Life Sciences Commons^™

Most Soil Trophic Guilds Increase Plant Growth: A Meta-Analytical Review, Andrew Kulmatiski, Andrew Anderson-Smith, Karen H. Beard, Stephen Doucette-Riise, Michael Mazzacavallo, Nicole E. Nolan, Ricardo A. Ramirez, John R. Stevens

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Trophic cascades are important drivers of plant and animal abundances in aquatic and aboveground systems, but in soils trophic cascades have been thought to be of limited importance due to omnivory and other factors. Here we use a meta-analysis of 215 studies with 1526 experiments that measured plant growth responses to additions or removals of soil organisms to test how different soil trophic levels affect plant growth. Consistent with the trophic cascade hypothesis, we found that herbivores and plant pathogens (henceforth pests) decreased plant growth and that predators of pests increased plant growth. The magnitude of this trophic cascade was …

Stand Density And Age Affect Tree-Level Structural And Functional Characteristics Of Young, Postfire Lodgepole Pine In Yellowstone National Park, Paige E. Copenhaver-Parry, Daniel B. Tinker

Faculty Publications - Department of Biological & Molecular Science

More frequent fire activity associated with climate warming is expected to increase the extent of young forest stands in fire-prone landscapes, yet growth rates and biomass allocation patterns in young forests that regenerated naturally following stand-replacing fire have not been well studied. We assessed the structural and functional characteristics of young, postfire lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) trees across the Yellowstone subalpine plateaus to understand the influence of postfire stand density and age on tree-level aboveground biomass (AB), component biomass (bole, branch, foliage), partitioning to components, tree-level aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) and leaf area (LA). Sixty …

Woody Biomass Conversion To Jp 8 Fuels: Monthly Funds And Expenditure Report, Hemant P. Pendse

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Two faculty and two staff members are active on this project. GL entries corrections for corrected Capital equipment expenses (re. May report) and corrected indirect cost charges are put in. Correct Total Capital Equipment charges are $82,950 and correct total indirect cost charges are $335,093.47.

Application Of An Imputation Method For Geospatial Inventory Of Forest Structural Attributes Across Multiple Spatial Scales In The Lake States, U.S.A., Ram K. Deo

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Credible spatial information characterizing the structure and site quality of forests is critical to sustainable forest management and planning, especially given the increasing demands and threats to forest products and services. Forest managers and planners are required to evaluate forest conditions over a broad range of scales, contingent on operational or reporting requirements. Traditionally, forest inventory estimates are generated via a design-based approach that involves generalizing sample plot measurements to characterize an unknown population across a larger area of interest. However, field plot measurements are costly and as a consequence spatial coverage is limited. Remote sensing technologies have shown remarkable …

Association Of Digital Photo Parameters And Ndvi With Winter Wheat Grain Yield In Variable Environments, Alexey Morgounov, Nurberdi Gummadov, Savaş Belen, Yüksel Kaya, Mesut Keser, Jamala Mursalova

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

The normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) is gaining popularity as a complementary selection tool, even though it requires an instrument not readily available in the developing world. We evaluated several parameters (originating from the analysis of digital photos using BreedPix software) as potential selection criteria in 23 winter wheat yield trials grown over 4 years at 2 sites. NDVI and digital photos were taken at key development stages from stem elongation to maturity. The correlations between digital photo parameters a and u and grain yield, as well as correlations between NDVI and grain yield within individual trials, varied depending on …

Siberian Elm Responses To Different Culture Conditions Under Short Rotation Forestry In Mediterranean Areas, Ignacio Pérez, Javier Pérez, Juan Carrasco, Pilar Ciria

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

This work explores the possibilities of biomass production, for energy purposes, of Siberian elm in Mediterranean areas, including marginal lands with poor soil and low water availability. To achieve this, the influence of soil type, planting density, and water availability on biomass production were analyzed after the first 3 years of the growing cycle in 2 different locations. Moreover, a method to estimate biomass production as a function of some morphological parameters of the trees, as well as the use of leaf water potential as a good indicator of trees' water status, are discussed. The analysis of parameters having an …

