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At least 19 records

AmeriFlux FLUXNET-1F CA-Ca1 British Columbia - 1949 Douglas-fir stand

This is the AmeriFlux Management Project (AMP) created FLUXNET-1F version of the carbon flux data for the site CA-Ca1 British Columbia - 1949 Douglas-fir stand. This is the FLUXNET version of the carbon flux data for the site CA-Ca1 British Columbia - 1949 Douglas-fir stand produced by applying the standard ONEFlux (1F) software. Site Description - 1949 Douglas-fir stand; Tower Type 20" triangular tower; Latitude/Longitude 49.86725N 125.33360W (GPS survey, 2003. Coordinates updated/corrected May, 2006); Elevation 320 m; North-east facing terrain, 5-10 deg slope; Mean Air Temp. 8.3 °C* ; Mean Annual Precipitation 1461 mm * ; Date Operations Began June 1997 ; Frequency of EC Measurements 20.83 Hz; Frequency of Other Met. Sensors 1 - 4 sec, year round ; Soil Respiration Measurements 30 min., automated soil respiration system in 2000, periodically during growing season using portable system in 2002 ; * 1998-2001 averages from the 1948 Douglas-fir stand meteorological tower

Black, T. Andrew↗

AmeriFlux FLUXNET-1F CA-Ca2 British Columbia - Clearcut Douglas-fir stand (harvested winter 1999/2000)

This is the AmeriFlux Management Project (AMP) created FLUXNET-1F version of the carbon flux data for the site CA-Ca2 British Columbia - Clearcut Douglas-fir stand (harvested winter 1999/2000). This is the FLUXNET version of the carbon flux data for the site CA-Ca2 British Columbia - Clearcut Douglas-fir stand (harvested winter 1999/2000) produced by applying the standard ONEFlux (1F) software. Site Description - Tower Type: 10" triangular tower; Latitude/Longitude 49.87048N -125.29087W (GPS survey, 2003. Coordinates updated/corrected May, 2006); Elevation approx. 180m; Mean Air Temp. (for the growing season) 8.3 C*; Mean Annual Precipitation 1461 mm *; Date Operations Began August 2000; Frequency of EC Measurements 7.7 Hz (2000 ­ 2001), 20 Hz (2002); Frequency of Other Met. Sensors 4 sec, year round; Soil Respiration Measurements Periodically during growing season using portable system in 2002; * 1998-2001 averages from the 1948 Douglas-fir stand meteorological tower

Black, T. Andrew↗

AmeriFlux FLUXNET-1F CA-Ca3 British Columbia - Pole sapling Douglas-fir stand

This is the AmeriFlux Management Project (AMP) created FLUXNET-1F version of the carbon flux data for the site CA-Ca3 British Columbia - Pole sapling Douglas-fir stand. This is the FLUXNET version of the carbon flux data for the site CA-Ca3 British Columbia - Pole sapling Douglas-fir stand produced by applying the standard ONEFlux (1F) software. Site Description - Site: 1988 Harvested Douglas Fir (Pole-sapling); Tower Type 10" triangular tower; Latitude/Longitude 49.53462N -124.90044W (GPS survey, 2003. Coordinates updated/corrected May, 2006); Elevation approx. 170 m; Mean Air Temp. (for the growing season) 9.7 C *; Mean Annual Precipitation 1179 mm *; Date Operations Began: September 2001; Frequency of EC Measurements 20 Hz; Frequency of Other Met. Sensors 4 sec, year round; Soil Respiration Measurements Periodically during growing season using portable system in 2002; * 30-yr climate normals from the Comox Airport

Black, T. Andrew [University of British Columbia, ↗

Hierarchical analysis of spatial pattern and processes of Douglas-fir forests

There has been an increased interest in the quantification of pattern in ecological systems over the past years. This interest is motivated by the desire to construct valid models which extend across many scales. Spatial methods must quantify pattern, discriminate types of pattern, and relate hierarchical phenomena across scales. Wavelet analysis is introduced as a method to identify spatial structure in ecological transect data. The main advantage of the wavelet transform over other methods is its ability to preserve and display hierarchical information while allowing for pattern decomposition. Two applications of wavelet analysis are illustrated, as a means to: (1) quantify known spatial patterns in Douglas-fir forests at several scales, and (2) construct spatially-explicit hypotheses regarding pattern generating mechanisms. Application of the wavelet variance, derived from the wavelet transform, is developed for forest ecosystem analysis to obtain additional insight into spatially-explicit data. Specifically, the resolution capabilities of the wavelet variance are compared to the semi-variogram and Fourier power spectra for the description of spatial data using a set of one-dimensional stationary and non-stationary processes. The wavelet cross-covariance function is derived from the wavelet transform and introduced as a alternative method for the analysis of multivariate spatial data of understory vegetation and canopy in Douglas-fir forests of the western Cascades of Oregon.

