A wide variety of hydrodynamic theories are utilized to approximate a Wave Energy Converter’s (WEC) equation of motion. Numerous theories have been refined in order to improve numerical approximations of WEC dynamics. When incorporating refined hydrodynamic theories into numerical models, there are distinct impacts on WEC rigid body motions, cable...
Wind energy has become a crucial resource in sustainably meeting increasing global energy demands. Recently, offshore wind energy has been gaining traction due to its higher gross resource and larger unclaimed real-estate relative to its onshore counterpart. Floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) are increasingly popular, particularly designs with semisubmersible platforms....
Society derives many critical and irreplaceable values from forests. With a growing global human population and rates of consumption, forests are under increasing pressure to provide all these values simultaneously. To meet societal demands for wood products, tree plantations are becoming increasingly common and are replacing native forests. Yet, forests...
The optical and electronic properties of amorphous oxide thin films depend crucially on chemical composition, and deposition process variations which give rise to sub-gap defect states. Consequently, there is a need for a reliable, high-throughput method to extract sub-gap defect densities of states in amorphous oxide thin films. We present...
As the global demand for natural resources increases, more land will be intensively managed for the production of commodities such as timber, with potential consequences to biodiversity, ecological functioning and ecosystem services provided to society. Although there is strong consensus that intensive land management practices can negatively affect biodiversity, less...
The Klamath-Siskiyou Ecoregion of southwest Oregon and northern California is greatly departed from its historic, mixed-severity fire regime. This departure manifests in larger wildfires, greater proportions of high burn severity within wildfire perimeters, and decreased diversity of post-fire vegetation successional stages and trajectories across the landscape compared to historical norms....
Global biodiversity decline is primarily driven by habitat loss. Deforestation, the primary driver of terrestrial habitat loss, is increasing worldwide, with the most significant impact in the world biodiversity hotspots. Sadly, specific knowledge of such impacts in biodiversity-rich but data-poor countries are still unknown, and many national and regional narratives...
The concept of the fundamental niche is frequently used in ecology to define the set of environmental conditions needed by a species to survive and reproduce (Hutchinson 1957). In contrast, the realized niche constitutes the locations where a species actually occurred, which is a function of both the environmental (abiotic)...
Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the use of wet brewers' grain (WBG) alone and with straw so it can be used as part of the sole ration for ruminants. In Exp. 1, WBG was ensued alone and was mixed with one of two straws, wheat or tall fescue grass...
Recent climatic warming trends and increases in the frequency and extent of wildfires have prompted much concern regarding the potential for rapid change in the structure and function of forested ecosystems around the world. Episodes of mortality in wildfires and insect outbreaks associated with drought have affected large areas and...