Growth, Biomass, Carbon Stocks, And Sequestration In An Age Series Of Populus Deltoides Plantations In Tarai Region Of Central Himalaya, Gurveen Arora, Sumit Chaturvedi, Rajesh Kaushal, Ajeet Nain, Salil Tewari, Nurnabi Meherul Alam, Om Prakash Chaturvedi

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Growth, biomass, carbon storage, and carbon sequestration potential along an age series in Populus deltoides plantations were assessed. The growth rate of diameter at breast height and height was higher in trees of 4 to 7 years and 2 to 5 years, respectively. The total aboveground biomass (AGB) increased with age and reached its maximum (180.2 Mg ha^{-1}) at 11 years of age. Mean carbon concentration in aboveground components varied from 39.7% to 51.7%. Allometric equations were developed to estimate biomass and biomass carbon in different tree components, which had adjusted R squares greater than 94%. Aboveground carbon stocks in …

Nutrient Uptake Of Peanut Genotypes With Different Levels Of Drought Tolerance Under Midseason Drought, Hoang Thai Dinh, Wanwipa Kaewpradit, Sanun Jogloy, Nimitr Vorasoot, Aran Patanothai

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

The objective of this study was to investigate the responses of peanut genotypes to midseason drought, regarding in particular nutrient uptakes and their correlations with biomass production and pod yield. The experiment was conducted during the dry seasons of 2011/12 and 2012/13. Five peanut genotypes with different levels of drought tolerance and 2 water regimes (well-watered and midseason drought) were laid out in a split-plot design with 4 replications. Midseason drought was imitated by stopping irrigation at 30 days after planting (DAP) and then rewatering at 60 DAP. The data were recorded for contents of N, P, K, Ca, and …

Interactive Effects Of Defoliation And Climate Change On Compensatory Growth Of Silver Birch Seedlings, Liisa Huttunen, Matthew P. Ayres, Pekka Niemelä, Susanne Heiska, Riitta Tegelberg, Matti Rousi, Seppo Kellomaki

Dartmouth Scholarship

Atmospheric warming increases the abundance of insect herbivores and intensifies the risk of defoliation, especially in high latitude forests. At the same time, the effects of increasing temperature and CO2 on plant responses to foliage damage are poorly understood. We examined if previous-year defoliation, varying between 0 and 75% of total leaf area, and different combinations of elevated temperature, CO2 and nutrient availability alter the growth of two-year old silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) seedlings. We measured the greatest height growth in seedlings that were fertilized and defoliated twice at the level of 50% of total leaf area, and subjected …

A Comparison Of Producer Gas, Biochar, And Activated Carbon From Two Distributed Scale Thermochemical Conversion Systems Used To Process Forest Biomass, Nathaniel Anderson, J. Greg Jones, Deborah Page-Dumroese, Daniel Mccollum, Stephen Baker, Daniel Loeffler, Woodam Chung

Forest Management Faculty Publications

Thermochemical biomass conversion systems have the potential to produce heat, power, fuels and other products from forest biomass at distributed scales that meet the needs of some forest industry facilities. However, many of these systems have not been deployed in this sector and the products they produce from forest biomass have not been adequately described or characterized with regards to chemical properties, possible uses, and markets. This paper characterizes the producer gas, biochar, and activated carbon of a 700 kg h⁻¹ prototype gasification system and a 225 kg h⁻¹ pyrolysis system used to process coniferous sawmill and forest …

Agricultural Geo-Engineering; Past, Present & Future, Erich J. Knight Mr.

Erich J Knight Mr.

Historic hall marks of GHG emissions are reviewed, providing repeated demonstration of anthropogenic land use changes on climate forcing.

New Astrophysical and Paleoclimate concordance with extinction events demonstrating climate adaptation by prehistoric man.

A review of new research concerning Soil Carbon, Carboniferous Aerosols, extent of Pyrolytic-Carbon fraction in soil and the first survey of the extensive deep soil carbon sink.

How thermal conversion technologies can integrate and optimize the recycling of valuable nutrients while providing energy and building soil carbon.

