Oregon State University

About: Oregon State University is a education organization based out in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Climate change. The organization has 28192 authors who have published 64044 publications receiving 2634108 citations. The organization is also known as: Oregon Agricultural College & OSU.

Lipoic acid as a potential therapy for chronic diseases associated with oxidative stress.

Abstract: α-Lipoic acid (LA), a naturally occurring dithiol compound, has long been known as an essential cofactor for mitochondrial bioenergetic enzymes. Aside from its enzymatic role, in vitro and in vivo studies suggest that LA also acts as a powerful micronutrient with diverse pharmacologic and antioxidant properties. Pharmacolo-gically, LA improves glycemic control, polyneuropathies associated with diabetes mellitus, and effectively mitigates toxicities associated with heavy metal poisoning. As an antioxidant, LA directly terminates free radicals, chelates transition metal ions (e.g. iron and copper), increases cytosolic glutathione and vitamin C levels and prevents toxicities associated with their loss. These diverse actions suggest that LA acts by multiple mechanisms both physiologically and pharmacologically, many of which are only now being explored. Herein, we review the known biochemical properties of LA with particular reference to how LA may be an effective agent to ameliorate certain pathophysiologies of many chronic diseases.

Unraveling the drivers of intensifying forest disturbance regimes in Europe

Abstract: Natural disturbances like wildfire, windthrow and insect outbreaks are critical drivers of composition, structure and functioning of forest ecosystems. They are strongly climate-sensitive, and are thus likely to be distinctly affected by climatic changes. Observations across Europe show that in recent decades, forest disturbance regimes have intensified markedly, resulting in a strong increase in damage from wind, bark beetles and wildfires. Climate change is frequently hypothesized as the main driving force behind this intensification, but changes in forest structure and composition associated with management activities such as promoting conifers and increasing standing timber volume (i.e. ‘forest change’) also strongly influence susceptibility to disturbances. Here, we show that from 1958 to 2001, forest change contributed in the same order of magnitude as climate change to the increase in disturbance damage in Europe's forests. Climate change was the main driver of the increase in area burnt, while changes in forest extent, structure and composition particularly affected the variation in wind and bark beetle damage. For all three disturbance agents, damage was most severe when conducive weather conditions and increased forest susceptibility coincided. We conclude that a continuing trend towards more disturbance-prone conditions is likely for large parts of Europe's forests, and can have strong detrimental effects on forest carbon storage and other ecosystem services. Understanding the interacting drivers of natural disturbance regimes is thus a prerequisite for climate change mitigation and adaptation in forest ecosystem management.

Carbon storage and fluxes in ponderosa pine forests at different developmental stages

Abstract: We compared carbon storage and fluxes in young and old ponderosa pine stands in Oregon, including plant and soil storage, net primary productivity, respiration fluxes, eddy flux estimates of net ecosystem exchange (NEE), and Biome-BGC simulations of fluxes. The young forest (Y site) was previously an old-growth ponderosa pine forest that had been clearcut in 1978, and the old forest (O site), which has never been logged, consists of two primary age classes (50 and 250 years old). Total ecosystem carbon content (vegetation, detritus and soil) of the O forest was about twice that of the Y site (21 vs. 10 kg C m ‐2 ground), and significantly more of the total is stored in living vegetation at the O site (61% vs. 15%). Ecosystem respiration (Re) was higher at the O site (1014 vs. 835 g C m ‐2 year ‐1 ), and it was largely from soils at both sites (77% of Re). The biological data show that above-ground net primary productivity (ANPP), NPP and net ecosystem production (NEP) were greater at the O site than the Y site. Monte Carlo estimates of NEP show that the young site is a source of CO2 to the atmosphere, and is significantly lower than NEP(O) by c. 100 g C m ‐2 year ‐1 . Eddy covariance measurements also show that the O site was a stronger sink for CO2 than the Y site. Across a 15-km swath in the region, ANPP ranged from 76 g C m ‐2 year ‐1 at the Y site to 236 g C m ‐2 year ‐1 (overall mean 158 6 14 g C m ‐2 year ‐1 ). The lowest ANPP values were for the youngest and oldest stands, but there was a large range of ANPP for mature stands. Carbon, water and nitrogen cycle simulations with the Biome-BGC model suggest that disturbance type and frequency, time since disturbance, age-dependent changes in below-ground allocation, and increasing atmospheric concentration of CO2 all exert significant control on the net ecosystem exchange of carbon at the two sites. Model estimates of major carbon flux components agree with budget-based observations to within 6 20%, with larger differences for NEP and for several storage terms. Simulations showed the period of regrowth required to replace carbon lost during and after a stand-replacing fire (O) or a clearcut (Y) to be between 50 and 100 years. In both cases, simulations showed a shift from net carbon source to net sink (on an annual basis) 10‐20 years after disturbance. These results suggest that the net ecosystem production of young stands may be low because heterotrophic respiration, particularly from soils, is higher than the NPP of the regrowth. The amount of carbon stored in long-term pools (biomass and soils) in addition to short-term fluxes has important implications for management of forests in the Pacific North-west for carbon sequestration.

Chain reactions linking acorns to gypsy moth outbreaks and Lyme disease risk.

Abstract: In eastern U.S. oak forests, defoliation by gypsy moths and the risk of Lyme disease are determined by interactions among acorns, white-footed mice, moths, deer, and ticks. Experimental removal of mice, which eat moth pupae, demonstrated that moth outbreaks are caused by reductions in mouse density that occur when there are no acorns. Experimental acorn addition increased mouse density. Acorn addition also increased densities of black-legged ticks, evidently by attracting deer, which are key tick hosts. Mice are primarily responsible for infecting ticks with the Lyme disease agent. The results have important implications for predicting and managing forest health and human health.