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.

Variability in solar radiation and temperature explains observed patterns and trends in tree growth rates across four tropical forests

Abstract: The response of tropical forests to global climate variability and change remains poorly understood. Results from long-term studies of permanent forest plots have reported different, and in some cases opposing trends in tropical forest dynamics. In this study, we examined changes in tree growth rates at four long-term permanent tropical forest research plots in relation to variation in solar radiation, temperature and precipitation. Temporal variation in the stand-level growth rates measured at five-year intervals was found to be positively correlated with variation in incoming solar radiation and negatively related to temporal variation in night-time temperatures. Taken alone, neither solar radiation variability nor the effects of night-time temperatures can account for the observed temporal variation in tree growth rates across sites, but when considered together, these two climate variables account for most of the observed temporal variability in tree growth rates. Further analysis indicates that the stand-level response is primarily driven by the responses of smaller-sized trees (less than 20 cm in diameter). The combined temperature and radiation responses identified in this study provide a potential explanation for the conflicting patterns in tree growth rates found in previous studies.

Rodent host specificity of European hantaviruses: evidence of Puumala virus interspecific spillover.

Abstract: In order to investigate rodent host specificity of European hantaviruses, experimental infection of colonized and wild-trapped rodents was performed. In addition to the natural rodent reservoir, Clethrionomys glareolus, Puumala hantavirus (PUUV) could infect colonized Microtus agrestis and Lemmus sibiricus, but not Syrian hamsters or Balb/C mice. Neither C. glareolus, nor M. agrestis, could be readily infected by Tula hantavirus (TULV). Wild-trapped Apodemus flavicollis and A. agrarius, the natural reservoirs of Dobrava (DOBV) and Saaremaa (SAAV) hantaviruses, respectively, could both be infected by SAAV. NMRI mice could also be infected by SAAV, but with lower efficiency as compared to Apodemus mice. Balb/C and NMRI laboratory mice, but not C. glareolus, could be infected by DOBV. To our knowledge, this is the first time DOBV and SAAV have been shown to infect adult laboratory mice. Moreover, potential hantavirus spillover infections were investigated in wild-trapped rodents. In addition to the natural host C. glareolus, we also found M. arvalis and A. sylvaticus with a history of PUUV infection. We did not find any C. glareolus or A. sylvaticus infected with TULV, a hantavirus which is known to circulate in the same geographical regions of Belgium, J. Med. Virol. 68:581–588, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Wood density explains architectural differentiation across 145 co-occurring tropical tree species

Abstract: 1. Because of its mechanical properties, wood density may affect the way that trees expand their stem and crown to exploit favourable light conditions in a mechanically stable way. From engineering theory and wood density properties, it is predicted that in terms of biomass investment, low-density wood is more efficient for vertical stem expansion, while high-density wood is more efficient for horizontal branch expansion. So far, these predictions have rarely been tested by empirical studies. 2. We tested these predictions for 145 co-occurring tree species in a Malaysian tropical rainforest. For each species, we selected trees across a broad size range and measured architectural dimensions (stem diameter, height of the lowest foliage and crown width). We used a hierarchical Bayesian model to estimate species-specific allometric relationships between architectural dimensions including estimated stem biomass. Then, we examined correlations between species wood density and estimated architectural variables at standardized heights. 3. When species were compared at standardized tree heights, wood density correlated negatively with stem diameter and positively with stem biomass at most reference heights. This indicates that species with low wood density produce thicker stems but at lower biomass costs. Wood density correlated positively with crown width and negatively with height of the lowest foliage, which indicates that high wood density species have wider and deeper crowns than low wood density species. These relationships were maintained at most reference heights. However, the relationship with crown width was nonsignificant above 18 m height. This may reflect large plastic response of lateral crown expansion to a local condition. 4. Wood density explains the trade-off between effective vertical stem expansion and horizontal crown expansion across co-occurring tropical tree species. Such mechanical constraints characterize the difference in tree architecture between low wood density species that show an efficient height expansion to attain better light conditions in the exposed canopy and high wood density species that show an efficient horizontal crown expansion to enhance current light interception and persistence in the shaded forest understorey. Our study thus suggests that the mechanical constraints set by wood density contribute to the co-existence of species differing in architecture and light capture strategy.

Transmission of Blue-Stain Fungi by Ips typographus (Coleoptera: Scolytidae) in Norway Spruce

Abstract: Spores characteristic of the tree pathogenic blue-stain fungus, Ophiostoma polonicum Siemasko, and other fungi are visible in scanning electron micrographs of pits on the pronotum and elytra of Ips typographus (L.). Inoculation and reisolation experiments show that O. polonicum was transmitted to logs at generally higher frequencies by live beetles and their excised parts (head, prothorax, or elytra) than by the digestive tract. Other associated fungi isolated at high frequencies from I. typographus were O. bicolor Davidson & Wells, O. penicillatum (Grosmann) Siemasko, Graphium sp., and yeasts.