New discoveries from the Advanced Spectrometry & Meta-Genomics studies in soil microbiology which demonstrate unaccounted for ecological services provided by …

The Influence Of Vertical And Horizontal Habitat Structure On Nationwide Patterns Of Avian Biodiversity, Patrick D. Culbert, Volker C. Radeloff, Curtis H. Flather, Josef M. Kellndorfer, Chadwick D. Rittenhouse, Anna M. Pidgeon

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

With limited resources for habitat conservation, the accurate identification of high-value avian habitat is crucial. Habitat structure affects avian biodiversity but is difficult to quantify over broad extents. Our goal was to identify which measures of vertical and horizontal habitat structure are most strongly related to patterns of avian biodiversity across the conterminous United States and to determine whether new measures of vertical structure are complementary to existing, primarily horizontal, measures. For 2,546 North American Breeding Bird Survey routes across the conterminous United States, we calculated canopy height and biomass from the National Biomass and Carbon Dataset (NBCD) as measures …

Private Landowner Intent To Supply Forest Biomass For Energy In Kentucky, Zachary John Leitch

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is taking steps to expand bioenergy production in response to federal policy initiatives as well as environmental and energy security concerns. The success of this industry will be impacted by the supply of feedstock available from private individuals who own a majority (78%) of forest resources in the state. Despite a developing body of bioenergy research, little is known concerning the social availability of forest biomass for energy production. This study measures intent to harvest energy wood among family forest owners using a mail-­‐based survey and tests the effect of educational materials provided to participants. The …

Two-Stage Sampling To Estimate Individual Tree Biomass, Ramazan Özçeli̇k, Tuncay Eraslan

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

The accurate estimation of tree biomass is crucial for the efficient management of forest resources. In this study, we used a subsampling method for unbiased estimates of above-ground tree biomass. The method consists of 2 stages: the first stage consists of randomized branch sampling (RBS) and the second stage uses importance sampling (IS). RBS is used to select a path from the butt of an object branch to a terminal segment. IS is used for selecting a disk that produces unbiased estimates of the fresh biomass of tree. In this study, the subsampling method was tested on 14 black pine …

Place-Based Approaches To Alternative Energy: The Potential For Forest And Grass Biomass For Aroostook County, Jason Johnston, Soraya Cardenas

Maine Policy Review

Teams at the University of Maine Presque Isle and the University of Maine at Forth Kent are engaged in evaluating the potential for forest and grass biomass energy in Aroostook County, funded through Maine’s Sustainability Solutions Initiative. The article discusses how this potential is being evaluated and the possible ways in which expanding grass and wood biomass might benefit farmers and residents of The County. It suggests that using some of Maine’s farmland for fuel might be sustainable with appropriate management and with consideration for potential environmental and socioeconomic drawbacks

Deriving Fuel Mass By Size Class In Douglas-Fir (Pseudotsuga Menziesii) Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning, Carl Seielstad, Crystal Stonesifer, Eric Rowell, Lloyd Queen

Forest Management Faculty Publications

Requirements for describing coniferous forests are changing in response to wildfire concerns, bio-energy needs, and climate change interests. At the same time, technology advancements are transforming how forest properties can be measured. Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) is yielding promising results for measuring tree biomass parameters that, historically, have required costly destructive sampling and resulted in small sample sizes. Here we investigate whether TLS intensity data can be used to distinguish foliage and small branches (less than or equal to 0.635 cm diameter; coincident with the one-hour timelag fuel size class) from larger branchwood (>0.635 cm) in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga …

Forest Structure And Aboveground Biomass In The Southwestern United States From Modis And Misr, Mark Chopping, Crystal B. Schaaf, Feng Zhao, Zhuosen Wang, Anne Nolin, Gretchen G. Moisen, John V. Martonchik, Michael Bull

