Treesearch

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of biological and chemical remediation of chromated copper arsenate (CCA) treated Corymbia citriodora poles, removed from service after 30 years. The presence of arsenic (As), chromium (Cr) and copper (Cu) was quantified by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP–OES). Twelve species of decay fungi were used for the biological remediation assay. For chemical remediation oxalic, citric, maleic and ethylenediamine tetraacetic (EDTA) acids were used for 24 and 48 h. In biological remediation, copper-tolerant brown-rot...

Due to the large amount of inherent chemical energy, implementation of hydrogen peroxide pulp bleaching requires a high level of safety design and process review. Even with safety controls, in-place accidents have occurred at kraft pulp bleaching facilities. Using a combination of experiments and chemical engineering analysis, we present a validated model of hydrogen peroxide decomposition under alkaline conditions that are typically found in kraft pulp bleaching processes. Using the model, we then calculated several characteristic parameters required to determine the criticality class and...

A fundamental question of forestry is that of species composition: which species are present, and which are not. However, traditional forest measurements needed to map species over large areas can be both time consuming and costly. In this study, we combined airborne light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data with extensive field data from the Long-Term Ecosystem Productivity study located near Sappho,Washington, USA to increase the accuracy of our GIS data and to differentiate between red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) and other dominant tree species. We adjusted plot and tree locations using...

There is considerable interest in multiaged management as a silvicultural and restoration tool in redwood forests of California. For multiaged silviculture to be successful, a new cohort of trees must first be able to regenerate underneath the residual overstory. We used annual re-measurement data from a replicated manipulative experiment in coastal northern California to determine how understory light, stand density, and spatial arrangement of residual trees affected coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and tanoak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus) stump sprouts regenerating after partial...

Using woody biomass from public lands could attract private investments, increase carbon dioxide emission reductions from sustainably harvested low‐grade wood to mitigate climate change, provide benefits for the environment, and support rural community economies. Available for use are about 210 million oven dry tons (in the western U.S. alone) of small‐diameter wood and harvest residues that could be removed through hazard‐fuel treatments and used for bioenergy and bioproducts; representing an economic value of approximately USD 5.97 billion (109). Reaching that utilization goal requires...

Cost-effective monitoring of forest carbon resources is critical to the development of national policies and enforcement of international agreements aimed at reducing carbon emissions and mitigating the impacts of climate change. While carbon monitoring systems are often based on national forest inventories (NFI) utilizing a large sample of field plots, in remote regions the lack of transportation infrastructure often requires heavier reliance on remote sensing technologies, such as airborne lidar. The challenge motivating our research is that the efficacy of estimating carbon with lidar...

Wood pallets are ubiquitous products that can be recovered and reused to enhance their service life and environmental performance. Repair/remanufacturing has an important role in extending the service life of the wood pallet. To quantify environmental performances of wood pallet reuse, this study developed representative life cycle inventory data for pallet repair/remanufacturing in the United States based on comprehensive industry-wide production data for 2018. A gate-to-gate life cycle assessment covering raw material supply, raw material transportation and pallet repair/remanufacturing...

The surprising lack of literature on using the very common wood adhesive polymeric methylenediphenyl diisocyanate (pMDI) with protein adhesives may be because of perceived poor improvement of protein wet strength. Reacting pMDI with the flour (soy or canola) before adding water unexpectedly improves wood bonding compared to adding the pMDI to an aqueous protein slurry. Mixing the liquid pMDI with the oilseed flour produces a free-flowing powder with up to 50% of pMDI to flour by weight. The mixture slowly reacts since the isocyanate band in the infrared spectra remains for several days but...

Accurately predicting the mortality of trees that initially survive a fire event is important for management, such as planning post-fire salvage, planting, and prescribed fires. Although crown scorch has been successfully used to predict post-fire mortality (greater than one-year post-fire), it remains unclear whether other first-order fire effect metrics (e.g., stem char) and information on growing conditions can improve such predictions. Droughts can also elevate mortality and may interact, synergistically, with fire effects to influence post-fire tree survival. We used logistic regressio...

Invasions by non-native plants threaten forest health and sustainability. The ability to predict areas at greatest risk to invasion is essential for informing both monitoring and management of invasive species. Species distribution models (SDMs) are often used to identify environmental correlates of a species’ occurrence and predict geographic areas that may be suitable for its presence and are commonly constructed using solely abiotic predictors. However, mounting evidence implies that not including biotic predictors in SDMs may yield less accurate models at some resolutions typical of...