Treesearch

Ecologists use a wide variety of metrics and software tools to quantify and map spatial patterns in ecological data. For analysis of categorical raster data, we introduce the GuidosToolbox Workbench (GWB), a series of Linux-based command-line modules, implementing popular algorithms from the interactive GuidosToolbox desktop application. We provide an overview of the workbench design, features of the individual modules, and an example implementation on the FAO SEPAL cloud computing environment.

Outdoor recreation is a type of recreation that occurs in, and depends on, the natural environment. Ecosystem services are the benefits people receive from ecosystems. The outdoor recreation research (ORR) field has developed a detailed understanding of the recreation experience but has not developed a full understanding of the contribution of the natural environment to those experiences. Recreation Ecosystem Services (RES) is a newer area of research that highlights the contribution of the natural environment for recreation. The integration of these lines of research can improve our...

US manufacturers are looking to expand the use of cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels into the North American market, including states located in the southeast where termites are important pests. However, there is no current assessment method for determining CLT vulnerability to the highly destructive native termites found in many states across the United States. The impact of damage by these termites is of particularly high interest in areas with suitable climate to their proliferation, such as the southeastern United States. This study evaluated durability of CLT panels and developed a...

As the need to address climate change grows more urgent, policymakers, businesses, and others are seeking innovative approaches to remove carbon dioxide emissions from the atmosphere and decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors. Forests can play a role in reducing atmospheric carbon. However, there is disagreement over whether forests are most effective in reducing carbon emissions when left alone versus managed for sustainable harvesting and wood product production. Cross-laminated timber is at the forefront of the mass timber movement, which is enabling designers, engineers, and other stakeholde...

This study is expanding the previous studies that were focused on the material properties and transportation costs of the two alternative feedstocks for manufacturing wood-plastic composites (WPCs): wood flour and pellets. Besides the material properties and cost analysis, life-cycle assessment (LCA) is equally important to assess the environmental impacts of these two alternative wood feedstocks to manufacture WPCs and gain the knowledge of influences from the manufacturing and transportation processes. The main goal of this study was to compare the environmental impacts from the productio...

Fast growing Eucalyptus grandis W. Hill ex Maiden (EG), E. amplifolia Naudin (EA), Corymbia torelliana (F.Muell.) K.D.Hill & L.A.S.Johnson (CT), and Populus deltoides W.Bartram ex Marshall (PD) may be deployed in Short Rotation Woody Crop (SRWC) systems in the lower Southeastern USA, especially in Florida. To evaluate these species for possible use as medium density fiberboard (MDF) and other composites, 2.5 m logs of three EG clones, three PD clones, six EA progenies, four CT trees, and one P. tremuloides Michx. (PT) tree from northern Wisconsin as a control were characterized for basic...

Energy crops grown on marginal lands offer an alternative supply of renewable resources while avoiding competition with food crops and supporting feed crops. To sustainably grow energy crops, the economic and environmental impacts of various crop management practices such as the adoption of cover crops, fertilization rates, harvesting methods and its end use applications for animal feed or biofuels should be investigated. In this study, we investigated the life cycle analysis (LCA) and economic evaluation of growing two energy crops (energy cane, and napier grass) on the marginal lands...

The red turpentine beetle (Dendroctonus valens) is native to North America and attacks stressed, dying, or recently dead pine trees, especially fire-injured ponderosa pine. State and federal agencies use baited traps to detect, monitor, and manage populations of native and nonnative insect species. Trapping efforts are labor intensive, and the lures themselves can be relatively expensive, so it’s important to use effective lures.Researchers Rick Kelsey and Doug Westlind, with the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, have finetuned a more effective lure recipe to trap red...

Shifting range limits are predicted for many species as the climate warms. However, the rapid pace of climate change will challenge the natural dispersal capacity of long-lived, sessile organisms such as forest trees. Adaptive responses of populations will, therefore, depend on levels of genetic variation and plasticity for climate-responsive traits, which likely vary across the range due to expansion history and current patterns of selection. Here, we study levels of genetic and plastic variation for phenology and growth traits in populations of red spruce (Picea rubens), from the range...

Current LiDAR-based methods for detecting forest change use a host of statistically selected variables which typically lack a biological link with the characteristics of the ecosystem. Consensus of the literature indicates that many authors use LiDAR to derive ecosystem morphological traits (EMTs)—namely, vegetation height, vegetation cover, and vertical structural complexity—to identify small-scale changes in forest ecosystems. Here, we provide a conceptual, biological model for predicting forest aboveground biomass (AGB) change based on EMTs. We show that through use of a multitemporal...