Forest Research Institute

About: Forest Research Institute is a facility organization based out in Dehra Dūn, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Forest management. The organization has 5320 authors who have published 7625 publications receiving 185876 citations.

Widespread Phytophthora infestations in European nurseries put forest, semi-natural and horticultural ecosystems at high risk of Phytophthora diseases

Abstract: An analysis of incidence of Phytophthora spp. in 732 European nurseries producing forest transplants, larger specimen trees, landscape plants and ornamentals, plus 2525 areas in which trees and shrubs were planted, is presented based on work conducted by 37 research groups in 23 European countries between 1972 and 2013. Forty-nine Phytophthora taxa were recorded in 670 nurseries (91.5%); within these nurseries, 1614 of 1992 nursery stands (81.0%) were infested, although most affected plants appeared healthy. In forest and landscape plantings, 56 Phytophthora taxa were recovered from 1667 of 2525 tested sites (66.0%). Affected plants frequently showed symptoms such as crown thinning, chlorosis and dieback caused by extensive fine root losses and/or collar rot. Many well-known highly damaging host-Phytophthora combinations were frequently detected but 297 and 407 new Phytophthora-host associations were also observed in nurseries and plantings, respectively. On average, 1.3 Phytophthora species/taxa per infested nursery stand and planting site were isolated. At least 47 of the 68 Phytophthora species/taxa detected in nurseries and plantings were exotic species several of which are considered well established in both nurseries and plantings in Europe. Seven known Phytophthora species/taxa were found for the first time in Europe, while 10 taxa had not been previously recorded from nurseries or plantings; in addition, 5 taxa were first detections on woody plant species. Seven Phytophthora taxa were previously unknown to science. The reasons for these failures of plant biosecurity in Europe, implications for forest and semi-natural ecosystems and possible ways to improve biosecurity are discussed.

Tree mineral nutrition is deteriorating in Europe.

Abstract: The response of forest ecosystems to increased atmospheric CO2 is constrained by nutrient availability. It is thus crucial to account for nutrient limitation when studying the forest response to climate change. The objectives of this study were to describe the nutritional status of the main European tree species, to identify growth-limiting nutrients and to assess changes in tree nutrition during the past two decades. We analysed the foliar nutrition data collected during 1992-2009 on the intensive forest monitoring plots of the ICP Forests programme. Of the 22 significant temporal trends that were observed in foliar nutrient concentrations, 20 were decreasing and two were increasing. Some of these trends were alarming, among which the foliar P concentration in F. sylvatica, Q. Petraea and P. sylvestris that significantly deteriorated during 1992-2009. In Q. Petraea and P. sylvestris, the decrease in foliar P concentration was more pronounced on plots with low foliar P status, meaning that trees with latent P deficiency could become deficient in the near future. Increased tree productivity, possibly resulting from high N deposition and from the global increase in atmospheric CO2, has led to higher nutrient demand by trees. As the soil nutrient supply was not always sufficient to meet the demands of faster growing trees, this could partly explain the deterioration of tree mineral nutrition. The results suggest that when evaluating forest carbon storage capacity and when planning to reduce CO2 emissions by increasing use of wood biomass for bioenergy, it is crucial that nutrient limitations for forest growth are considered.

Eco-friendly cellulose nanofiber paper-derived separator membranes featuring tunable nanoporous network channels for lithium-ion batteries

Abstract: Eco-friendly cellulose nanofibers (CNFs), a core constituent of cellulose, have garnered increasing attention as a promising sustainable building block source for advanced materials in various application fields. In the present study, we successfully fabricate a cellulose nanofiber paper from a CNF suspension and explore its potential application to a separator membrane for lithium-ion batteries. In contrast to macro/microscopic cellulose fibers that have been commonly used for typical papers, the CNFs are characterized by the nanometer-scale diameter/length up to several micrometers and highly crystalline domains, contributing to excellent mechanical/thermal properties and nanoporous structure evolution. A salient feature of the cellulose nanofiber paper-derived separator membrane (referred to as “CNP separator”) is an electrolyte-philic, nanoscale labyrinth structure established between closely piled CNFs. The unusual porous structure is fine-tuned by varying the composition ratio of the solvent mixture (= isopropyl alcohol (IPA)–water) in the CNF suspension, wherein IPA is introduced as a CNF-disassembling agent while water promotes dense packing of CNFs. Based on a solid understanding of separator characteristics, electrochemical performances of cells assembled with the CNP separators are investigated. Notably, the CNP separator manufactured with IPA–water = 95/5 (vol/vol%) exhibits highly interconnected nanoporous network channels and satisfactory mechanical properties, which play a significant role in improving separator properties and cell performance. This study underlines that the porous structure-tuned cellulose nanofiber papers provide a promising new route for the fabrication of advanced separator membranes, which will also serve as a key component to boost the development of next-generation paper batteries.

Where are Europe's last primary forests?

Abstract: Francesco Maria Sabatini1 | Sabina Burrascano2 | William S. Keeton3 | Christian Levers1 | Marcus Lindner4 | Florian Pötzschner1 | Pieter Johannes Verkerk5 | Jürgen Bauhus6 | Erik Buchwald7 | Oleh Chaskovsky8 | Nicolas Debaive9 | Ferenc Horváth10 | Matteo Garbarino11 | Nikolaos Grigoriadis12 | Fabio Lombardi13 | Inês Marques Duarte14 | Peter Meyer15 | Rein Midteng16 | Stjepan Mikac17 | Martin Mikoláš18 | Renzo Motta11 | Gintautas Mozgeris19 | Leónia Nunes14,20 | Momchil Panayotov21 | Peter Ódor10 | Alejandro Ruete22 | Bojan Simovski23 | Jonas Stillhard24 | Miroslav Svoboda18 | Jerzy Szwagrzyk25 | Olli-Pekka Tikkanen26 | Roman Volosyanchuk27 | Tomas Vrska28 | Tzvetan Zlatanov29 | Tobias Kuemmerle1