Longitudinal growth strain as a log and wood quality predictor for plantation-grown <Emphasis Type="Italic">Eucalyptus nitens</Emphasis> sawlogs     

Juan Valencia  Chris Harwood  Russell Washusen  Andrew Morrow  Matthew Wood  Peter Volker 《Wood Science and Technology》2011,45(1):15-34

Peripheral longitudinal growth strain (LGS) was measured on a total of 81, 22-year-old pruned Eucalyptus nitens trees from five thinning treatments in a plantation thinning trial in Tasmania. Growth strain data were gathered at breast height on each tree using the CIRAD-Forêt method. The effects of thinning treatment and tree diameter on LGS and its relationships to solid-wood traits determined in a processing trial were examined. LGS was significantly higher in the direction of the prevailing wind and was not significantly affected by either thinning treatment or tree diameter. An index of log end splitting was positively related to tree diameter, sawlog position (upper/lower), and LGS, which explained up to an additional 20% of the variance after tree diameter and log position were accounted for in a linear regression model. High LGS and log end splitting were significant indicators of increased board end splitting.  相似文献   

Ecological lessons from long-term studies in experimental forests: Ponderosa pine silviculture at Pringle Falls Experimental Forest, central Oregon     

Andrew Youngblood 《Forest Ecology and Management》2011,261(5):937-947

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service celebrated the 100th anniversary of its network of experimental forests in 2008. For a century, the network of experimental forests have contributed immensely—both in the US and around the world—to the practical understanding of the environment and to the formation of management approaches and policies that affect our use of forests and the natural resources they contain. Experimental forests provide places for long-term science and management studies in major vegetation types across the 789,140 km² of public land administered by the Forest Service. They also provide an incredible wealth of records and knowledge of environmental change in natural and managed forest ecosystems across the United States. Pringle Falls Experimental Forest (Pringle Falls), southwest of Bend, Oregon, is the oldest experimental forest in the Pacific Northwest and is the site of some of the earliest forest management and silviculture research in this region. Research at this site began in 1914, and it was formally established as part of the national network of experimental forests in 1931 as a center for silviculture, forest management, and insect and disease research in ponderosa pine forests east of the Oregon Cascade Range. As part of the celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the network of experimental forests, it is timely to examine a few of the ecological lessons that have resulted from long-term studies at Pringle Falls. Two different yet interconnected themes are traced: (1) management of existing old-growth ponderosa pine; and (2) management of young or immature ponderosa pine. Examples of ecological lessons, drawn from long-term studies established or followed by James W. Barrett, Matt D. Busse, Patrick H. Cochran, Walter G. Dahms, F. Paul Keen, Ernest L. Kolbe, Edwin L. Mowat, William W. Oliver, Ram Oren, Chester T. Youngberg, and Jianwei Zhang illustrate how work at Pringle Falls has both pursued and influenced societal demands for forest management strategies, and how this trajectory has cycled back to the themes under which the experimental forest was first established. Finally, these two themes are integrated as drivers for new landscape-scale long-term research at Pringle Falls, designed to evaluate the effects of thinning and fuel reduction treatments on multiple, interacting forest stresses of fire, insects, wind, and climate change.  相似文献   

Determinants of yield in a non-timber forest product: Copaifera oleoresin in Amazonian extractive reserves     

Peter Newton  Andrew R. Watkinson Carlos A. Peres 《Forest Ecology and Management》2011,261(2):255-264

Developing sustainable extractive industries in otherwise intact tropical forest regions requires a sound understanding of the production potential of key resource populations. The oleoresin extracted from Copaifera trees is an economically important non-timber forest product harvested throughout the lowland Amazon basin. We studied oleoresin extraction from four species of Copaifera trees with known harvest histories within two contiguous extractive reserves in western Brazilian Amazonia. We conducted a large-scale experimental harvest of 179 previously unharvested Copaifera trees, in both seasonally flooded (várzea) and adjacent unflooded (terra firme) forests. The likelihood of trees yielding any oleoresin was principally determined by their species identity: C. multijuga was the only species to regularly yield oleoresin (70% of trees). Yield volumes varied both amongst species and forest types: C. multijuga (restricted to terra firme forest) had the highest mean yield of 505 ml, whilst C. guyanensis produced higher volumes of oleoresin in várzea (139 ml) than terra firme (15 ml) forest. Intraspecific differences were driven mainly by tree size. To assess extraction sustainability, we reharvested a sample of C. multijuga trees and compared the oleoresin production of 24 conspecific trees that had been initially harvested one year previously with that of 17 trees initially harvested three years previously. Reharvested trees produced just 35% of the oleoresin volume compared to that when originally drilled, but this response was not affected by the time interval between consecutive harvests. We demonstrate that, within a population of Copaifera, both morphological and environmental factors restrict total productivity; consideration of these factors should inform sustainable management practises. We additionally raise methodological considerations that may improve the comparability of studies.  相似文献   

