Treesearch

There has been a recent proposal to change the way that biology is taught and learned in undergraduate biology programs in the USA so that students develop a better understanding of science and the natural world. Here, we use this new, recommended teaching– learning framework to assert that permanent forestry plots could be a valuable tool to help develop biology literacy in the Caribbean and to help reverse what we perceive to be a trend of increasing detachment from nature in our Caribbean undergraduate biology students.

Between 2010 and 2012, Parc National de la Guadeloupe, Office National des Forêts, and Université des Antilles et de la Guyane established 9 permanent 1-ha plots in tropical rain forest of Basse-Terre Island (Guadeloupe). These plots comprise the Guadeloupian Forest Observatory, and are specifically designed for long-term tree growth measurements and forest-dynamics surveys. We marked more than 8000 trees with a diameter at breast height >10 cm and equipped them with tape dendrometers for measurement at 5-y intervals. We describe our field protocols for plot establishment and tree-growth...

The Federal Highway Administration sponsored a comprehensive research program on Historic Covered Timber Bridges in the USA. This national program's main purpose is to develop improved methods to preserve, rehabilitate, and restore timber bridge trusses that were developed during the early 1800s and, in many cases, are still in service today. One of the many ongoing research studies is aimed at establishing a procedure for safely and reliably load-rating historic covered bridges though physical testing and improved structural modelling. This paper focuses on recent field work and analysis...

A laboratory study was conducted to investigate the effects of cedar oil and silica gel treatment on dimensional stability and mechanical performance of southern yellow pine (SYP) boards. Two hundred pieces of SYP and 100 pieces of red oak boards with a nominal dimension of 1 by 6 by 48 in. (25 by 152 by 1,219 mm) were selected for this study. The red oak boards were included as a standard ammunition pallet stock for comparison. The experimental procedure involved stress wave E-rating, grouping, defect mapping, preservative treatment, high-temperature kiln exposure (simulating hot and dry...

Shear modulus (G) of thin wood composite materials is one of several important indicators that characterizes mechanical properties. However, there is not an easy method to obtain this value. This study presents the use of a newly developed cantilever beam free vibration test apparatus to detect in-plane G of thin wood composite materials by measuring the first order free vibration cantilever specimens and its logarithmic decrement of vibration. Six sets of commercially purchased thin wood composite materials having three different fiber types were tested. A significant linear correlation...

The Golden-olive Woodpecker is a generalist species found in a wide range of habitats, being particularly common in coffee plantations within Nicaraguan cloud forests. Observations of an individual feeding at the base of Cecropia leaves revealed it was consuming Mullerian bodies that the Cecropia produces to feed Azteca ants as part of a host-inhabitant mutualistic symbiosis. This record further documents the plasticity of some species as they search for alternative sources of energy.

Carbon sequestration is a major ecosystem service provided by tropical forests. Especially in light of global climate change, understanding the drivers of forest productivity is of critical importance. Although abiotic conditions (e.g., precipitation) are known to influence forest productivity, ecological theory predicts that biodiversity may also have independent effects on productivity. We estimated standing aboveground biomass (AGB) in mature forests of Puerto Rico that span a strong precipitation gradient and 2 general soil types. With these data, we examined the independent and...

Mona Island protects one of the most important remnants of Caribbean dry forests and hosts a high diversity of rare and endangered plant and animal species. Feral ungulates (goats and pigs) were introduced to the island ~500 y ago, and their populations may be threatening the conservation of Mona Island’s native biodiversity. In this study, we used permanent fenced and unfenced plots at 4 different depression-forest sites on Mona Island to assess longterm (10-y) understory vegetation dynamics and the potential responses of this vegetation stratum to ungulate exclusion. Depression forests...

Stocked trout (Salmonidae) in reservoir tailwater systems in the Southern United States have been shown to use tributary streams for spawning and rearing. The lower Mountain Fork of the Little River below Broken Bow Dam is one of two year-round tailwater trout fisheries in Oklahoma, and the only one with evidence of reproduction by stocked rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Whether stocked trout use tributaries in this system for spawning is unknown. Furthermore, aninventory of the resident fish communities in these tributaries is lacking. To address these gaps, we surveyed 10 tributaries...