Search Results (11)

Fire-adapted dry forests and nearby communities both need to be sustained as climate changes. Wildfires have increased in the ~25.5 million ha of dry forests in the western US, but are wildfires already more severe than historical (preindustrial) wildfires, warranting suppression, or is more fire needed? Recent research suggests that a higher percentage are more severe, but is this from more high-severity fire (≥70% mortality) or simply less lower-severity fire? To resolve this question, I compared government fire-severity data from 2000–2020 with corresponding government Landfire historical data, representing the last few centuries. The fire rotation (expected time to burn across an area of interest) for high-severity fire was 477 years recently versus 255 years historically, a deficit, not a surplus. High-severity fire would need to increase 1.9 times to equal historical rates. Thus, reducing high-severity fire through fuel reductions is fire suppression, which has significant well-known adverse ecological impacts. These include reductions in (1) natural burn patches, snags, and non-forest openings, that favor diverse fire-adapted species, and (2) landscape heterogeneity that can limit future disturbances and enhance landscape ecological processes. Even larger deficits were in moderate (4.4 times) and low (5.8 times) fire severities. However, if only these lower severities were restored, the high-severity percentage would correspondingly be reduced to low levels. All fire severities are needed to provide a variety of post-fire settings that favor a broad suite of selection pressures and adaptations to emerging climate. This paper shows that to sustain and adapt dry forests and nearby communities to fire and climate change, the billions spent on fuel reductions to reduce high-severity fire can be redirected to protecting the built environment, fostering both safe and sustainable dry forests and human communities. Full article

Tricyclene, a tricyclic monoterpene naturally occurring in plant essential oils, holds potential for the development of medicinal and fuel applications. In this study, we successfully synthesized tricyclene in E. coli by introducing the heterologous mevalonate (MVA) pathway along with Abies grandis geranyl diphosphate synthase (GPPS) and Nicotiana sylvestris tricyclene synthase (TS) XP_009791411. Initially, the shake-flask fermentation at 30 ^◦C yielded a tricyclene titer of 0.060 mg/L. By increasing the copy number of the TS-coding gene, we achieved a titer of 0.103 mg/L. To further enhance tricyclene production, optimal truncation in the N-terminal region of TS XP_009791411 resulted in an impressive highest titer of 47.671 mg/L, approximately a 794.5-fold improvement compared to its wild-type counterpart. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest titer of the heterologous synthesis of tricyclene in E. coli. The SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that lowering induction temperature and truncating the random coil N-terminal region effectively improved TS solubility, which was closely associated with tricyclene production levels. Furthermore, by truncating other TSs, the titers of tricyclene were improved to different degrees. Full article

European forest ecosystems are projected to change severely under climate change especially due to an anticipated decline in the distribution of major tree species in Europe. Therefore, the adaptation of European forests appears necessary and urgent. While spontaneous adaptation mechanisms bear a large self-guided potential, we focus on quantifying the potential of management-guided mechanisms. Besides other possible tree species groups for adaptation, non-native tree species from North America have a long tradition in Europe, yet their full distribution potential is not completely revealed. We applied an ensemble species distribution model approach to six North American species, using combined occurrence data from the native and naturalized ranges to gain more insights into the species suitability in the introduced area in 2070 (2061–2080) under the emission scenarios RCP 4.5 and 8.5. Our findings support the assumption that there is unreported species potential in the introduced area beyond their current distribution. Next to northeastern range shifts projected for all species, we identified Abies grandis, Liriodendron tulipifera, Quercus rubra, and Robinia pseudoacacia with increasing range potentials in the future. P. ponderosa and P. menziesii var. menziesii are projected to show a steady and decreased range potential under RCP 4.5 and 8.5, respectively. Full article