USDA Forest Service / UNL Faculty Publications

Red band bidirectional reflectance factor data from the NASA MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) acquired over the southwestern United States were interpreted through a simple geometric–optical (GO) canopy reflectance model to provide maps of fractional crown cover (dimensionless), mean canopy height (m), and aboveground woody biomass (Mg ha⁻¹) on a 250 m grid. Model adjustment was performed after dynamic injection of a background contribution predicted via the kernel weights of a bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) model. Accuracy was assessed with respect to similar maps obtained with data from the NASA Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) and to contemporaneous …

University Of Maine Integrated Forest Product Refinery (Ifpr) Technology Research, Hemant P. Pendse

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

This project supported research on science and technology that forms a basis for integrated forest product refinery for co-production of chemicals, fuels and materials using existing forest products industry infrastructure. Clear systems view of an Integrated Forest Product Refinery (IFPR) allowed development of a compelling business case for a small scale technology demonstration in Old Town, ME for co-production of biofuels using cellulosic sugars along with pulp for the new' owners of the facility resulting in an active project on Integrated Bio-Refinery (IBR) at the Old Town Fuel & Fiber. Work on production of advanced materials from woody biomass has …

Genome Sequence Of The Model Mushroom Schizophyllum Commune, Robin A. Ohm, Jan F. De Jong, Luis G. Lugones, Andrea Aerts, Erika Kothe, Jason E. Stajich, Ronald P. De Vries, Eric Record, Anthony Levasseur, Scott E. Baker, Kirk A. Bartholomew, Pedro M. Coutinho, Susann Erdmann, Thomas J. Fowler, Allen C. Gathmen, Vincent Lombard, Bernard Henrissat, Nicole Knabe, Ursula Kues, Walt W. Lily

Biology Faculty Publications

Much remains to be learned about the biology of mushroom-forming fungi, which are an important source of food, secondary metabolites and industrial enzymes. The wood-degrading fungus Schizophyllum commune is both a genetically tractable model for studying mushroom development and a likely source of enzymes capable of efficient degradation of lignocellulosic biomass. Comparative analyses of its 38.5-megabase genome, which encodes 13,210 predicted genes, reveal the species's unique wood-degrading machinery. One-third of the 471 genes predicted to encode transcription factors are differentially expressed during sexual development of S. commune. Whereas inactivation of one of these, fst4, prevented mushroom formation, inactivation of another, …

Slides: Celebrating Flpma: Land Use Planning At The Blm, Marcilynn Burke

The Past, Present, and Future of Our Public Lands: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Public Land Law Review Commission’s Report, One Third of the Nation’s Land (Martz Summer Conference, June 2-4)

Presenter: Marcilynn Burke, BLM Deputy Director - Programs and Policy, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, (Washington, D.C.)

30 slides

The Study Of Plant Cell Walls Deconstruction Using Electron Beams Irradiation, Jetana Kittisenee

Masters Theses

Plant cell walls compose the largest source of sugars on earth and are a potential source after conversion for liquid transportation fuels. However, the crystalline region of cellulose and the lignin that incases it present significant obstacles for enzymes to digest. This lowers the sugar yield, which ultimately decreases the production efficiency of bioethanol. A pretreatment that could help lowering the amount of crystallinity; meanwhile, breakdown the matrix of lignin and polysaccharides that cover cellulose fibers would be ideal. Here we propose a physical pretreatment strategy of electron beam irradiation that could potentially decrease cellulose crystallinity as well as unzip …

The Effects Of Biogas Slurry On The Production And Quality Of Maize Fodder, Md. Rafiqul Islam, Syed Mohammad Ehsanur Rahman, Md. Mukhlesur Rahman, Deog Hwan Oh, Chang Six Ra

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

The present study examined the effectiveness of biogas slurry (liquor from anaerobic digestion process) as a nitrogen source for the production of maize fodder (Zea mays). Maize fodder was cultivated as a control (T_0: 0 kg of slurry N ha^{-1}) and with 3 different levels of biogas slurry-T_1 (60 kg of slurry N ha^{-1}), T_2 (70 kg of slurry N ha^{-1}), and T_3 (82 kg of slurry N ha^{-1})-in a randomized block design. The parameters studied were plant height, stem circumference, number of leaves, leaf area, dry matter yield, and nutrient contents in maize fodder. Maize plant height and stem …

