Treesearch

An exclusive report on housing trends and the impact on woodworkers' spending. What are some of the key market drivers for woodworkers in the construction-based sectors, and what investments are being made to advance their capabilities?

The use of cross-laminated timber (CLT) has become more popular, with many advances stemming from research and construction projects in Europe. CLT has been utilized in vertical construction projects where many inherent features have been maximized. CLT is prefabricated, relatively lightweight, dimensionally stable, and sustainable. Despite these advances, the use of CLT in bridge structures has been limited, and the adoption of CLT into governing bridge design codes has been slow in North America. Results of laboratory investigation assessing the feasibility of CLT as a primary structural...

This study quantifies the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission profiles of various forest residue utilization alternatives through a cradle-to-grave Life cycle assessment (LCA). Unlike previous studies which were limited in scope, focusing mainly on energy use of residues, there is need for comparative assessments of different alternatives with wider scope. This study compares cradle-to-grave GHG emissions associated with utilizing forest residues for six energy and non-energy applications: electricity, briquettes, sustainable aviation fuel, particleboard, biochar, and mulch. These options of...

Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) panels have been primarily developed for the building industry. But there have been few instances where CLT panels have been used for bridge deck applications in North America. CLT is prefabricated, lightweight, dimensionally stable, and environmentally sustainable. The use of CLT in bridge structures has been limited and the adoption of CLT into governing bridge design codes has been slow-going in North America. The objective of this project was to investigate the feasibility of CLT as a primary structural material for highway bridge deck applications. To...

Understanding drivers of plant diversity and distributions is critical for their conservation, particularly among changing environments. While plants’ responses to disturbances are relatively well-studied, in-depth analyses of how they respond to habitat recovery are surprisingly scarce. This is particularly true for one of the most diverse, sensitive, and threatened plant families: the Orchidaceae. To address this knowledge gap, we evaluated the diversity and distribution of terrestrial orchid species within a recovering tropical forest landscape in the Republic of Palau. We tested the...

Nonnative carp were spotted nearly 75 years ago in eastern Oregon’s Malheur Lake and have subsequently fully colonized the lake and surrounding wetlands, compromising water quality and the growth of native aquatic vegetation eaten by resident and migratory waterfowl. Eradication efforts have proven challenging; only a few carp are needed for the population to rebound. Managers at Malheur Lake are not alone in dealing with this invasive fish; aquatic managers elsewhere in the country face similar issues. Following a Carp Control Workshop in 2010, Jason Dunham, a researcher with the U.S....

Dimensional tolerances of mass timber construction typically result in small gaps between mass timber panels. The Fire Design Specification prescribes that when gaps within elements exceed 3 mm the mass timber within the gap must be treated as fully fire-exposed surfaces. Therefore, many of these gaps must be filled with fire protection material. However, the process of protecting these gaps is time consuming and costly. To evaluate the influence of gaps on fire dynamics and char propagation, the authors performed a series of experiments on cross laminated timber panel- to-panel connections...

In the late 2010s, the Timber Industry Development Division (TIDD) of the Ghana Forestry Commission sought to acquire International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 17020:2012 accreditation. To meet the standard’s requirements, the TIDD, in cooperation with the US Department of Agriculture Forest Products Laboratory, published a standardized wood identification field manual entitled Field Identification Manual for Ghanaian Timbers. To increase the accessibility and utility of this resource for inspectors in the field, this study transforme...

Oak (Quercus) dominance in undisturbed eastern hardwood forests is declining as shade-tolerant species (e.g., red maple; Acer rubrum) gradually replace them (termed “mesophication”), especially on mesic sites. In contrast, compositional change can be accelerated after regeneration harvests as regeneration responds to overstory removal. We evaluated the tree and sapling strata over 17 years in mesic, mature cove hardwood (CHM) and subxeric upland hardwood (UHM) forests, and young cove hardwood and upland hardwood stands created by shelterwood-with-reserves harvests (CHSW and UHSW) to assess...

Deadwood can impact forest food webs through the creation of habitat and provision of resources, but impacts may differ based on initial differences in wood characteristics and over time. Bark beetles like the southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis Zimmerman) attack and wound pine trees, inoculating them with Ophiostomataceae (Ascomycota; hereafter “blue stain fungi”). Blue stain fungi may increase termite presence in deadwood, and in the surrounding leaf litter, potentially leading to increased abundances of leaf litter invertebrates over time. The effects of deadwood in general,...