Bradshaw, G. A.↗

Soil nitrogen cycling and nitrous oxide flux in a Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir forest - Effects of fertilization, irrigation and carbon addition

Nitrous oxide fluxes and soil nitrogen transformations were measured in experimentally-treated high elevation Douglas-fir forests in northwestern New Mexico. On an annual basis, forests that were fertilized with 200 kg N/ha emitted an average of 0.66 kg/ha of N2O-N, with highest fluxes occurring in July and August when soils were both warm and wet. Control, irrigated, and woodchip treated plots were not different from each other, and annual average fluxes ranged from 0.03 to 0.23 kg/ha. Fertilized soil mineralized 277 kg/ha per year in contrast to 18 kg/ha per year in control plots. Relative recovery of (N-15)H4-N applied to soil in laboratory incubations was principally in the form of NO3-N in the fertilized soils, while recovery was mostly in microbial biomass-N in the other treatments. Fertilization apparently added nitrogen that exceeded the heterotrophic microbial demand, resulting in higher rates of nitrate production and higher nitrous oxide fluxes. Global inputs of nitrogen into forests are not currently contributing significantly to the increasing concentrations of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere.

Matson, Pamela A.↗

Soil nitrogen cycling and nitrous oxide flux in a Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir forest - Effects of fertilization, irrigation and carbon addition

Nitrous oxide fluxes and soil nitrogen transformations were measured in experimentally-treated high elevation Douglas-fir forests in northwestern New Mexico, USA. On an annual basis, forests that were fertilized with 200 kg N/ha emitted an average of 0.66 kg/ha of N2O-N, with highest fluxes occurring in July and August when soils were both warm and wet. Control, irrigated, and woodchip treated plots did not differ, and annual average fluxes ranged from 0.03 to 0.23 kg/ha. Annual net nitrogen mineralization and nitrate production were estimated in soil and forest floor using in situ incubations; fertilized soil mineralized 277 kg/ha/y in contrast to 18 kg/ha/y in control plots. Relative recovery of 15NH4-N applied to soil in laboratory incubations was principally in the form of NO3-N in the fertilized soils, while recovery was mostly in microbial biomass-N in the other treatments. Fertilization apparently added nitrogen that exceeded the heterotrophic microbial demand, resulting in higher rates of nitrate production and higher nitrous oxide fluxes. Despite the elevated nitrous oxide emission resulting from fertilization, we estimate that global inputs of nitrogen into forests are not currently contributing significantly to the increasing concentrations of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere.

Matson, Pamela A.↗

Spectrometric Estimation of Total Nitrogen Concentration in Douglas-Fir Foliage

Spectral measurements of fresh and dehydrated Douglas-fir foliage, from trees cultivated under three fertilization treatments, were acquired with a laboratory spectrophotometer. The slope (first-derivative) of the fresh- and dry-leaf absorbance spectra at locations near known protein absorption features was strongly correlated with total nitrogen (TN) concentration of the foliage samples. Particularly strong correlation was observed between the first-derivative spectra in the 2150-2170 nm region and TN, reaching a local maximum in the fresh-leaf spectra of -0.84 at 2 160 nm. Stepwise regression was used to generate calibration equations relating first derivative spectra from fresh, dry/intact, and dry/ground samples to TN concentration. Standard errors of calibration were 1.52 mg g-1 (fresh), 1.33 (dry/intact), and 1.20 (dry/ground), with goodness-of-fit 0.94 and greater. Cross-validation was performed with the fresh-leaf dataset to examine the predictive capability of the regression method; standard errors of prediction ranged from 1.47 - 2.37 mg g(exp -1) across seven different validation sets, prediction goodness of fit ranged from .85-.94, and wavelength selection was fairly insensitive to the membership of the calibration set. All regressions in this study tended to select wavelengths in the 2100-2350 nm region, with the primary selection in the 2142-2172 nm region. The study provides positive evidence concerning the feasibility of assessing TN status of fresh-leaf samples by spectrometric means. We assert that the ability to extract biochemical information from fresh-leaf spectra is a necessary but insufficient condition regarding the use of remote sensing for canopy-level biochemical estimation.

