Treesearch

Forest fires have been serious menace, many times resulting in tremendous economic, cultural and ecological damage to many parts of the United States. One particular area that has been significantly affected is the water quality of streams and lakes in the water thirsty southwestern United States. This is because the surface water coming off burned areas has resulted in very serious and immediate water quality problems in streams, lakes and reservoirs in Arizona and the Southwest by introducing hazardous chemicals into the water bodies. The authors have examined data from two of the...

We report the sequencing and assembly of three transcriptomes from Big (Artemisia tridentatassp. wyomingensis and A. tridentatassp. tridentata) and Low (A. arbuscula ssp. arbuscula) sagebrush. The sequence reads are available in the Sequence Read Archive of NCBI. We demonstrate the utilities of these transcriptomes for gene discovery and phylogenomic analysis. An assembly of 61,883 transcripts followed by transcript identification by the program TRAPID revealed 16 transcripts directly related to terpene synthases, proteins critical to the production of multiple secondary metabolites in...

We report on the performance and the characterization of top-gate organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), comprising a bilayer gate dielectric of CYTOP/ Al2O3 and a solution-processed semiconductor layer made of a blend of TIPS-pentacene:PTAA, fabricated on recyclable cellulose nanocrystal−glycerol (CNC/glycerol) substrates. These OFETs exhibit low operating voltage, low threshold voltage, an average field-effect mobility of 0.11 cm2/(V s), and good shelf and operational stability in ambient conditions. To improve the operational stability in ambient a passivation layer of Al2O3 is grown...

Understanding and controlling molecular-scale interactions between adhesives and wood polymers are critical to accelerate the development of improved adhesives for advanced wood-based materials. The submicrometer resolution of synchrotron-based X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM) was found capable of mapping and quantifying infiltration of Br-labeled phenol−formaldehyde (BrPF) into wood cell walls. Cell wall infiltration of five BrPF adhesives with different average molecular weights (MWs) was mapped. Nanoindentation on the same cell walls was performed to assess the effects of BrPF...

The FEMA P-807 Guidelines were developed for retrofitting soft-story wood-frame buildings based on existing data, and the method had not been verified through full-scale experimental testing. This article presents two different retrofit designs based directly on the FEMA P-807 Guidelines that were examined at several different seismic intensity levels. The effects of the retrofits on damage to the upper stories were investigated. The results from the hybrid testing verify that designs following the FEMA P-807 Guidelines meet specified performance levels and appear to successfully prevent...

We assessed the effects of the elimination of livestock in riparian systems at Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge in southeastern Oregon, 23 years after the removal of cattle grazing, using 64 photos taken before grazing was removed compared with later retake photos. Two methods were used for this assessment: (1) a qualitative visual method comparing seven cover types and processes and (2) a new quantitative method of inserting digital line transects into photos. Results indicated that channel widths and eroding banks decreased in 64 and 73 % of sites, respectively. We found a 90 %...

Depending on how disease impacts tree exposure to risk, both the prevalence of disease and disease effects on survival may contribute to patterns of mortality risk across a species’ range. Disease may accelerate tree species’ declines in response to global change factors, such as drought, biotic interactions, such as competition, or functional traits, such as allometry. To assess the role of disease in mediating mortality risk in quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), we developed hierarchical Bayesian models for both disease prevalence in live aspen stems and the resulting survival rates of...

In 2007-2008, we examined the flight responses of wood-boring beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae and Buprestidae) to multiple-funnel traps baited with the pine volatiles, ethanol, and apinene [85% (–)], and the bark beetle pheromones, racemic ipsenol and racemic ipsdienol. Experiments were conducted in mature pine stands in Canada (Ontario and New Brunswick) and the United States (Arkansas, Florida, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin). At each location, traps were deployed in 10 replicate blocks of four traps per block. The trap treatments were: 1) blank...

Wildfire suppression combines multiple objectives and dynamic fire behavior to form a complex problem for decision makers. This paper presents a mixed integer program designed to explore integrating spatial fire behavior and suppression placement decisions into a mathematical programming framework. Fire behavior and suppression placement decisions are modeled using nodes associated with cell centers from raster landscapes. The nodes at which suppression is located are determined by control variables. Response variables include fire spread paths, arrival times, and fireline intensities for...

Initial attack dispatch rules can help shorten fire suppression response times by providing easy-to-follow recommendations based on fire weather, discovery time, location, and other factors that may influence fire behavior and the appropriate response. A new procedure is combined with a stochastic programming model and tested in this study for designing initial attack dispatch rules integrated with development of seasonal suppression resource deployment decisions to support initial attack. Historical fires are spatially simulated according to historical weather and actual fire locations to...