Treesearch

This publication provides an overview of forest resource attributes for Pennsylvania based on an annual inventory conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program at the Northern Research Station of the U.S. Forest Service. These annual estimates, along with web-posted core tables, will be updated annually. For more information please refer to page 4 of this report.

The ability to restore American chestnut (Castanea dentata) through the planting of blight-resistant (Cryphonectria parasitica) trees is currently being tested. Forest-based research on the species’ silvicultural requirements and chestnut blight development are lacking. Pure American chestnut seedlings were planted in a two-age shelterwood forest with low residual basal area and in a midstory-removal treatment with high residual basal area. Survival did not differ between silvicultural treatments and averaged 67 percent across both treatments by the fifth year. Trees in the two-age...

The efficient control of contaminants such as metals, plastics, inks and adhesives during the processing of recovered paper products determines the profitability of recycling mills. In fact, it is arguably the most important technical obstacle in expanding the use of recycled paper.1-4 An especially challenging category of contaminants to manage is pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA). PSAs are soft elastomer-based materials that are highly viscous and sticky to the touch. In recovered paper, they are usually found as part of pressure-sensitive (PS) label systems, consisting of facestock...

Lodgepole wood chips were pretreated by sulfite pretreatment to overcome recalcitrance of lignocelluloses (SPORL) at 25% solids loading and 180 °C for 20 min with sulfuric acid and sodium bisulfite charges of 2.2 and 8 wt/wt% on an oven-dry wood basis, respectively. The pretreated wood chips were disk-milled with pretreatment spent liquor and water, and the solid fraction was separated from the liquor stream. The liquor was neutralized and concentrated through vacuum evaporation. Quasi-simultaneous enzymatic saccharification of the cellulosic solids and combined fermentation with the...

A collaborative project between the Programa de Fitopatología, Colegio de Postgraduados, Texcoco, Estado de Mexico and the USDA Forest Service - RMRS, Moscow Forest Pathology Laboratory has begun this year (2011) to assess which species of Armillaria are causing widespread and severe damage to the peach orchards from México state, Mexico. We are employing a DNA-based approach in which several genes will be sequenced and compared to known Armillaria species.

Expression of root disease in conifers is often associated with forest practices such as planting, thinning, and harvesting. For example, Armillaria solidipes, a resident microbe, is "triggered" by these practices or application of fertilizer. On the other hand, the connection to forest practices is not so clear when spores of Heterobasidion spp, are delivered to stump surfaces and initiate new infection centers. Natural situations such as ecophysiological maladaptation (McDonald 1991) and insect outbreaks can also trigger expression from resident pest populations. Generally speaking, most...

In 2010, a collaborative project was started to determine the distribution of Armillaria solidipes (= A. ostoyae) in Arizona. The methods and preliminary accomplishments of the 2010 and 2011 (ongoing) field surveys/collections are summarized. During the next phase of this project, surveys will be completed and remaining Armillaria isolates will be identified using DNA-based methods. In addition, a preliminary prediction map based on 25 locations positive for A. solidipes is presented. Sites positive for A. solidipes are associated with climate data to predict the potential current distribut...

Armillaria solidipes (= A. ostoyae) is a root-disease pathogen that causes severe losses in growth and productivity of forest trees throughout the Northern Hemisphere. This species is genetically diverse with variable disease activities across different regions of the world. In North America, A. solidipes in the Colorado Plateau exists in drier habitats and causes more disease on hardwoods in comparison with A. solidipes in the northwestern USA (McDonald 1999). Here, we address 1) the discovery of cryptic genotypes of A. solidipes located within or near the Colorado Plateau region, 2) the...

Puccinia psidii, the cause of eucalypt-guava-'ohi'a-myrtle rust, can infect diverse plants within the Myrtaceae, and this rust pathogen has the potential to threaten numerous forest ecosystems worldwide. Known occurrence records from Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Costa Rica, USA (Hawaii, Florida, and Puerto Rico), and Japan were used to develop bioclimatic models for predicting suitable climate spaces of this rust on a global scale. Four separate models were developed to predict current distribution of suitable climate space for P. psidii: (1) sample points based on all rust occurrence points...

THE WOOD PALLET AND CONTAINER INDUSTRY CONSUMES 4.5 billion board feet (BBF) of hardwoods and 1.8 BBF of softwoods for the annual production of 400-500 million solid wood pallets. While alternative materials such as plastic, corrugated paperboard and metal have entered the market, solid wood remains the material of choice for a majority of pallets on the market (more than 95 percent). Advantages of using solid wood for pallets are numerous. Solid wood pallets are stronger and more durable than alternative materials. They have superior rigidity for long-term storage applications, low...