Johnson, Lee F.↗

Estimating structural attributes of Douglas-fir/western hemlock forest stands from Landsat and SPOT imagery

Relationships between spectral and texture variables derived from SPOT HRV 10 m panchromatic and Landsat TM 30 m multispectral data and 16 forest stand structural attributes is evaluated to determine the utility of satellite data for analysis of hemlock forests west of the Cascade Mountains crest in Oregon and Washington, USA. Texture of the HRV data was found to be strongly related to many of the stand attributes evaluated, whereas TM texture was weakly related to all attributes. Data analysis based on regression models indicates that both TM and HRV imagery should yield equally accurate estimates of forest age class and stand structure. It is concluded that the satellite data are a valuable source for estimation of the standard deviation of tree sizes, mean size and density of trees in the upper canopy layers, a structural complexity index, and stand age.

Cohen, Warren B.↗

Analysis of conifer forest regeneration using Landsat Thematic Mapper data

Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data were used to evaluate young conifer stands in the western Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Regression and correlation analyses were used to describe the relationships between TM band values and age of young Douglas-fir stands (2 to 35 years old). Spectral data from well regenerated Douglas-fir stands were compared to those of poorly regenerated conifer stands. TM bands 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7 were inversely correlated with the age (r greater than or equal to -0.80) of well regenerated Douglas-fir stands. Overall, the 'structural index' (TM 4/5 ratio) had the highest correlation to age of Douglas-fir stands (r = 0.96). Poorly regenerated stands were spectrally distinct from well regenerated Douglas-fir stands after the stands reached an age of approximately 15 years.

Fiorella, Maria↗

Potentiality for obtaining poria disease signatures in the Oregon Cascades from orbital altitudes

A prime photographic signature indicator of an important forest disease was identified in valuable Douglas-fir stands of the Pacific Northwest. The disease signature was verified by a multidisciplinary team of scientists to be the direct result of the Poria weirii root-rot syndrome in the Douglas-fir and hemlock stands of the high Cascades in Oregon. It is readily discernible on small-scale suborbital photography and has good potential for detection from earth-orbiting satellites or remote sensing platforms.

Wear, J. F.↗

National forest timber bids and export price interlinkages in the USA: The bounds testing approach

We examine the interrelationships of national forest timber bid and log export prices for Douglas-fir (Region 6) in 2003–2021 and loblolly pine (Region 8) using time-series stationarity and bounds-testing approaches. The analysis shows the difference in time series properties across different geographies and time scales. Bid prices for these dominant species of timber in each of two Forest Service regions are found to be stationary, while log export prices for those same species appear to be non-stationary. Bounds testing conducted with autoregressive distributed lag modeling methods provides strong evidence for a cointegrating relationship between timber bid prices and log export prices in Forest Service Region 6. In Region 8, evidence for a cointegrating relationship was weak. Here, the share of salvage wood in national forest timber sales is a statistically significant control variable in all models estimated.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Comparison of the Chemical Composition of Liquids from the Pyrolysis and Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Lignocellulosic Materials

