Treesearch

In a quiescent atmosphere, the flame spread process in porous fuels is controlled to a large degree by the fuel bed structure, fuel loading and bulk density, and fuel moisture content. Previous studies have shown that increases in flame spread rate, fire intensity and burning rate are observed with independent increases in fuel loading or decreases in bulk density, however neither of these parameters adequately describe the physical processes that control flame spread. A series of laboratory-based, flame spread experiments involving fuel beds of differing fuel loading and structure were...

Energy is an integral part of society. The major US energy sources of fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas); biofuels (ethanol); and wind are concentrated in grassland ecosystems of the Great Plains. As energy demand continues to increase, mounting pressures will be placed on North American grassland systems. In this review, we present the ecological effects of energy development and production on grassland systems. We then identify opportunities to mitigate these effects during the planning, construction, and production phases by using informed methodology and improved technology. Primary...

Logging activities and its associated infrastructure are potential pathways for invasive forest plants, yet little is known about logger activities regarding invasive plants during logging operations. Logging business owners in Minnesota, USA were surveyed about invasive forest plants as a case study to learn about their awareness, interactions with landowners and land managers, actions to control the spread of invasives, perceived business impacts, and information needs. Fifty-one percent of respondents indicated they were either somewhat or very knowledgeable about invasive forest plants...

Many stressors plague bee populations including habitat fragmentation and degradation, as well as pathogens and pesticide exposure. With bee communities at risk, conservation efforts are imperative. Although recent research has examined bee communities across cities, few studies have analyzed variation in human attitudes toward and perceptions of bees, or how these perspectives might influence bee conservation. We therefore analyzed residents' attitudes toward and perceptions of bees, specifically in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. Primarily drawing upon 2017 survey data (n = 496, 39%...

Throughout the Great Plains, aboveground annual net primary productivity (ANPP) is a critical ecosystem service supporting billions of dollars of commerce and countless stakeholders. Managers and producers struggle with high interannual change in ANPP, which often varies 40% between years due to fluctuating precipitation and drought. To quantify ANPP trends and evaluate interannual and spatial variation, we created the Rangeland Production Monitoring Service (RPMS), a spatially explicit database with automatic annual updates of ANPP for all rangelands in the conterminous United States. The...

The current study examined how financial scarcity and natural resource scarcity independently and interactively influence sustainable choices and motivations. Participants performed a shopping task where they chose between sustainable and conventional products, and rated their motivations for their choice. We found that financial scarcity reduced sustainable product choices, lowered pro-environmental motivations, but increased motivations to save financial costs (Experiment 1). In contrast, perceived scarcity of natural resources (i.e., water) increased sustainable choices and pro-environme...

On 14 November 2018, a symposium Managing bark and ambrosia beetles with semiochemicals was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, at the Joint Meeting of the Entomological Society of America, the Entomological Society of Canada, and the Entomological Society of British Columbia. The focus was on the application of behavioural chemicals for management of bark and ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) in conifers and hardwoods in North America and Europe. Contributors included nine invited speakers from Canada, Slovakia, and the United States of America who summarise...

Bark and ambrosia beetles and pinhole borers (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae and Platypodinae) are two subfamilies of weevils that use acoustic communication within plant tissue. Theseinsectstransmitanddetectsoundinamediumthatisneither air nor water and they are among the smallest animals with soundproducing organs. Nevertheless, their sound production is sorely understudied, mostly due to the difficulties associated with acoustically monitoring individuals inside plants. We analysed the stridulatory sounds from 55 bark and ambrosia beetle species within 15 subtribes collected in four...

Different trees may have different seed production behaviors. Understanding the spatial and temporal patterns in seed production is important for sustainable forest management. A common feature in many complex systems is burstiness in their activity patterns. Burstiness is defined here as intermittent seed production. We studied burstiness in the seed (cone) production of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) and Chinese Torreya (Torreya grandis) for the first time. Results indicated that burstiness characterized the seed production for both tree species. Burstiness ranged between low negative...

This paper draws upon Actor Network Theory (ANT) to explore material and social dynamics of a coastal community garden site on public housing grounds in Rockaway, NY after Hurricane Sandy. Through a participatory design-research project, we examine shifting associations between humans and non-humans as a way of interrogating agency, power dynamics, and governance. Acknowledging our own outsider status, we draw upon the frame of 'contact zones' for thinking through encounters in conditions of power differentials. In describing our encounter with the Beach 41st Street Community Garden as a...