and ranked for each product life-cycle stage. A Safer-by-Design Toolbox (SbD Toolbox) representing a compendium of high-throughput physical, chemical, and toxicological new approach...

Climate change intensifies periods of climate extremes globally, threatening biodiversity. Vertebrates vulnerable to climate extremes are identified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, though future changes in these species' exposure remain unclear. Using CMIP6 climate models under four shared socioeconomic pathways, we projected changes in extreme drought, heat, and precipitation frequencies between 1974-2014 and 2050-2090 for 1634 terrestrial vertebrates considered threatened by climate extremes, focusing on 33 vertebrate diversity hotspots. Results indicate substantial...