Major differences in thermal stability and hydrotreatment behavior of HTL and pyrolysis oils have been reported in the literature. However, little is known about the variations in the chemical composition of these oils that could explain such differences. Two commercial wood pyrolysis oils (Pyrovac and BTG), and their water-soluble (WS) and water-insoluble fractions (WIS) were analyzed and compared with the aqueous (WS WD-57 ) and oily (WIS WS-57 ) fractions obtained from hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of Douglas-fir. The samples were characterized by GC/MS, Karl Fischer titration, carbonyl content, total acid number, elemental composition, calorific value, proximate analysis, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Folin-Ciocalteu (FC), and UV fluorescence. All the fractions were also analyzed by Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectroscopy (FT-ICR-MS) and by Electrospray Ionization (EI). The most prevalent class of compounds in the water insoluble phases were phenols derived from lignin. Water-soluble phases contain mostly the oxygenated compounds derived from cellulose and hemicellulose and were richer in carbonyl functional groups. The water content of the resulting aqueous phases were between: 65 (WS BTG ) and 96 (WS Pyrovac ) wt. %. The bio-oil from BTG has higher water content and lower HHV, compared to Pyrovac oil. The GC/MS results of BTG oil show the presence of a more prominent acetic acid peak and higher TAN number than the Pyrovac oil. The GC/MS of Pyrovac oil showed more obvious mono-phenol peaks. The quantification of this family by Folin-Ciocalteu method confirmed higher content of monophenolic compounds compared with the BTG oil. The lower thermal stability of pyrolysis oils compared with HTL biocrudes can be partially explained by the fact that pyrolysis oils (BTG and Pyrovac) contain carbohydrates while HTL biocrude (WIS WD-57 ) doesn’t. Thus, we decided to further investigate the chemical differences between the phenolic rich fractions insoluble in water and the holocellulose derived compounds soluble in water. Even after water extraction, the acid content of the water insoluble fraction from BTG (WISBTG) was higher than the acid content of the water insoluble fraction obtained by HTL (WISWSD-57). Likewise, the acid content of the aqueous phases derived from pyrolysis oils (WS Pyrovac , WS BTG ) was also higher than for the aqueous phase obtained by HTL (WSWSD-57). This result is in part due to the use of bases in the HTL process that neutralizes the acid formed in that process. Moreover, the starting feedstock may also influence the differences between the oils. Although, the UV-Fluorescence spectra, ICR-MS and the EI analyses showed some minor differences in the molecular weight and chemical make-up of the oligomers soluble and insoluble in water from pyrolysis and HTL; the differences observed were not large enough to justify the differences in behavior between these oils reported in the literature. Our results suggest that the differences observed between HTL biocrudes and pyrolysis oils are likely partially due to the presence of holocellulose derived products in the pyrolysis oils and higher acid contents.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Forest carbon sequestration on the west coast, USA: Role of species, productivity, and stockability

Forest ecosystems store large amounts of carbon and can be important sources, or sinks, of the atmospheric carbon dioxide that is contributing to global warming. Understanding the carbon storage potential of different forests and their response to management and disturbance events are fundamental to developing policies and scenarios to partially offset greenhouse gas emissions. Projections of live tree carbon accumulation are handled differently in different models, with inconsistent results. We developed growth-and-yield style models to predict stand-level live tree carbon density as a function of stand age in all vegetation types of the coastal Pacific region, US (California, Oregon, and Washington), from 7,523 national forest inventory plots. We incorporated site productivity and stockability within the Chapman-Richards equation and tested whether intensively managed private forests behaved differently from less managed public forests. We found that the best models incorporated stockability in the equation term controlling stand carrying capacity, and site productivity in the equation terms controlling the growth rate and shape of the curve. RMSEs ranged from 10 to 137 Mg C/ha for different vegetation types. There was not a significant effect of ownership over the standard industrial rotation length (~50 yrs) for the productive Douglas-fir/western hemlock zone, indicating that differences in stockability and productivity captured much of the variation attributed to management intensity. Our models suggest that doubling the rotation length on these intensively managed lands from 35 to 70 years would result in 2.35 times more live tree carbon stored on the landscape. These findings are at odds with some studies that have projected higher carbon densities with stand age for the same vegetation types, and have not found an increase in yields (on an annual basis) with longer rotations. We suspect that differences are primarily due to the application of yield curves developed from fully-stocked, undisturbed, single-species, “normal” stands without accounting for the substantial proportion of forests that don’t meet those assumptions. The carbon accumulation curves developed here can be applied directly in growth-and-yield style projection models, and used to validate the predictions of ecophysiological, cohort, or single-tree style models being used to project carbon futures for forests in the region. Our approach may prove useful for developing robust models in other forest types.