The year-to-year variability of precipitation has significant consequences for water management and forest health. “Whiplash” describes an extreme mode of this variability in which hydroclimate switches abruptly between wet and dry conditions. In this study, a pool of total-ring-width indices from five conifer species (Abies magnifica, Juniperus grandis, Pinus ponderosa, Pinus jeffreyi, and Tsuga mertensiana) in the Sierra Nevada is used to develop reconstructions of water-year precipitation using stepwise linear regression on lagged chronologies, and the reconstructions are analyzed for their ability to track whiplash events. A nonparametric approach is introduced to statistically classify positive and negative events, and the success of matching observed events with the reconstructions is evaluated using a hypergeometric test. Results suggest that reconstructions can effectively track whiplash events, but that tracking ability differs among species and sites. Although negative (dry-to-wet) events (1921–1989) are generally tracked more consistently than positive events, Tsuga stands out for strong tracking of positive events. Tracking ability shows no clear relationship to variance explained by reconstructions, suggesting that efforts to extend whiplash records with tree-ring data should consider optimizing reconstruction models for the whiplash signal. Full article

Grand fir (Abies grandis/Dougl. ex D. Don/Lindl.) represents the North American species that has the potential to replace and complement to some extent several commercial European species, in particular, Norway spruce and silver fir. This is not only due to its high production potential but also because of its favorable effect on the soil compared to spruce or pine. We tested sample trees from these tree species growing in the same location for physical and mechanical wood properties and evaluated the effect of the thermal treatment (180 °C and 200 °C) on their wood. Wood density, swelling, surface properties, strength, and stiffness were the properties used to find the differences among species. Grand fir obtained higher values for density and compressive strength compared to silver fir. For the remaining properties, these tree species are comparable, except for toughness, which was significantly lower for grand fir. Grand fir wood was even comparable with Norway spruce in the case of density and compressive strength. The thermal treatment resulted in a decrease in density, swelling, wettability, modulus of rupture, and toughness while increasing compressive strength. The effect of the thermal treatment was similar for all tested species. From this perspective, grand fir represents a potential substitute for the timber of endangered European commercial conifers. Full article

Environmental conditions and seedling quality interact to produce complex patterns of seedling survival and growth. Root growth potential (RGP) is one metric of seedling quality that can be rapidly measured prior to planting, but the correlation of RGP and seedling performance is not consistent across studies. Site factors including microsite objects that cast shade and competing vegetation can also influence seedling performance. We examined the effects of RGP, presence/absence of a microsite object, and competition cover on the survival and growth of three native conifers to the Inland Northwest, USA, over 5 years. We found that RGP had no effect on the survival or growth of western larch (Larix occidentalis), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca), and grand fir (Abies grandis) at a mesic north aspect site and a xeric south aspect site. Comparatively, the presence of a microsite increased the odds of survival by 37% for western larch and 158% for grand fir, while the absence of forb cover increased the odds of survival of western larch by 72% and of grand fir by 26%. Douglas fir was less sensitive to microsites and competition. The strong effects of neighborhood conditions around seedlings help inform silvicultural practices to enhance the establishment of western larch and grand fir, including planting seedlings near shading objects and competition control, while these practices may not be as important for Douglas fir. Full article

This work investigates the impact of lignin origin and structural characteristics, such as molecular weight and functionality, on the properties of corresponding porous biopolymeric microspheres obtained through suspension-emulsion polymerization of lignin with styrene (St) and/or divinylbenzene (DVB). Two types of kraft lignin, which are softwood (Picea abies L.) and hardwood (Eucalyptus grandis), fractionated by common industrial solvents, and related methacrylates, were used in the synthesis. The presence of the appropriate functional groups in the lignins and in the corresponding microspheres were investigated by attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR/FT-IR), while the thermal properties were studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The texture of the microspheres was characterized using low-temperature nitrogen adsorption. The swelling studies were performed in typical organic solvents and distilled water. The shapes of the microspheres were confirmed with an optical microscope. The introduction of lignin into a St and/or DVB polymeric system made it possible to obtain highly porous functionalized microspheres that increase their sorption potential. Lignin methacrylates created a polymer network with St and DVB, whereas the unmodified lignin acted mainly as an eco-friendly filler in the pores of St-DVB or DVB microspheres. The incorporation of biopolymer into the microspheres could be a promising alternative to a modification of synthetic materials and a better utilization of lignin. Full article

