Forest Sciences Commons^™

Properties And Environmental Impacts Of Sustainable Electrically Conductive Composites Of Carbonized Pulp Fibers And Recycled Polyamide 12, Chinmoyee Das

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Electrically conductive composites are polymer composites filled with electrically conductive filler. Electrically conductive composites can be implemented in the development of lightweight electrically conductive components for the automotive industry. Traditional electrically conductive composites incorporate synthetic carbon-based fillers that have good properties but are very expensive and highly energy intensive, creating the need for a sustainable and cost-effective replacement. This study explores the effectiveness of biocarbon fibers developed from Douglas fir pulp fibers as a potential electrically conductive filler in recycled polyamide (PA) 12 composites.

Biocarbon fibers were developed from pulp by carbonization of the feedstock at 1000° C in an …

Medicinal And Aromatic Plants In The Omics Era: Application Of Plant Breeding Andbiotechnology For Plant Secondary Metabolite Production, Muzaffer Barut, Muhammad Azhar Nadeem, Özlem Akgür, Leyla Sezen Tansi, Muhammad Aasim, Muhammad Tanveer Altaf, Faheem Shahzad Baloch

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Human being has strong and historic connections with plants to fulfill food, feed, and shelter. Moreover, human uses plants as medicine for the treatment of various diseases. Plants are chemical factories for the biosynthesis of the huge number of secondary metabolites (SMs) that are directly used as a medicine or indirectly used in the development of commercial pharmaceutical drugs. Their improvement through classical breeding remains a difficult struggle for plant breeders. Hence, rapidly advancing research on the plant omics era has accelerated our understanding of the complex structure of SMs synthesis in medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs). In addition, sequencing …

Differential Water-Use And Growth Responses Of Pinus Densiflora And Larix Kaempferi Seedlings To Microclimate Manipulation, Jiae An, Hanna Chang, Seung Hyun Han, Asia Khamzina, Yowhan Son

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Our study assessed how physiological traits and the growth of seedlings of Pinus densiflora and Larix kaempferi, representative coniferous species of Korea, are affected by warming and precipitation manipulation. A warming and precipitation manipulation experiment was conducted with 1- and 2-year-old seedlings using infrared heaters, transparent panels, and an irrigation system. Plant physiological activities were monitored using a portable photosynthesis measurement system, and seedling growth was investigated by measuring the dry weight of harvested biomass. P. densiflora, an isohydric species, showed an overall decrease in physiological activities under the warming treatment in the first (germination) year. In particular, stomatal conductance …

Identification Of Snp Markers Linked To Rf Locus In Carrot Using Gbs, Sevi̇n Teoman Duran, Ahmet İpek

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Commercial carrot production is based on the use of hybrid seed varieties worldwide. Cytoplasmic genetic male sterility (CGMS) mechanism has been widely used as the main method for hybrid carrot seed production. There is a significant demand for a rapid method for identification of fertility restorer gene (Rf) carrying individual plants in a carrot breeding population. The objective of this research was to identify SNP markers linked to Rf locus and develop a genetic map of Rf gene in carrot. For this purpose, a carrot F2 population segregating for male sterility was produced and segregating 10,425 SNP markers were discovered …

Morphological And Agronomic Characterization Of Turkish Vaccaria Hispanica (Mill.) Rauschert Populations, Esi̇n Ari, Nedi̇m Mutlu, İnanç Soylu, Hi̇lal Bedi̇r, İlker Genç, İsmai̇l Gökhan Deni̇z

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Vaccaria hispanica (Mill) Rauschert, also known as cow cockle, is an important candidate for industrial crop species that has yet to be fully domesticated. Therefore, characterization of germplasms is crucial to initiate and select for economic use. The study reports cultivation, characterization, and seed production of 66 wild V. hispanica genotypes, collected throughout Turkey that represent the available genetic pool. The study was carried out in an unheated greenhouse in Antalya, under Mediterranean climate from December to early June. The populations were evaluated for 21 morphological and 6 agronomic traits. The highest coefficient of variation (CV) for morphological traits was …

Invasive Earthworms In The Crown Of The Continent System And Implications For Land Management, Meghan Elizabeth Scott

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The United States contains invasive earthworms originating from Europe and Asia; the majority are European lumbricids. Direct introduction occurs primarily through human activity and, once established, earthworm populations are difficult to address. When exotic earthworms engage in bioturbation, they negatively alter subterranean food webs and nutrient cycling by disrupting soil layering systems. The most prominent form of physical alteration is the change and removal of the topmost organic layer. This disruption is associated with altered nitrogen and carbon cycling, as well as altered forest floor plant communities.