Biomass And Biofuels In Maine: Estimating Supplies For Expanding The Forest Products Industry, Jonathan Rubin, Kate Dickerson, Jacob Kavkewitz

Energy & the Environment

This paper estimates the renewable energy potential of Maine’s forest resources, and how much energy these resources could potentially provide the state. Using the most recent state-specific data available, and a methodology similar to the Billion Tons Report, we find that ethanol production from Maine’s forest residues could potentially provide 18% of Maine’s transportation (gasoline) fuels with a fermentation wood to ethanol process. Making Fischer-Tropsch diesel (F-T diesel) using forest residues can replace 39% of Maine’s petro-diesel consumption. Actual levels of biofuels that can be produced will depend on conversion factors and forestry residue removals that are subject to uncertainty.

Slides: Tribal Perspectives On Natural Resource Policy, Donald Wharton

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

Presenter: Donald Wharton, Native American Rights Fund

16 slides

Relationships Between Remotely Sensed Data And Biomass Components In A Big Sagebrush (Artemisia Tridentata) Dominated Area In Yellowstone National Park, Mustafa Mi̇ri̇k, Jack E. Norland, Mario E. Biondini, Robert L. Crabtree, Gerald J. Michels

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

The predictive power of a hyperspectral imagery for estimating woody and herbaceous biomass were examined for a big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) dominated area in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, United States of America. The normalized difference vegetation (NDV) and structure insensitive pigment (SIP) indices were used to investigate the relationships between biomass components and reflectance spectra. Ground data were collected in 13 sample plots 1 m^2 in size by clipping all herbaceous vegetation to ground level and stripping green leaves from big sagebrush plants. Strong relationships (R^2 from 0.83 to 0.96) were found between the hyperspectral data and biomass components. The …

Nebraska’S Forests: Resource Bulletin Nrs-27, Dacia M. Meneguzzo, Brett J. Butler, Susan J. Crocker, David E. Haugen, W. Keith Moser, Charles H. (Hobie) Perry, Barry T. (Ty) Wilson, Christopher W. Woodall

Nebraska Forest Service: Publications

Results of the first annual inventory of Nebraska’s forests (2001-05) show an estimated 1.24 million acres of forest land; 1.17 million acres meet the definition of timberland. Softwood forest types account for one-third of all forest land area, with ponderosa pine being the most prevalent type. Hardwood forest types comprise 58 percent of Nebraska’s forest land. Elm/ash/cottonwood is the predominant forest-type group in the State, accounting for 26 percent of all forest land area. Livetree volume on timberland increased from 1.3 to 1.8 billion cubic feet between the 1994 and 2005 inventories. This report includes information on forest attributes, forest …

Influence Of Forest Composition On Understory Cover In Boreal Mixedwood Forests Of Western Quebec, Sonia Legare, Yves Bergeron, David Pare

Aspen Bibliography

Forest overstory composition influences both light and nutrient availability in the mixed boreal forest. The influence of stand composition on understory cover and biomass was investigated on two soil types (clay and till deposits). Four forest composition types were considered in this study: aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.), paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.), jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) and a mixture of balsam-fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.) and white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss). The cover of all understory species was recorded while the biomass of two important and ubiquitous species was measured: mountain maple (Acer spicatum Lam.) of the shrub …

Carbon Allocation And Partitioning In Aspen Clones Varying In Sensitivity To Tropospheric Ozone, M.D. Coleman, R.E. Dickson, J.G. Isebrands, D.F. Karnosky

Aspen Bibliography

No abstract provided.

Aboveground Biomass And Production From 1938 To 1984 For Four Aspen Plots In Northern Lower Michigan, T.W. Jurik, G.M. Briggs, D.M. Gates

Aspen Bibliography

No abstract provided.

Natural Variation In Merchantable Stem Biomass And Volume Among Clones Of Populus Tremuloides Michx, G.A. Lehn, K.O. Higginbotham

Aspen Bibliography

No abstract provided.