Treesearch

For a 3-year period, from 2010-2012, the New Mexico Forestry Division utilized contractors to collect Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data in New Mexico. Funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the State partnered with the Interior West FIA Program. Together, both agencies collected data on approximately 6,450 plots. This effort represents the largest statewide inventory of forest and woodlands to date for New Mexico. The data collection schedule deviated from standard FIA protocols of collecting annual panels of data each year; in contrast, this project collected...

The application of electronic-nose (E-nose) technologies in forensic science is a recent new development following a long history of progress in the development of diverse applications in the related biomedical and pharmaceutical fields. Data from forensic analyses must satisfy the needs and requirements of both the scientific and legal communities. The type of data collected from electronic-nose devices provides a means of identifying specific types of information about the chemical nature of evidentiary objects and samples under investigation using aroma signature profiles of complex...

As urban densification occurs in U.S. regions of high seismicity, there is a natural demand for seismically resilient tall buildings that are reliable, economically viable, and can be rapidly constructed. In urban regions on the west coast of the U.S., specifically the Pacific Northwest, there is significant interest in utilizing CLT in 8-20 story residential and commercial buildings due to its appeal as a potential locally sourced, sustainable and economically competitive building material. In this study, results from a multi-disciplinary discussion on the feasibility and challenges in...

The design of multiple bolted connections in accordance with Appendix E of the National Design Specification for Wood Construction (NDS) has incorporated provisions for evaluating localized member failure modes of row and group tear-out when the connections are closely spaced. Originally based on structural glued laminated timber (glulam) members made with all L1 Douglas fir-Larch laminating lumber, the NDS provisions were confirmed by additional analysis, which indicates the applicability of the provisions to glulam with reduced design shear values. Due to the similarity to glulam in the...

The 2013 Rim Fire, originating on Forest Service land, burned into old-growth forests within Yosemite National Park with relatively restored frequent-fire regimes (¡Ý2 predominantly low and moderate severity burns within the last 35 years). Forest structure and fuels data were collected in the field 3-4 years before the fire, providing a rare chance to use pre-existing plot data to analyze fire effects. We used regression tree and random forests analysis to examine the influence of forest structure, fuel, fire history, topographic and weather conditions on observed fire severity in the Rim...

Beech bark disease (BBD) results in high levels of initial mortality, leaving behind survivor trees that are greatly weakened and deformed. The disease is initiated by feeding activities of the invasive beech scale insect, Cryptococcus fagisuga, which creates entry points for infection by one of the Neonectria species of fungus. Without scale infestation, there is little opportunity for fungal infection. Using scale eggs to artificially infest healthy trees in heavily BBD impacted stands demonstrated that these trees were resistant to the scale insect portion of the disease complex. Here...

There are thousands of soft-story wood-frame buildings in California which have been recognized as a disaster preparedness problem with concerted mitigation efforts underway in many cities throughout the state. The vast majority of those efforts are based on numerical modelling, often with half-century old data in which assumptions have to be made based on engineering judgment and project committee consensus. The NEES-Soft project, whose full title is “Seismic Risk Reduction for Soft-Story Wood-frame Buildings,” is a five-university multi-industry three-year project with many facets...

In the United States, increased wildland fire activity over the last 15 years has resulted in increased pressure to balance the cost, benefits, and risks of wildfire management. Amid increased public scrutiny and a highly variable wildland fire environment, a substantial body of research has developed to study factors affecting the cost-effectiveness of wildfire management activities. This book examines the state-of-the-art in the economics of wildfire management. The introductory chapter presents the broad goal of the book: to take stock of research to-date on the economics of wildfire...

Intermountain Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii Parry ex Engelm) stands affected by the spruce beetle (Dendroctonus rufipennis Kirby) represent a unique and growing fuel complex. In this study, we quantified and compared the changes in moisture content, chemistry, and flammability of foliage from trees in three crown condition classes: unattacked (green [G]), currently mass attacked (green-infested [GI]), and mass attacked the previous year (yellow [Y]) over the course of a fire season. GI trees displayed highly variable decreases in moisture content both between trees and within...

Our objective was to evaluate oxyfluorfen for control of birdseye pearlwort (Sagina procumbens L.) in a bareroot nursery crop of western larch (Larix occidentalis Nutt.) seedlings. Oxyfluorfen applied at rates up to 0.56 kg a.i./ha in a split-plot experiment with combinations and frequencies of pre- and postemergence sprays gave minimal control of birdseye pearlwort. Although preemergence rates 0.42 kg a.i./ha or greater reduced western larch emergence 10% compared with the control, final seedling inventory was similar for rates 0.42 kg a.i./ha or less. Seedlings receiving 0.42 kg a.i./ha...