There are a number of wood properties which affect the quality of forest products such as lumber and pulp. Of these, wood density is considered by some to be the single most important physical characteristic because it is an excellent predictor of strength, stiffness, hardness, and paper-making capacities. Accurately assessing...
Orchard floor management (OFM) practices can improve soil function and alter
the soil biological community. Soil function is dependent on soil forming materials and
on management practices but little is known about how OFM affect orchard soil quality,
fertilizer N uptake, or tree growth and production.
Research plots were located...
Growing societal demand for forest products is pressuring managers to increase productivity from a finite land area, and it is expected that increased supply will come mostly from expansion of intensively managed stands. The USDA Forest Service and numerous collaborators created the Long-Term Soil Productivity (LTSP) network of research sites...
The United States of America and the world are faced with three massive intertwining challenges at this time: COVID-19, racial inequity, and climate change. As a species, humans must come together and collectively address these challenges to preserve our humanity and make our world a more just and livable place...
Predators are fundamentally important for regulating and driving prey population dynamics as well as structuring ecological communities. Over-exploitation of marine resources has caused dramatic depletions of predatory fish species and shifts in marine community composition, with attendant declines in productivity and diversity of marine ecosystems. Despite the important ramifications of...
This capstone project is expected to be published by United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Wildlife Services (USDA APHIS WS) as part of a technical series guide available to the public through the website (https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/wildlifedamage/sa_reports/ct_wildlife+damage+management+technical+series). USDA APHIS WS is responsible for mitigating human-wildlife conflict and...
2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) has been the common munitions used in the world and is an environmental contaminant that is amendable to reductive transformation reactions. The rumen is an extremely reductive environment containing diverse microbial populations. There are 21 pure culture ruminal bacteria species in culture collection, these were tested for the...
Successful pruning relies on accurately identifying the 3D structure of tree branches and leaders. However, this task is arduous in an agricultural setting due to the complexity of scenes, the presence of clutter, and variable weather conditions. This project addresses these challenges by leveraging advancements in 2D image segmentation and...
The settlement history of a remote area in the Coast Range of Oregon, from the 1870s to the 1930s, is examined through factors that may have influenced the success or failure, and length of residence of the homesteaders and later residents. Despite the rugged and isolated location, a small community...