Chisholm, Paul J. (ORCID:0000000238784707)↗

AmeriFlux FLUXNET-1F US-xWR NEON Wind River Experimental Forest (WREF)

This is the AmeriFlux Management Project (AMP) created FLUXNET-1F version of the carbon flux data for the site US-xWR NEON Wind River Experimental Forest (WREF). This is the FLUXNET version of the carbon flux data for the site US-xWR NEON Wind River Experimental Forest (WREF) produced by applying the standard ONEFlux (1F) software. Site Description - Located in an old growth Pacific Northwest forest west of the Cascade Range, Wind River Experimental Forest has a rich history of research and timber management since the early 1900s. The area is best known for its old-growth forests of Douglas-fir and western hemlock. Data collected at this site provides an interesting comparison to NEON’s ABBY site which is located Yacolt Burn State Forest, a relatively young growth industrial timber production forest.

Network), NEON (National Ecological Observatory [N↗

Inventory of forest and rangeland and detection of forest stress

The author has identified the following significant results. Controlled visual interpretation of one ERTS-1 scene taken at the peak of the growing season has indicated that classification to the ECOCLASS Series level is not entirely satisfactory. For five forest classes, aspen, Douglas-fir, lodgepole pine, ponderosa pine, and Spruce/fir, correct identification ranged from 60 to 70 percent. With the exception of shortgrass and wet shrubby meadow classes in the nonforest categories (81 and 100 percent correct, respectively), correct identification of the nonforest classes is so far unacceptable. The low accuracies are believed due to: (1) edge effects due to ecotones between plant community classes with apparent similar image characteristics; (2) confounding effects of amount of plant crown cover and ground surface material in the scene; and (3) variable land slope degree and aspect as it affects the image signature.

Heller, R. C.↗

The application of LANDSAT remote sensing technology to natural resources management. Section 1: Introduction to VICAR - Image classification module. Section 2: Forest resource assessment of Humboldt County.

A teaching module on image classification procedures using the VICAR computer software package was developed to optimize the training benefits for users of the VICAR programs. The field test of the module is discussed. An intensive forest land inventory strategy was developed for Humboldt County. The results indicate that LANDSAT data can be computer classified to yield site specific forest resource information with high accuracy (82%). The "Douglas-fir 80%" category was found to cover approximately 21% of the county and "Mixed Conifer 80%" covering about 13%. The "Redwood 80%" resource category, which represented dense old growth trees as well as large second growth, comprised 4.0% of the total vegetation mosaic. Furthermore, the "Brush" and "Brush-Regeneration" categories were found to be a significant part of the vegetative community, with area estimates of 9.4 and 10.0%.

Fox, L., III↗

Determining experimentally induced variation in coniferous canopy chemistry with Airborne Imaging Spectrometer data

Experimental treatments in a Douglas-fir forest in NE New Mexico were carried out to determine whether differences in forest canopy chemistry could be detected using data from the Airborne Imaging Spectrometer (AIS-2). Experimental treatments consisted of nitrogen fertilizer additions, sawdust additions, and control plots. After AIS-2 data were collected, the digital number of a given pixel was extracted from each channel, yielding 128 values that were used to form a spectrum. Four spectra were extracted from each treatment plot. Multiple stepwise linear regressions between first and second difference transformations of AIS-2 spectra and the canopy characteristics of biomass, nitrogen concentration, and nitrogen content were performed. The results showed a coefficient of multiple determination of 0.71 between first-difference AIS-2 spectra and measured nitrogen concentration in foliage, indicating that it may be possible to predict nitrogen concentration in Douglas fir using AIS-2 spectra.

Swanberg, N. A.↗

The Use of Thermal Remote Sensing to Study Thermodynamics of Ecosystem Development

Thermal remote sensing can provide environmental measuring tools with capabilities for measuring ecosystem development and integrity. Recent advances in applying principles of nonequilibrium thermodynamics to ecology provide fundamental insights into energy partitioning in ecosystems. Ecosystems are nonequilibrium systems, open to material and energy flows, which grow and develop structures and processes to increase energy degradation. More developed terrestrial ecosystems will be more effective at dissipating the solar gradient (degrading its energy content). This can be measured by the effective surface temperature of the ecosystem on a landscape scale. A series of airborne thermal infrared multispectral scanner data were collected from several forested ecosystems ranging from a western US douglas-fir forest to a tropical rain forest in Costa Rica. These data were used to develop measures of ecosystem development and integrity based on surface temperature.

Luvall, Jeffrey C.↗