Soil carbon release along a gradient of physical disturbance in a harvested northern hardwood forest     

Lynne M. Zummo  Andrew J. Friedland 《Forest Ecology and Management》2011,261(6):1016-1026

Changes in soil respiration associated with forest harvest could increase net loss of CO₂ to the atmosphere relative to pre-harvest values. By excavating quantitative soil pits across a gradient of physical disturbance in a harvested northern hardwood forest, this study examines C release from mineral soil. Mineral soil samples were analyzed for pH, percent organic matter (%OM), C and N concentration, δ¹³C, and total C per unit area. Results show a relationship between degree of disturbance and C concentration in soil 10-30 cm beneath the O-horizon. Highly disturbed sites show C depletion, with horizons from disturbed sites containing 25% less total C than the least disturbed sites. δ¹³C signatures of soil profiles at these sites show vertical mixing of plant-derived material into deeper mineral horizons. Mixing, as a result of physical disturbance, could have led to the observed C depletion by physical or chemical destabilization, or through the promotion of microbial respiration in deep mineral soil. Regardless of the mechanism, these results suggest elevated CO₂ emissions from soil following harvest, and, thus, have implications for the validity of wood biomass as a carbon neutral energy source.  相似文献   

Microbial Communities in Long-Term Heavy Metal Contaminated Ombrotrophic Peats     

Patricia E. Linton  Laura Shotbolt  Andrew D. Thomas 《Water, air, and soil pollution》2007,186(1-4):97-113

High concentrations of heavy metals are known to be toxic to many soil organisms. The effects of long-term exposure to lower levels of metals on the soil microbial community are, however, less well understood. The southern Pennines of the U.K. are characterised by expanses of ombrotrophic peat soils that have experienced deposition of high levels of heavy metals since the mid to late 1800s. Concentrations of metals in the peat remain high but the effect of the contamination on the in-situ microbial communities is unknown. Geochemical and molecular polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) and sequencing techniques were used to derive new information on the metal chemistry and microbial populations in peat soils from six locations in the southern Pennines. All sites were highly acidic (pH 3.00–3.14) with high concentrations of potentially toxic heavy metals, particularly porewater Zn and particulate-associated Pb. The results also reveal a split in site characteristics between the most polluted sites with the highest levels of bioavailable metals (Bleaklow, FeatherBed Moss and White Hill) and those with much lower bioavailable metals (Cowms Moor, Holme Moss and Round Hill). There was no difference in the number of dominant bacterial species between the sites but there were significant differences in the species composition. At the three sites with the highest levels of bioavailable metals, bacterial species with a high similarity to acidophilic sulphur- and iron-oxidizing bacteria and those from high metal environments were detected. The transformations carried out by these metal mobilising and acid producing bacteria may make heavy metals more bioavailable and therefore more toxic to higher organisms. Bacteria with similarity to those typically found in forest and grassland soils were documented at the three sites with the lowest levels of bioavailable metals. The data highlight the need for further studies to elucidate the species diversity and functionality of bacteria in heavy metal contaminated peats in order to assess implications for moorland restoration.  相似文献   

Antibiotic Resistance in two Water Reclamation Systems for Space Applications     

Morse  Audra  Jackson  W. Andrew 《Water, air, and soil pollution》2004,159(1):277-289

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the antibiotic resistance in two water reclamation systems developed from space missions. The first system is a small-scale water reclamation system operated at Johnson Space Center designed to reclaim wastewater during long-term space missions. The second system was a scaled-down version of the Johnson Space Center system operated at Texas Tech University. Antibiotic resistance patterns to 10 antibiotics were investigated before and after controlled doses of amoxicillin were added to the water reclamation systems. The results of this study indicate that bacteria in all systems were resistant to many antibiotics including beta-lactam antibiotics and a beta-lactam, beta-lactamase inhibitor combination, amoxicillin with clavulanic acid.  相似文献   

Crossing the thresholds: human ecology and historical patterns of landscape degradation   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Ian A. Simpson  Andrew J. Dugmore  Amanda Thomson  Orri Vsteinsson 《CATENA》2001,42(2-4)

In discussions of landscape sensitivity, human activities have generally been regarded as external forces contributing to landscape change, with a focus on the impacts of cultivation methods, fertiliser practices, grazing pressures and atmospheric pollution. However, there has been comparatively little study undertaken that integrates physical and social systems in a historic context to explain the basis of human activity in sensitive landscapes. Where such attempts have been made, the manner of common land management has figured prominently, with ‘tragedy of the commons’ concepts used to explain land degradation and to provide a foundation for policy response. This has also been the case in Southern Iceland and in this paper we assess the extent to which common land domestic grazing pressures were the primary external force causing soil erosion and land degradation during the period of occupation from ca. 874 AD. We first provide field observation of soil erosion, temporally defined by tephrochronology, to highlight the extent of land degradation during this period. The ‘tragedy of the commons’ explanation of degradation is then assessed by evaluating historic documentary sources, and by environmental reconstruction and modeling of historic grazing pressures. These analyses indicate that regulatory mechanisms were in place to prevent overgrazing from at least the 1200s AD and suggest that there was sufficient biomass to support the numbers of domestic livestock indicated from historic sources. We suggest that failure to remove domestic livestock before the end of the growing season and an absence of shepherding were more likely to contribute to land degradation than absolute numbers. Lack of appropriate regulation of domestic livestock on common grazing areas can be attributed to limited cultural knowledge of changing and rapidly fluctuating environmental conditions.  相似文献   