The Crown of the Continent ecosystem is located in southwestern Alberta, southeastern British …

Lidar-Landsat Covariance For Predicting Canopy Fuels, Margaret D. Epstein

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Managing wildfires in the western United States is becoming increasingly complex. Visualizing and quantifying canopy structures allows fire managers to both plan for fire and track recovery. Light detecting and ranging, or LiDAR can measure forests in three dimensions, but has limited spatial and temporal coverage. LiDAR-Landsat covariance uses machine learning to fill in the spatial and temporal gaps of LiDAR coverage with supplemental Landsat imagery. However, in order to capture real forest dynamics, a model needs to be stable enough to detect long term trends, sensitive to episodic disturbance, and general enough to work on multiple landcovers. The purpose …

Evaluating The Effects Of Tree Community Species Composition On Larix Occidentalis Growth, Christian M. Mercado

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Western larch (Larix occidentalis) is an important tree species exclusive to the inland northwest region of North America. It is very intolerant of shade but managed across a range of communities with both shade-tolerant and -intolerant species. Recent works have shown that tree and stand level competition in mixed-species communities can be modified depending on how the characteristics of species in a mixture interact. Such changes can alter the growth relationship of the participant species. Western larch growth has been well-characterized in empirical growth models, where growth is typically estimated from a complex of size, competition, density, and …

Small Area Estimation Of Postfire Tree Density In The Western United States Using An Annualized Forest Inventory, George Chilton Gaines Iii

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Wildfire activity in the western United States is expanding and concern for the declining extent of postfire tree cover in many western forests is mounting. Accurate estimates of postfire seedling, sapling, and large tree density following wildfire are critical for postfire forest management planning and monitoring forest dynamics. National forest inventory programs, such as the US Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program, can provide vegetation data for direct spatiotemporal domain estimation of postfire tree density, but sample observations within domains of administrative utility are often few to none. This research investigates indirect domain estimators, which borrow sample data …

Deriving Surface Fuels From Uas Imagery Forfire Models, Matthew R. Cunningham

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Understanding how fuel, weather, and terrain interact to produce fire behavior continues to motivate fire science andhas resulted in development of new physics-based fire behavior models that place increased demands on input data such as fuels. Recent technological advancements in computing, unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and sensors (RGB, multispectral, thermal, and hyperspectral cameras) can provide new opportunities for land managers and scientists to advance knowledge of fuels and fire behavior and their interactions on the landscape. In this study, imagery from high resolution multispectral cameras mounted on UAS were used to build orthomosaics and point clouds of surface fuelbeds in …

Understanding The Utilization Of Woody Biomass Through The Perspectives Of Southwest United States Forest Service Land Managers: A Qualitative Study, Mary-Ellen Reyna

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Dry ponderosa pine/mixed conifer stands in the Southwestern United States create an overabundance of woody biomass during restoration and fuel treatments. It has been the job of land managers and resource specialists to develop management goals and practices to treat stands and lower the risk of catastrophic wildfires while managing for accumulations of woody biomass. Knowing the limitations, setbacks, and successes will help researchers, the United States Forest Service, and other land managers better improve woody biomass utilization. In conjunction with three previous ForBio Southwest studies, we present results from ten phone interviews from three Arizona and New Mexico ranger …

Ecological Effects Of Prescribed Burning, Mechanical Cutting, And Post-Treatment Wildfire For Restoration Of Pinus Albicaulis, Enzo Paolo Martelli Moya

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The field of ecological restoration is growing rapidly, increasing the need for reliable and generalizable information on the impacts of management interventions aimed to be restorative. Prescribed burning and mechanical cutting have been proposed as primary strategies for restoration. However, there is limited information on their efficacy and effects in subalpine forest types, suggesting that monitoring to inform adaptive management is a priority need. I used data from a 15-year, replicated before-after-control-impact (BACI) study on Pinus albicaulis (whitebark pine) restoration to assess the ecological effects of prescribed burning and mechanical cutting, with and without subsequent unplanned wildfire, as well as …

Assessing Soil Disturbance From Tethered Logging On Steep Slopes In Northern California, Karolyn Marie Fagundes

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The implementation of tethered harvesting allows for the expansion of mechanized logging onto steeper slopes. Recent updates to the California Forest Practice Rules have explicitly removed the slope limitation for logging equipment, provided it’s tethered. California is now witnessing the reintroduction of ground-based logging equipment on steep slopes. Previously, operating equipment on steep slopes was considered detrimental due to the potential for soil disturbance. However, tethered equipment interacts with the soil in a new way due to the use of a winch. Relatively few studies have attempted to quantify soil disturbance with this new practice. The goal of this study …

Satellite Evidence Of Canopy-Height Dependence Of Forest Drought Resistance In Southwestern China, Peipei Xu, Wei Fang, Tao Zhou, Hu Li, Xiang Zhao, Spencer Berman, Ting Zhang, Chuixiang Yi

