Treesearch

Cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) offer a promising biodegradable packaging solution, yet their economic and environmental viability for large-scale fruit packaging applications remains under-explored. Based on lab-scale experimental data, this study presents a conceptualized industrial scale process for producing CNF-coated molded pulp (MP) trays with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polylactic acid (PLA) lidding for packaging of fresh fruits such as cherry tomatoes and berries. A comprehensive techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted across five...

Protecting the world’s remaining forests is central to climate and biodiversity goals, but is often assumed to impose large opportunity costs on forest-land producers. These costs are typically estimated by summing local foregone production, without accounting for market feedback. Here, we applied partial-equilibrium models to three scenarios protecting an additional 471–863 million hectares of forest, assuming a global 30% protection target by 2030. Despite reductions in harvestable area and roundwood production, global net output value in the forestry sector increases modestly, driven by...

Wildfires are burning more area across the western US than they have in the recent past, driving an increased need for post-fire reforestation. At the same time, trees are struggling to keep up with climate change and post-fire tree planting may present an opportunity to plant seedlings from seed sources adapted to changing conditions. To better understand how reforestation outcomes for an ecologically and economically important conifer species in the northwestern US vary with seed source and site conditions, we conducted a post-fire western larch ( Larix occidentalis ) planting experiment...

The Mendocino National Forest reached out to the public in 2023 and 2024 to understand community connections to the forest and hear ideas about how to recover after recent wildland fires. We heard from 523 people over two months! Over 60% of those who participated had lived in the area for more than 25 years. For over half of participants (54%), this was their first time providing input to the Mendocino National Forest. The M3P tool (Mapping, Prioritization and Public Participation) was used to gather and understand public input. This executive summary provides key highlights from these...

Aquatic ecosystems worldwide face increasing human–wildlife conflicts as fishing activities overlap with critical habitats for vulnerable species. Human–wildlife interactions in artisanal fisheries exemplify socio-ecological systems that necessitate adaptive management approaches, integrating ecological and social dimensions. This study integrates socio-ecological systems theory and quantitative modelling to identify gear-based and attitudinal pathways for coexistence between fishermen and the African manatee (Trichechus senegalensis) in Lake Ossa Wildlife Reserve, Cameroon. We conducted...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program provides this resource update yearly as an overview of forest resources in Ohio. These estimates are derived from field data collected across a systematic network of fixed-radius forest monitoring plots located on both public and private land. New updates are provided annually as a subset of plots within the State are remeasured. Each year, field crews visit and measure a subset of all FIA plots across the entire State (the size of the subset varies by State and year). Combining all the...

Peatland forest ecosystems play a critical ecological, economic, and cultural role by sequestering carbon, supporting biodiversity, the provisioning of conventional and non-conventional wood products, and providing habitat for specialists. Historically, forest management in these systems has used clearcut harvests to maximize pulp production, often resulting in structurally simplified stands vulnerable to climate change. As climate change reshapes boreal systems through warming, altered hydrology, and increased disturbance, identifying structural features that promote resilience is...

While the tourism literature has tangentially investigated concepts related to tourism’s impact on the livability of communities through studies on topics such as overtourism, there has yet to be a direct measure of residents’ perceptions towards the livability of tourism destinations and how these perceptions of livability influence resident support for tourism. Using Livability Theory and a Conservation of Resources theoretical framework, our research samples residents from the nature-based tourism gateway community of Brevard in Transylvania County, North Carolina, to validate the...

The Community Forestry (CF) program in Nepal is often lauded as a successful global example of the participatory forest management model, particularly for restoring degraded forest in the midhills However, recent socio-economic, demographic, ecological, and governance change have transformed forest-people relationships, creating uncertainty about the program's long-term sustainability. In this context, this study aims to identify the socio-ecological and institutional factors shaping community forest users' perceptions of the future of CF in Nepal. Using survey data from 873 households...

Fog is a key part of the hydrological cycle in many regions of the world. Coastal fog specifically influences coastal biomes and impacts maritime activities and commerce. Due to complex interactions with landforms, the spatial distributions of coastal fog frequency defy simple characterization. This study is the first to analyze the summertime spatio-temporal heterogeneity of fog along the Oregon coast, a region which depends on coastal fog for shading and as a hydrological input during its warm, dry summers. Direct measures of fog require expensive optical instrumentation that is not...