Although enhanced carbon fixation by forest trees may contribute significantly to mitigating an increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), capacities for this vary greatly among different tree species and locations. This study compared reactions in the foliage of a deciduous and a coniferous tree species (important central European trees, beech and spruce) to an elevated supply of CO2 and ev...

Biomass extraction from indiviual trees measured by terrestrial laser scanning is a valuable tool for forestry and for orchard plantations to extract the economic and ecological parameters of trees. The focus of this paper is to extract the woody biovolume from laser scanned trees based on the SkelTreSkeleton, which is a skeletal structure description. State of the art research proposed skeleto...

Impacts of elevated ground-level ozone (O(3)) on nitrogen (N) uptake and allocation were studied on mature European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) in a forest stand, hypothesizing that: (i) chronically elevated O(3) limits nutrient uptake, and (ii) beech responds more sensitively to elevated O(3) than spruce, as previously found for juvenile trees. Tree c...

A systematic study was conducted on Phyllostachys pubescens by analyzing the chemical constituents of its rhizome and culm at different ages. Our results indicated that the ash contents of the rhizome and culm of P. pubescens at different ages showed the largest coefficient of variation (CV), followed by alcohol benzene extractives. The CVs of acidinsoluble lignin, holocellulose, HNO3-C2H5OH ce...

Nacrtak Despite technological advancements in machinery for timber harvesting, chainsaws are fre­ quently used in forest operations. In Austria 85% of the wood volume harvested (15 million m3) are cut by chainsaws. The two most frequently documented ergonomic threats during motor manual felling include exposure to noise and vibration. This paper presents the results of exposure to hand-arm vibr...

Microwave-assisted selective liquefaction was proposed and used as a novel method for the isolation of holocellulose fibers. The results showed that the bamboo lignin component and extractives were almost completely removed by using a liquefaction process at 120 8C for 9 min, and the residual lignin and extractives in the solid residue were as low as 0.65% and 0.49%, respectively. Increasing th...

The Rosalia longicorn or Alpine longhorn (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is an endangered and strictly protected icon of European saproxylic biodiversity. Despite its popularity, lack of information on its demography and mobility may compromise adoption of suitable conservation strategies. The beetle experienced marked retreat from NW part of its range; its single population survives N of the Alps a...

The existence of areas of lower endemism and disjunction of New Zealand biota is typified by Nothofagus beech trees (hence "beech-gap") and have been attributed to a variety of causes ranging from ancient fault-mediated displacement (20-25 million years ago) to Pleistocene glacial extirpation (< 1.8 million years ago). We used cytochrome oxidase I and 12S mtDNA sequence data from a suite of end...

Forestry-based carbon sequestration projects demand a comprehensive quantification of the different climate change mitigation effects. In our study, we modeled a life cycle of managed pure stands consisting of the four main tree species in Bavaria (spruce, pine, beech and oak). For spruce and beech, an unmanaged stand was additionally integrated in order to analyze the differences in climate ch...

BACKGROUND Wild birch trees grow in limited areas in Japan and are not a common aero-allergen. However, many patients who do not live in the area show positive birch pollen Radioallergosorbent Test (RAST). Therefore, being sensitized by another tree pollen which is closely related to birch may result in showing a specific IgE antibody to birch. Alder is a one of these trees and in the past it g...