As the western United States faces warmer and increasingly varied climate conditions, as well as predicted water insecurity, concerns over water quality and water availability are growing. While humans, fish, and wildlife are dependent on clean water for survival in the present, management of water resources needs to consider future...
The potential for preservative migration from treated wood exposed in or above aquatic environments has become a major concern in some parts of the United States. Best management practices (BMP) were designed to decrease the potential environmental footprint of treated wood, but there are few studies assessing the efficacy of...
Wood shear walls are the main lateral force-resisting system for wood-frame construction. Water intrusion and subsequent decay around connections can significantly impact shear wall behavior, but these problems are seldom studied. In this study, effects of water intrusion and fungal attack on shear wall capacity were examined using small-scale (610-...
The potential for using pretreatment with cinnamon leaf oil or juniper foliage oil to improve the durability of viscoelastic thermal compression (VTC)–treated hybrid poplar was explored in a field termite test and a laboratory mold test. The addition of oils prior to VTC processing had variable effects on resistance to...
Conifers comprise an ancient and widespread plant lineage of enormous commercial and ecological value. However, compared to model woody angiosperms, such as Populus and Eucalyptus, our understanding of conifers remains quite limited at a genomic level. Large genome sizes (10,000–40,000 Mbp) and large amounts of repetitive DNA have limited efforts...
The ability of natural and synthetic hinokitiol, as well as a water soluble derivative (hinokitiol sodium salt), to protect wood against fungal attack was examined. Synthetic and natural hinokitiol provided similar protection. All three materials exhibited similar antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger and Penicillium citrinum on yellow poplar wafers at...
The ability of selected plant extracts from wood and foliage to inhibit mold regrowth on fungal colonized wood was evaluated on Douglas-fir sapwood. Most foliage extracts produced some inhibition of Graphium or Trichoderma species, but isolations of other fungi increased following treatment. Five out of eight wood extracts produced 50%...
Forest understory communities are important components in forest ecosystems providing wildlife habitat and influencing nutrient cycling, fuel loadings, fire behavior and tree species composition over time. One of the most widely utilized understory component metrics is understory vegetation cover, often used as a measure of vegetation abundance. To date, understory...
Hydrological processes in the humid tropics differ from other regions in having greater energy inputs and faster rates of change, including human-induced change. Human influences on population growth, land use and climate change will profoundly influence tropical hydrology, yet understanding of key hydrological interactions is limited. We propose that efforts...
Bacillus subtilis and essential oils have been explored separately for their ability to limit colonization by wood stain and mold fungi, but neither approach has been completely effective. One alternative strategy would be to combine the bacterial biocontrol with one or more natural products extracts. In this report, the ability...