Publications and Research

The frequency and intensity of drought events are increasing with warming climate, which has resulted in worldwide forest mortality. Previous studies have reached a general consensus on the size-dependency of forest resistance to drought, but further understanding at a local scale remains ambiguous with conflicting evidence. In this study, we assessed the impact of canopy height on forest drought resistance in the broadleaf deciduous forest of southwestern China for the 2010 extreme drought event using linear regression and a random forest (RF) model. Drought condition was quantified with standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) and drought resistance was measured with the …

Technical Note: Novel Estimates Of The Leaf Relative Uptake Rate Of Carbonyl Sulfide From Optimality Theory, Georg Wohlfahrt, Albin Hammerle, Felix M. Spielmann, Florian Kitz, Chuixiang Yi

Publications and Research

In order to estimate the gross primary productivity (GPP) of terrestrial ecosystems from the canopy uptake of carbonyl sulfide (COS), the leaf relative uptake rate (LRU) of COS with respect to carbon dioxide needs to be known a priori. Currently, the variability of the LRU between plant species in different biomes of the world is poorly understood, making the choice of an appropriate LRU uncertain and hampering further progress towards developing COS as an alternative tracer of GPP. Here we propose a novel approach for estimating LRU based on plant optimality principles, validate it against in situ leaf gas exchange …

Display Site Selection By Male Ruffed Grouse In The Upper Great Lakes Region, Seth Finkel

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) is widely known for its characteristic territorial drumming display. In this study, I used ruffed grouse drumming survey data from Minnesota and Michigan, in a series of mixed logistic models, to identify drivers of drumming log selection by reproductive male ruffed grouse. I collected drumming stage data utilizing a paired-random sampling structure. I used information theoretic model selection to examine three sets of a priori mixed logistic models: one for the entirety of my Minnesota dataset, one consisting of stages identified in aspen stands in Minnesota, and one for my Michigan dataset. In …

Common Garden Study Reveals Frost-Tolerant, Generalist Northern Seed Sources Are Best Suited To Expand Range Of Quercus Rubra, Emily Lindback

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Climate change is shifting the potential suitable range of northern red oak (Quercus rubra L.) faster than it can migrate, creating an adaptation lag. Quercus rubra is prominent in eastern North American forests and important for its carbon sequestration, ecological roles, and economic significance. Our study addresses which populations of Q. rubra are best suited for climatic conditions at the northern and central range limits. Our findings can inform forestry management policies such as assisted migration, where species are transferred within their native range to mitigate the effects of climate change. We planted over 800 Q. rubra seedlings …

Effects Of Dissimilar Silvicultural Techniques On Small Mammal Communities In Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Breanna R. Gusick

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Small mammal populations, and predators reliant upon them as food resources, are often challenged by conflicting objectives of timber production and maintenance of quality habitat. With over 70% of the landscape forested, and nearly one-third of the land privately owned, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP) is a matrix of independent management strategies. To assess the effects of various silvicultural regeneration methods on small mammal populations in the Upper Peninsula, we trapped small mammals in experimental silviculture plots, whereby treatments varied by regeneration method (amount of residual canopy cover) and site preparation (i.e., control, tip-up, and scarification), and deer exclosures. We used …

Recovering And Upgrading Kraft Lignin For Application In Flexible Polyurethane Foam, Peng Quan

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Lignin is the second abundant natural polymer and has been highlighted as a potential substitute for fossil-based raw materials. However, the inherent molecular heterogeneity and the complex recovery processes result in the challenge of controlling the molecular properties and value-added applications of lignin in large scale. To address those issues, a novel acid-liquefaction process was developed in this study to recover Kraft lignin with improved molecular homogeneity directly from black liquor.

In the first study, the liquefaction parameters were screened based on yield and molecular weight properties of the recovered lignin. Then, the recovered lignin samples were used to replace …

Smokejumper Magazine, January 2022, National Smokejumper Association

Smokejumper and Static Line Magazines

This issue of the National Smokejumper Association (NSA) Smokejumper Magazine contains the following articles: Message from the President; The Last Day; Odds and Ends; A Few Snippets from a Questionable Memory; Civilian Public Service—Smokejumpers; During the War Years; Idaho City Smokejumper—A Bit of History; Smokejumpers and the Olympics; Recording Smokejumper History; 1943 Rookies—The Civilian Public Service; Years; Sounding Off from the Editor; The Bad Old Days; The "Safety Card"; Mega Fires—Guest Opinion; Feedback from Current Fire Situation in; Northern California; The Jump List; Men of the '50s; Happy 100th Birthday, Luke Amon Birky; Eric The Blak’s Magnetic Declination and Water; …