Kurchi bark and kurchi seeds have been reputed drugs in the Indian system of medicine from almost prehistoric days, being mentioned by Charak in nearly 1000 B.C. for the treatment of subacute and chronic dysenteries. Though the alkaloids were isolated as early as 1853 by Haines, and also by R. C. Dutta in the Chemical Department of the Medical College of Bengal in 1880, and whilst recently some...

Two models were developed to evaluate total volume under and over-bark of Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon R. Br.) stand trees. By variance analysis regarding volume with and without bark it was confirmed that trees age is responsible for 48 to 50% of its volumetric behaviour. Considered the averages of those variables and regarding the three homogeneous groups of the studied sites, a single model...

Fire is a common ecosystem process in many landscapes of western North America. Each landscape has a unique set of properties such as fuel arrangement, load, weather, ignitions, cultural history and topography that will influence fire behaviour and effects. These characteristics will have an impact on the probability that a particular area will be subjected to low-moderate intensity fires, stan...

Bark storage proteins (BSPs) accumulate in the inner bark parenchyma of many woody plants during autumn and winter. We investigated the effect of a short-day (SD) photoperiod on the accumulation of the 32-kilodalton bark storage protein of poplar (Populus deltoides Bart. ex Marsh.) under controlled environmental and natural growing conditions. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electroph...

An alternative normalization method was developed for evaluating atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pollution level when using tree bark as a passive sampling medium. Perylene (PER), which mainly stems from natural biogenic processes, was proposed as a "natural internal compound" (NIC) of atmospheric PAHs accumulation processes from air into the bark, and a concentration ratio ...

By damaging bark, mechanized harvesting deprives wood of its natural mechanical barrier. This study concerns the effect this damage on changes in moisture content that occur near damaged areas Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). was carried out using 45 randomly selected 11 m long logged stems. Additionally, bark thickness depth measured. To determine influence location and region, samples were c...

A quantitative multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedure was developed to assess the extent of Heterobasidion annosum (Fr.) Bref. growth in Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.) bark and wood and to determine correlations between lesion length and fungal colonization. Based on lesion length and real-time PCR, the responses of four 3-year-old Sitka spruce clones to in...

1. Fire and herbivory are the main disturbances shaping the structure of savannas. In these ecosystems, the key strategies by which woody plants escape fire are either early height growth (the lanky strategy) or early bark growth (the corky strategy). We hypothesize that the dominance of each strategy in different savannas depends on the prevailing disturbance regimes. Given the importance of h...

Fire shapes the distribution of savanna and forest through complex interactions involving climate, resources and species traits. Based on data from central Brazil, we propose that these interactions are governed by two critical thresholds. The fire-resistance threshold is reached when individual trees have accumulated sufficient bark to avoid stem death, whereas the fire-suppression threshold i...