Diversity and abundance of selected animal species in undisturbed forest,selectively logged forest and plantations in East Kalimantan,Indonesia     

Wendell L. Wilson  Andrew D. Johns 《Biological conservation》1982,24(3):205-218

Animal surveys were conducted in six habitat types within the timber concession of PT International Timber Corporation Indonesia, East Kalimantan. Species diversity was found to be similar in undisturbed forest and in 3- to 5-year-old selectively logged forest, although densities in the latter were considerably less. Both diversity and density declined drastically in forestry plantations, but certain of the species remaining caused significant damage to young trees. Although few animals were observed in areas where there was active road construction and timber felling, their densities in adjacent undisturbed forest areas did not increase, suggesting that the level of local migration actually is low. It is suggested that recolonisation of old logged forest can occur successfully provide that the level of hunting is low and that adjacent areas of undisturbed forest remain to provide a population pool from which colonists can spread.  相似文献   

Agricultural Sediment Reduction by Giant Cane and Forest Riparian Buffers     

Jon E. Schoonover  Karl W. J. Williard  James J. Zaczek  Jean C. Mangun  Andrew D. Carver 《Water, air, and soil pollution》2006,169(1-4):303-315

The sediment filtering capabilities of giant cane (Arundinaria gigantea (Walt.) Chapm.) and forest riparian buffers were compared in a southern Illinois, USA non tile drained agricultural watershed. Giant cane, a bamboo species, serves as important wildlife habitat throughout its native range in the southeastern and lower midwestern United States. Overland flow samples were collected at the field edge and at 3.3 m, 6.6 m, and 10.0 m within the riparian buffers during 19 precipitation events over a 1-year period. On an annual basis, significant sediment reductions occurred by 3.3 m and 6.6 m in the cane and forest buffers, respectively. The giant cane buffer reduced incoming sediment mass by 94% within the first 3.3 m, while the forest buffer reduced sediment by 86% over 6.6 m. Within 10.0 m of the field edge, the cane and forest buffers reduced sediment mass by 100% and 76%, respectively. On a seasonal basis, the cane buffer outperformed the forest buffer. During each of the four seasons, the cane buffer reduced sediment masses within 3.3 m of the field edge, while the forest buffer showed initial reductions occurring at 6.6 m during the summer, fall, and winter. No detectable reductions occurred during the spring in the forested buffer. Reductions in sediment concentrations were less evident compared to mass basis, indicating that infiltration may be a more important sediment reduction mechanism than particle settling. Both the forest and giant cane buffers had relatively high measured soil infiltration rates. Study results indicate that giant cane is an appropriate species to include in riparian buffer restoration designs for sediment control.  相似文献   

Perchlorate accumulation in forage and edible vegetation   总被引：8，自引：0，他引：8  

Jackson WA  Joseph P  Laxman P  Tan K  Smith PN  Yu L  Anderson TA 《Journal of agricultural and food chemistry》2005,53(2):369-373

The accumulation of perchlorate in vegetation is becoming a concern, with increasing numbers of sites reporting the presence of perchlorate in groundwater and surface water. This study investigated potential perchlorate uptake and distribution by a variety of forage and edible crops in both the laboratory and the field. Perchlorate concentrations in soybean leaves grown in the greenhouse were significantly higher than perchlorate concentrations in soybean seeds and pods. Perchlorate concentrations in alfalfa grown in sand were significantly lower than those in alfalfa grown in soil. The concentration of perchlorate in tomato was lower in the fruit than the leaves. Commercially grown wheat and alfalfa samples all contained perchlorate, 0.72-8.6 mg/kg of fresh weight (FW) in the wheat stems, 0.71-4.4 mg/kg of FW in the wheat heads, and 2.9 mg/kg of FW in alfalfa. All field garden samples tested (including cucumber, cantaloupe, and tomato) that were irrigated with perchlorate-tainted water contained perchlorate at various concentrations ranging from 0.040 to 1.65 mg/kg of FW. Bioconcentration factors (BCF), ratios of plant fresh weight concentrations to estimated or measured groundwater concentrations [(microg/kg of FW)/microg/L], were all in the same order of magnitude ranging from 215 +/- 126 for wheat stems to 233 +/- 264 for wheat heads and to 380 +/- 89 for alfalfa. BCF for garden fruit samples were much lower (0.5-20). Results from this study highlight the potential for perchlorate exposure by routes other than drinking water.  相似文献