Treesearch

The high-altitude (4,500+ m) Andean mountain range of north-western Bolivia contains many peatlands. Despite heavy grazing pressure and potential damage from climate change, little is known about these peatlands. Our objective was to quantify carbon pools, basal ages and long-term peat accumulation rates in peatlands in two areas of the arid puna ecoregion of Bolivia: near the village of Manasaya in the Sajama National Park (Cordillera Occidentale), and in the Tuni Condoriri National Park (Cordillera Real). We cored to 5 m depth in the Manasaya peatland, whose age at 5 m was ca. 3,675 yr....

Wood, an abundant resource throughout most of the world, has been used as a building material for thousands of years. Many historic buildings have been built primarily of wood, and masonry and stone buildings generally have wood elements, both structural and architectural. As a biological material, wood is both remarkably complex and yet quite durable if well constructed and maintained. This Practice Point provides guidance on options for extending the service life of wood used in historic structures. It is assumed that the reader is familiar with basic wood nomenclature and anatomy, so...

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) are widely used in consumer products, and their release has raised serious concerns about the risk of their exposure to the environment and to human health. However, biochemical mechanisms by which plants counteract NP toxicity are largely unknown. We have previously engineered Crambe abyssinica plants expressing the bacterial γ-glutamylecysteine synthase (y-ECS) for enhancing glutathione (GSH) levels. In this study, we investigated if enhanced levels of GSH and its derivatives can protect plants from Ag NPs and AgNO3 (Ag+ ions). Our results showed that...

Dam removal is reconnecting rivers, and lessons learned will help water-resource and river management, particularly as removals expand globally and choices become more challenging.

Empirical and dynamic biogeochemical modelling are complementary approaches for determining the critical load (CL) of atmospheric nitrogen (N) or other constituent deposition that an ecosystem can tolerate without causing ecological harm. The greatest benefits are obtained when these approaches are used in combination. Confounding environmental factors can complicate the determination of empirical CLs across depositional gradients, while the experimental application of N amendments for estimating the CL does not realistically mimic the effects of chronic atmospheric N deposition. Biogeochem...

Atmospheric deposition in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region decreased exponentially with distance from the industrial center. Throughfall deposition (kg ha−1 yr−1) of NH4–N (.8–14.7) was double that of NO3–N (.3–6.7), while SO4–S ranged from 2.5 to 23.7. Gaseous pollutants (NO2, HNO3, NH3, SO2) are important drivers of atmospheric deposition but weak correlations between gaseous pollutants and deposition suggest that particulate deposition is also important. The deposition (eq ha−1) of base cations (Ca + Mg + Na) across the sampling network was highly similar to N + S deposition, suggesting...

Lakes and streams in Class 1 wilderness areas in the western United States (U.S.) are at risk from atmospheric deposition of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S), and protection of these resources is mandated under the Federal Clean Air Act and amendments. Assessment of critical loads, which are the maximum exposure to pollution an area can receive without adverse effects on sensitive ecosystems, requires accurate deposition estimates. However, deposition is difficult and expensive to measure in high-elevation wilderness, and spatial patterns in N and S deposition in these areas remain poorly...

Determining the detailed movements of individual animals often requires them to carry tracking devices, but tracking broad-scale movement of small bats (<30 g) has been limited by transmitter technology and long-term attachment methods. This limitation inhibits our understanding of bat dispersal and migration, particularly in the context of emerging conservation issues such as fatalities at wind turbines and diseases. We tested a novel method of attaching lightweight global positioning system (GPS) tags and geolocating data loggers to small bats. We used monofilament, synthetic, absorbable...

Highlights •The new residential and renovation construction markets in the US and the Eurozone were valued at $338.7 billion (305.5 billion euros) and $673.3 billion dollars (614.4 billion euros), respectively, in 2014. •In Europe, 55% of the value of the new residential and renovation construction markets in 2014 was in renovation; in the US, this figure was 30%. •The housing construction market in Europe is still subdued, in part due to the effects of the global financial crisis and the tepid nature of European economies. Nevertheless, residential housing construction is projected to...

Fire history studies are important tools for understanding past fire regimes and the roles humans played in those regimes. Beginning in 2010, we conducted a fire history study in the Pine Creek Gorge area of north-central Pennsylvania to ascertain the number of fires and fire-free intervals, their variability through time, and the role of human influences. We collected 93 cross sections from fire-scarred red pine (Pinus resinosa) snags, stumps, and living trees at three separate sites along the western rim of Pine Creek Gorge. From these, we found 79 fire years and 11 multidecadal fire-free...