Treesearch

Western Snowy Plovers (Charadrius nivosus nivosus) are federally listed under the US Endangered Species Act as Threatened. They occur along the US Pacific coastline and are threatened by habitat loss and destruction and excessive levels of predation and human disturbance. Populations have been monitored since the 1970s for distribution, reproduction, and survival. Since the species was federally listed in 1993 and a recovery plan was approved under the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2007, recovery actions have resulted in growing populations with increased presence at breeding and...

The use of passive acoustic monitoring in wildlife ecology has increased dramatically in recent years as researchers take advantage of improvements in autonomous recording units and analytical methods. These technologies have allowed researchers to collect large quantities of acoustic data which must then be processed to extract meaningful information, e.g. target species detections. A persistent issue in acoustic monitoring is the challenge of efficiently automating the detection of species of interest, and deep learning has emerged as a powerful approach to accomplish this task. Here we...

Structural analysis mathematically models the physical forces, deformations, and stresses acting within a system. Structural analysis may generally apply to the construction of aircraft, bridges, buildings, furniture, pallets and shipping containers, sculpture, sporting equipment, and tools. In other words, structural analysis is useful in nearly every aspect of wood engineering. The ability to model deformations and stresses under load naturally lends itself to efficient design and, ultimately, effective use of materials.

A large portion of wood products made today are glued, or bonded, together. This is because bonding allows wood to be used in ways that would be impossible otherwise. We take wooden sheet materials, such as plywood, for granted, but they perform far better in some ways, and are far less expensive, than solid wood alternatives. Large structural pieces, such as the glulam skeletons in many buildings, would be impractical without adhesives. Everyday items such as wooden chairs would be extremely difficult to build without adhesives. In short, bonding wood products increases their value. This...

Watershed degradation due to invasion threatens downstream water flows and associated ecosystem services. While this topic has been studied across landscapes that have undergone invasive-driven state changes (e.g., native forest to invaded grassland), it is less well understood in ecosystems experiencing within-system invasion (e.g. native forest to invaded forest). To address this subject, we conducted an integrated ecological and ecohydrological study in tropical forests impacted by invasive plants and animals. We measured soil infiltration capacity in multiple fenced (i.e., ungulate-free...

Because wood properties vary among species, between trees of the same species, and between pieces from the same tree, solid wood cannot match reconstituted wood in the range of properties that can be controlled. Wood with localized defects (such as knots) can often be utilized effectively in wood-based composites. When wood with defects is reduced to wood elements, the influence of these characteristics in the manufactured product is reduced. To reinforce sustainable harvesting efforts, wood derived from small-diameter timber, forest residues, or exotic and invasive species may also be...

The term composite is used to describe any wood material bonded together with adhesives. The current product mix ranges from fiberboard to laminated beams and components. For this chapter, wood-based composite materials are classified into the following categories: panel products (plywood, oriented strandboard (OSB), particleboard, fiberboard, medium-density fiberboard (MDF), hardboard); structural timber products (glued-laminated timber (glulam), laminated veneer lumber (LVL), laminated strand lumber, parallel strand lumber); and wood–nonwood composites (wood fiber–thermoplastics,...

In the living tree, wood contains large quantities of water. As green wood dries, most of the water is removed. The moisture remaining in the wood tends to come to equilibrium with the relative humidity of the surrounding air. Correct drying, handling, and storage of wood will minimize moisture content changes that might occur after drying when the wood is in service. If moisture content is controlled within reasonable limits by such methods, major problems from dimensional changes can usually be avoided. The discussion in this chapter is concerned with moisture content determination,...

The understanding that motherhood impacts career paths is so pervasive among early-career scientists that some feel they must choose parenthood or a career. The penalties associated with motherhood can contribute to the “leaky pipeline,” which equates to the high attrition rate of women due to social, economical, or temporal factors as they proceed through their career and exacerbates persistent gender gaps at mid- and late-career stages. Here, we review the literature and summarize common challenges faced by ornithologist mothers and nonbinary parents, and we adopt a full lifecycle...