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.

Climate- and successional-related changes in functional composition of European forests are strongly driven by tree mortality.

Abstract: Intense droughts combined with increased temperatures are one of the major threats to forest persistence in the 21st century. Despite the direct impact of climate change on forest growth and shifts in species abundance, the effect of altered demography on changes in the composition of functional traits is not well known. We sought to (1) quantify the recent changes in functional composition of European forests; (2) identify the relative importance of climate change, mean climate and forest development for changes in functional composition; and (3) analyse the roles of tree mortality and growth underlying any functional changes in different forest types. We quantified changes in functional composition from the 1980s to the 2000s across Europe by two dimensions of functional trait variation: the first dimension was mainly related to changes in leaf mass per area and wood density (partially related to the trait differences between angiosperms and gymnosperms), and the second dimension was related to changes in maximum tree height. Our results indicate that climate change and mean climatic effects strongly interacted with forest development and it was not possible to completely disentangle their effects. Where recent climate change was not too extreme, the patterns of functional change generally followed the expected patterns under secondary succession (e.g. towards late-successional short-statured hardwoods in Mediterranean forests and taller gymnosperms in boreal forests) and latitudinal gradients (e.g. larger proportion of gymnosperm-like strategies at low water availability in forests formerly dominated by broad-leaved deciduous species). Recent climate change generally favoured the dominance of angiosperm-like related traits under increased temperature and intense droughts. Our results show functional composition changes over relatively short time scales in European forests. These changes are largely determined by tree mortality, which should be further investigated and modelled to adequately predict the impacts of climate change on forest function.

Effects of densification variables on the durability of wood pellets fabricated with Larix kaempferi C. and Liriodendron tulipifera L. sawdust

Abstract: This study was conducted to examine the effects of species, wood particle size, moisture content of wood particles, pelletizing temperature and time on the durability of larch and tulipwood pellets. The durability of larch pellets was significantly higher than that of tulipwood pellets. The larch pellets fabricated with smaller particles were more durable than those fabricated with large particles. The durability of the larch and tulipwood pellets improved steadily with increasing pelletizing time and temperature. In addition, the durability of both pellets increased with increasing moisture content of the sawdust. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that the surface of the larch and tulipwood pellets fabricated at a pelletizing temperature of 180 °C for 3 min were similar to that of the commercial wood pellets. SEM-energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis showed that lignin, a potential natural binder between wood particles, was spread throughout both the larch and tulipwood pellets with increasing pelletizing temperature and time. These results suggested that the lignin might contribute to the increase in inter-particles bonding in wood pellets.

Increased Levels of Aluminium in Forest Soils: Effects on the Stores of Soil Organic Carbon

Abstract: Acid atmospheric deposition results in increased levels of mobile aluminium (Al) in forest soils. Laboratory studies suggest that increased binding of Al to soil organic matter (SOM) in the forest floor results in decreased mobility of organic matter in soil water, viz. lower concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Other laboratory studies indicate decreased decomposition rates of SOM as a result of Al binding. So far, little field evidence supporting these effects of Al on the lability of SOM have been reported. Here we present a field manipulation experiment in mature Norway spruce forest in Norway, where the content of Al in soil and soil water was increased. Increased Al in the forest floor caused a pronounced decrease in the leaching of DOC. Simultaneously, the decomposition rate of SOM decreased by 30% to 40%. This suggests that elevated Al in the forest floor stimulates accumulation of SOM. In a companion paper we present the effect of increased Al on forest vitality.

Landsliding during a M 7.7 earthquake: Influence of geology and topography

Abstract: The 1929 M 7.7 Murchison earthquake in northwestern South Island, New Zealand, triggered at least 1850 landslides larger than 0.25 ha within a 1200-km 2 (45 × 25 km) area close to the epicenter. The area surveyed in detail totals 25% of the area in which the earthquake initiated landslides. About 2.5 × 10 8 m 3 of debris was transported by landslides in the area surveyed, equivalent to an average debris yield of 210 000 m 3 /km 2 . Landsliding was most common on well-bedded and jointed, calcareous, Tertiary mudstones and fine sandstones and was particularly concentrated on scarp slopes in areas of both gentle and moderate to steep dip. On moderately to steeply dipping mudstones, scarp slopes facing away from the origin of the seismic waves were particularly prone to landsliding. Large dip-slope landslides were common on thick-bedded Tertiary sandstones. Landslides on granitic rocks were generally smaller, shallower, and composed of finer grained debris than those of sedimentary rocks.

Regulation of resin acid synthesis in Pinus densiflora by differential transcription of genes encoding multiple 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase and 1-hydroxy-2-methyl-2-(E)-butenyl 4-diphosphate reductase genes

Abstract: Pinus densiflora Siebold et Zucc. is the major green canopy species in the mountainous area of Korea. To assess the response of resin acid biosynthetic genes to mechanical and chemical stimuli, we cloned cDNAs of genes encoding enzymes involved in the 2-C-methyl-d-erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway (1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate synthase (PdDXS), 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate reductoisomerase (PdDXR) and 1-hydroxy-2-methyl-2-(E)-butenyl 4-diphosphate reductase (PdHDR)) by the rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) technique. In addition, we cloned the gene encoding abietadiene synthase (PdABS) as a marker for the site of pine resin biosynthesis. PdHDR and PdDXS occurred as two gene families. In the phylogenetic trees, PdDXSs, PdDXR and PdHDRs each formed a separate clade from their respective angiosperm homologs. PdDXS2, PdHDR2 and PdDXR were most actively transcribed in stem wood, whereas PdABS was specifically transcribed. The abundance of PdDXS2 transcripts in wood in the resting state was generally 50-fold higher than the abundance of PdDXS1 transcripts, and PdHDR2 transcripts were more abundant by an order of magnitude in wood than in other tissues, with the ratio of PdHDR2 to PdHDR1 transcripts in wood being about 1. Application of 1 mM methyl jasmonate (MeJA) selectively enhanced the transcript levels of PdDXS2 and PdHDR2 in wood. The ratios of PdDXS2 to PdDXS1 and PdHDR2 to PdHDR1 reached 900 and 20, respectively, on the second day after MeJA treatment, whereas the transcript level of PdABS increased twofold by 3 days after MeJA treatment. Wounding of the stem differentially enhanced the transcript ratios of PdDXS2 to PdDXS1 and PdHDR2 to PdHDR1 to 300 and 70, respectively. The increase in the transcript levels of the MEP pathway genes in response to wounding was accompanied by two orders of magnitude increase in PdABS transcripts. These observations indicated that resin acid biosynthesis activity, represented by PdABS transcription, was correlated with the selective transcriptions of PdDXS2 and PdHDR2. Introduction of PdDXS2, PdHDR1 and PdHDR2 rescued their respective knockout Escherichia coli mutants, confirming that at least these three genes were functionally active. Intracellular targeting of the green fluorescent protein fused to the N-terminal 100 amino acid residues of these genes in the Arabidopsis transient expression system showed that the proteins were all targeted to the chloroplasts. Our results suggest that the MEP pathway regulates resin biosynthesis in the wood of P. densiflora by differential transcription of the multiple PdDXS and PdHDR genes.