In this study, polyester powder based on iso- and teraphthalic acid was deposited with an atmospheric plasma jet. The powder was fed into the effluent plasma zone and deposited on European beech wood (Fagus sylvatica L.), Grand fir (Abies grandis Lindl.) and medium density fiberboard (MDF). The substrates were annealed subsequent to the coating process. To exclude decomposition of the polyester layers by the plasma treatment, the surface chemistry of the layers has been examined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and compared with the polyester powder reference. Furthermore, topographical investigations were carried out using laser scanning microscopy (LSM). Adhesive strength of the layers was evaluated by dolly test and gloss measurements with a goniophotometer. The deposited layers showed no chemical changes compared to the reference. The adhesive strength of the layer met practical requirements of >1 MPa. It was demonstrated that the deposition of a macroscopic layer is possible without a pretreatment or the usage of additives. Therefore this coating process by atmospheric pressure plasma for wood and wood based materials could represent an environmental-friendly alternative to conventional coating methods. Full article

The use of liquid instead of solid culture medium for the micropropagation of plants offers advantages such as better access to medium components and scalability through possible automation of the processes. The objective of this work was to compare a new temporary immersion bioreactor (TIB) to solid medium culture for the micropropagation of a selection of tree species micropropagated for commercial use: Nordmann fir (Abies nordmanniana (Steven) Spach), Eucalyptus (E. grandis x E. urophylla), Downy birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh), and Curly birch (Betula pendula var. carelica). Cultivation of explants in the TIB resulted in a significant increase of multiplication rate and fresh weight of Eucalyptus and B. pendula, but not Betula pubescens. In addition, the fresh weight of embryogenic tissue and the maturation frequency of somatic embryos increased significantly when an embryogenic cell line of A. nordmanniana was cultivated in the TIB compared to solid culture medium. These results demonstrate the potential for scaling up and automating micropropagation by shoot multiplication and somatic embryogenesis in commercial tree species using a temporary immersion bioreactor. Full article

Grand fir (Abies grandis (Douglas ex D. Don) Lindley) is widely distributed in the moist forests of the Inland Northwest. It has high potential productivity, its growth being nearly equal to western white pine, the most productive species in the region. There are large standing volumes of grand fir in the region. Nutritionally, the species has higher foliage cation concentrations than associated conifers, especially potassium (K) and calcium (Ca). In contrast, it has lower nitrogen (N) foliage concentrations, which creates favorable nutrient balance on N-limited sites. Despite concentration differences, grand fir stores proportionally more nutrients per tree than associated species because of greater crown biomass. Although few fertilization trials have examined grand fir specifically, its response is inferred from its occurrence in many monitored mixed conifer stands. Fertilization trials including grand fir either as a major or minor component show that it has a strong diameter and height growth response ranging from 15% to 50% depending in part on site moisture availability and soil geology. Grand fir tends to have a longer response duration than other inland conifers. When executed concurrently with thinning, fertilization often increases the total response. Late rotation application of N provides solid investment returns in carefully selected stands. Although there are still challenges with the post-fertilization effects on tree mortality, grand fir will continue to be an important species with good economic values and beneficial responses to fertilization and nutrient management. Full article

It is expected that a warming climate will have an impact on the future productivity of European spruce forests. In Scotland, Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.) dominates the commercial forestry sector and there is growing pressure to develop alternative management strategies to limit potential economic losses through climate change. This review considers management options to increase the resilience of Sitka spruce dominated forests in Scotland. Given the considerable uncertainty over the potential long-term impacts of climate change, it is recommended that Sitka spruce should continue to be planted where it already grows well. However, new planting and restocking should be established in mixtures where silviculturally practicable, even if no-thin regimes are adopted, to spread future risks of damage. Three potentially compatible species with Sitka spruce are western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.), grand fir (Abies grandis (Lamb.) Lindl.) and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) and all form natural mixtures in its native range in North America. The predicted windier climate will require a range of management inputs, such as early cutting of extraction racks and early selective thinning, to improve stability. The potential to improve resilience to particularly abiotic damage through transforming even-aged stands into irregular structures and limiting the overall size of the growing stock is discussed. Full article