Treesearch

Non-native invasive insects such as the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire; EAB) cause billions of dollars; worth of economic damage and unquantifiable but substantial ecological damage in North America each year. There are methods to mitigate, contain, control, or even eradicate some non-native invasive insects, but so far the spread of EAB across eastern North America appears to be unimpeded. Similar to the effect of chestnut blight (Cryphonectria parasitica (Murrill) Barr) onA merican chestnut (Castanea dentata (Marsh.) Borkh.) nearly 100 years ago, it is estimated that...

This paper examines whether evacuees from two wildfires displayed different information seeking behavior than non-evacuees. Findings are the results of a mail survey sent to residents affected by wildfires outside Flagstaff, Arizona and Boulder, Colorado in 2010. We found evacuees sought information more actively than non-evacuees and placed a greater emphasis on use of interactive information sources, which they also tended to see as more useful and trustworthy. Evacuees also expressed lower satisfaction levels for receipt of information items that were more important to them including...

Understanding past fire regimes is necessary to justify and implement restoration of disturbance-associated forests via prescribed fire programs. In eastern North America, the characteristics of many presettlement fire regimes are unclear because of the passage of time. To help clarify this situation, we developed a 435-year fire history for the former conifer forests of northern Pennsylvania. Ninety-three cross sections of fire-scarred red pines (Pinus resinosa Aiton) collected from three sites were analyzed to determine common fire regime characteristics. Prior to European settlement,...

Long-term research is critical to our understanding of forest dynamics. Observations made over decades or centuries provide valuable insight into the effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances, and allow scientists and forest managers to determine which management regimes succeed and which ones fail in terms of desired objectives. Unfortunately, many long-term studies are abandoned before the full benefits of the research can be realized. When long-term projects end, it is often because values change and the research is considered less relevant (Innes 2004). Yet many old studies...

Although plants have moved across the landscape in response to changing climate for millennia, projections of contemporary climate change suggest that forest tree species and populations will need to migrate faster than their natural ability. Therefore, climate change adaptation strategies, such as assisted migration, have gained attention since 2007. Effective implementation of assisted migration can only occur if target transfer guidelines are developed because our current seed transfer guidelines, established to guide the movement of plant materials, lack inherent spatial and temporal...

Comparisons of properties are made for pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSAs) generated via emulsion polymerization using both conventional and reactive emulsifiers. The emulsifiers are ammonium salts of sulfated nonylphenol ethoxylates with similar chemical structures and hydrophilic−lipophilic balances. The polymerizable surfactant possesses a reactive double bond at its phenyl ring allowing for participation in free-radical polymerization reactions. Incorporation of the polymerizable surfactant into the adhesive polymer was confirmed via reverse-phase liquid chromatography. Surfactant...

We used a new cellulosic material, cellulosic solid residue (CSR), to produce cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) for potential high value applications. Cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) were produced from CSR recovered from the hydrolysates (waste stream) of acid hydrolysis of a bleached Eucalyptus kraft pulp (BEP) to produce nanocrystals (CNC). Acid hydrolysis greatly facilitated homogenization to fibrillate CSR to CNF with only 15 passes in a microfluidizer compared with at least 47 passes to fibrillate BEP to nanofibrils. CNF from CSR were nanowhiskers with a length between 50 and 400 nm and a...

Fast-growing biomass, such as bamboo, has the potential to serve an important future role in the pulp and paper industry with potential to both lower resource costs and improve a product’s sustainability. Moso bamboo is particularly interesting due to its fast growth and size, which allows it to be handled and chipped similarly to wood resources. In this study, we will share results of the chip preparation, kraft cooking, and ECF bleaching of this bamboo species and compare its pulpability, bleachability, and physical properties to a fast growing hybrid poplar tree. Results indicate that...

The oxidative enzymatic machinery for degradation of organic substrates in Agaricus bisporus (Ab) is at the core of the carbon recycling mechanisms in this fungus. To date, 156 genes have been tentatively identified as part of this oxidative enzymatic machinery, which includes 26 peroxidase encoding genes, nine copper radical oxidase [including three putative glyoxal oxidase-encoding genes (GLXs)], 12 laccases sensu stricto and 109 cytochrome P450 monooxygenases. Comparative analyses of these enzymes in Ab with those of the white-rot fungus, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, the brown-rot...

Basidiomycetes that cause brown rot of wood are essential biomass recyclers in coniferous forest ecosystems and a major cause of failure in wooden structures. Recent work indicates that distinct lineages of brown rot fungi have arisen independently from ligninolytic white rot ancestors via loss of lignocellulolytic enzymes. Brown rot thus proceeds without significant lignin removal, apparently beginning instead with oxidative attack on wood polymers by Fenton reagent produced when fungal hydroquinones or catechols reduce Fe3
+ in colonized wood. Since there is little evidence that white...