Treesearch

Structural insulated panels (SIPs) are a viable, energy-efficient, cost-effective option for commercial and residential buildings. But, acceptance of SIPs has been hindered by the lack of systematic evaluation of lateral load performance in wall applications. This study provides the data needed to characterize lateral load performance of several configurations of SIP walls: single-panel walls with and without hold-downs at various aspect ratios, multiple-panel walls without openings, and multiple-panel walls with various openings. This research involved lateral testing of 54 full-sized SIP...

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) is an important technique used to investigate complex mixtures with pharmaceutical potential. GC×GC expands the peak capacity of the separation, which increases the resolution for more targeted characterization of analytes of interest and trace chemicals. Traditional gas chromatography–mass spectrometry is used to investigate extracts; however, when the mixture is complex, there is a need for higher resolution power to identify the extracts profile completely and discover new extracts of interest. In this study, inkberry chemical...

Although the effect of pollution on forest health and decline received much attention in the 1980s, it has not been considered to explain the 'Divergence Problem' in dendroclimatology; a decoupling of tree growth from rising air temperatures since the 1970s. Here we use physical and biogeochemical measurements of hundreds of living and dead conifers to reconstruct the impact of heavy industrialisation around Norilsk in northern Siberia. Moreover, we develop a forward model with surface irradiance forcing to quantify long‐distance effects of anthropogenic emissions on the functioning and...

Categorization of topographical features into landform type is a long-standing method for understanding physiographic patterns in the environment. Differences in forest composition between landform types are driven primarily by concurrent differences in soil composition and moisture, but also disturbance regime. Many studies have focused on the interaction between fire disturbance, succession, and landforms, but the effects of hurricane disturbance on compositional differences between landforms are poorly understood. In the study presented here, we assess compositional and structural...

Understanding the tradeoffs between water yield and ecosystem productivity is important for developing strategies for large scale ecological restoration worldwide. This study focused on a national forest protection project in the Upper Yangtze River Basin where a logging ban was implemented in 1998. We used a hydrologic model and remote sensing data to study the interactions between water and carbon cycles along elevation gradients in the Minjiang watershed (MJ), where extensive deforestation and reforestation have occurred in the past seven decades. Average annual evapotranspiration (ET),...

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography (GC×GC) is an important technique used to investigate potential medicinal mixtures. The pharmaceutical industry is a trillion-dollar industry, and 25% of this value comes from plant-derived chemicals. Saw Palmetto (Serenoa repens) berries are known for their medicinal properties. This medicinal alternative aids in treatment of health problems such as asthma, benign prostatic hypertrophy, colds, migraines, prostate cancer, and sore throats. Cancer is a disease where abnormal cells rapidly divide and destroy body tissue. In 2018, an estimated...

The effects of climate change on tropical forests may have global consequences due to the forests’ high biodiversity and major role in the global carbon cycle. In this study, we document the effects of experimental warming on the abundance and composition of a tropical forest floor herbaceous plant community in the Luquillo Experimental Forest, Puerto Rico. This study was conducted within Tropical Responses to Altered Climate Experiment (TRACE) plots, which use infrared heaters under free-air, openfield conditions, to warm understory vegetation and soils + 4°C above nearby control plots....

Ecologists addressed the effects of disturbances from the onset of the field by focusing on ecesis, which is the process by which organisms migrate and establish under the environmental conditions created by disturbances. Ecesis is the onset of succession, a self-organizing process whose nature, speed, and outcome depend in part on the outcomes of ecesis and the residual legacies remaining after disturbances. A by-product of succession after a disturbance is the reorganization of species dominance, or novelty. The degree of novelty in the outcome increases with the severity of the disturban...

A warming Arctic has been associated with increases in aboveground plant biomass, specifically shrubs, and changes in vegetation cover. However, the magnitude and direction of changes in NDVI have not been consistent across different tundra types. Here we examine the responsiveness of fine-scale NDVI values to experimental warming at eight sites in northern Alaska, United States. Warming in our eight sites ranged in duration from 2‑23 seasons. Dry, wet and moist tundra communities were monitored for canopy surface temperatures and NDVI in ambient and experimentally-warmed plots at near-dail...