(Press-News.org) Tree growth is measured to understand tree health, fluxes in carbon sequestration, and other forest ecosystem functions. It is one of the most essential and widely collected woody plant traits. Yet, the traditional method to measure tree growth is awkward and time consuming. Scientists have developed a new, resourceful way to take repeated tree growth measurements safely and accurately.
Dendrometer bands are metal straps that wrap around a tree trunk to measure its growth. Bands are fashioned by bending banding material into a "collar" and passing the metal strap through the collar. The collar allows the strap to expand and shrink to measure trunk circumference and changes in trunk diameter over time. Construction of traditional bands is tricky. They have sharp edges, and the manipulation of the material requires a skilled worker.
Dr. Beth Middleton of the U.S. Geological Survey National Wetlands Research Center and Evelyn Anemaet of Five Rivers Services, Inc., discovered a way to simplify the construction of dendrometer bands. It is accurate and inexpensive, and is easier, safer, and faster to install than the traditional method.
Using the new method, prefabricated cable-tie heads are slightly modified and used as collars on the dendrometer bands. This makes more uniform bands and cuts down on assembly time. The cable ties are smooth edged, and thus less dangerous to manipulate and install on trees. Detailed instructions for the new method are published in the September issue of Applications in Plant Sciences (available for free viewing at http://www.bioone.org/doi/pdf/10.3732/apps.1300044).
Cable-tie heads are normally marketed for military and industrial applications to bundle wires and prevent corrosion. It is no surprise that these materials hold up well in outdoor field conditions with extreme weather. In fact, unsuspecting materials often make essential environmental research equipment, with examples including steel nails used as plant tags and wedding veil material as insect netting.
Anemaet and Middleton were inspired to create an easier method by their field research on baldcypress tree swamps. Baldcypress swamps are an ecosystem that once spread across the southeastern and eastern United States. They are currently being restored in some areas of the Gulf Coastal Plain after years of degradation from agriculture, saltwater intrusion, and pests like the tent caterpillar. The swamps provide vital ecosystem functions like carbon storage and water purification. "We wanted to be able to look at how baldcypress trees respond to changes in their environment, such as differences in temperature, water, salinity, and day length," says Anemaet, "and this new method is very useful for these kinds of long-term studies."
The traditional method and new method of measuring tree growth were compared in ideal, non-field conditions and in the baldcypress swamps. In ideal conditions, installation time of the bands was two minutes faster. Installation time was up to 20 minutes faster in field conditions. These time savings accumulate when tens to hundreds of trees are tagged, which is common for environmental field studies that measure variation in tree growth among individuals of one tree species or multiple tree species. Saving time and easier band installation are also crucial when working in non-ideal field conditions. "Our work in baldcypress swamps is often carried out under flooded and/or muddy conditions, and we [the field team] did not want to get cuts on our hands (from handling the traditional banding material) that were very likely to get dirty and infected," comments Anemaet.
Middleton and Anemaet developed a general method that is widely applicable to long-term forest studies. "We are hoping that other researchers will be more likely to utilize dendrometer bands in their studies, now that this new method has improved the speed and efficiency with which the bands can be made and installed."
INFORMATION:
Applications in Plant Sciences (APPS) is a monthly, online, peer-reviewed, open access journal focusing on new tools, technologies, and protocols in all areas of the plant sciences. It is published by the Botanical Society of America, a non-profit membership society with a mission to promote botany, the field of basic science dealing with the study and inquiry into the form, function, development, diversity, reproduction, evolution, and uses of plants and their interactions within the biosphere. The first issue of APPS published in January 2013; APPS is available as part of BioOne's Open Access collection.
For further information, please contact the APPS staff at apps@botany.org.
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Dartmouth researchers have developed a molecular switch that changes a liquid crystal's readout color based on a chemical input. This new development may open the way for using liquid crystals in detecting harmful gases, pathogens, explosives and other chemical substances.
The findings appear in the journal Angewandte Chemie. A PDF of the study is available on request.
One of the challenges in the field of molecular switches and machines is the translation of molecular level motion into macroscopic level events by harnessing light or chemical energy -- think of a molecular-sized ...
Human activities are changing the water chemistry of many streams and rivers in the Eastern U.S., with consequences for water supplies and aquatic life, so reports a new study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
In the first survey of its kind, researchers looked at long-term alkalinity trends in 97 streams and rivers from Florida to New Hampshire. Sites ranged from small headwater streams to some of the nation's largest rivers. Over the past 25 to 60 years, two-thirds have become significantly more alkaline.
Alkalinity is a measure of water's ability ...
New York, NY – Researchers at Columbia University, in collaboration with biologists in Baylor College of Medicine, have made a significant step in understanding and imaging protein synthesis, pinpointing exactly where and when cells produce new proteins. Assistant Professor Wei Min's team developed a new technique to produce high-resolution imaging of newly synthesized proteins inside living cells. The findings were published in the July 9th issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Volume 110; Issue 28).
Proteins carry out almost every crucial biological ...
LA JOLLA, CA—August 26, 2013—Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found a way to apply a powerful new DNA-editing technology more broadly than ever before.
"This is one of the hottest tools in biology, and we've now found a way to target it to any DNA sequence," said Carlos F. Barbas III, the Janet and Keith Kellogg II Chair in Molecular Biology and Professor in the Department of Chemistry at TSRI.
The breakthrough concerns a set of designer DNA-binding proteins called TALEs, which biologists increasingly use to turn on, turn off, delete, insert ...
SASKATOON -- When Francis Crick and James Watson discovered the double helical structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in 1953, it began a genetic revolution to map, study, and sequence the building blocks of living organisms.
DNA encodes the genetic material passed on from generation to generation. For the information encoded in the DNA to be made into the proteins and enzymes necessary for life, ribonucleic acid (RNA), single-stranded genetic material found in the ribosomes of cells, serve as intermediary. Although usually single-stranded, some RNA sequences were ...
Each year, millions of people in the United States get a tuberculosis skin test to see if they have the infection that still affects one third of the world's population. But the standard diagnostic test is difficult to give, because a hypodermic needle must be inserted at a precise angle and depth in the arm to successfully check for tuberculosis.
Now, a team led by University of Washington engineers has created a patch with tiny, biodegradable needles that can penetrate the skin and precisely deliver a tuberculosis test. The researchers published their results online ...
This news release is available in French. The nature of the teenage brain makes users of cannabis amongst this population particularly at risk of developing addictive behaviors and suffering other long-term negative effects, according to researchers at the University of Montreal and New York's Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
"Of the illicit drugs, cannabis is most used by teenagers since it is perceived by many to be of little harm. This perception has led to a growing number of states approving its legalization and increased accessibility. Most of the debates ...
HIV-infected people who carry a gene for a specific protein face a 20-fold greater risk of contracting cryptococcal disease, according to a study published in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.
Cryptococcus neoformans is the most common cause of fungal meningitis among HIV-infected individuals. While the disease is a risk for everyone with HIV who has a very low level of CD4+ T cells, researchers have discovered that those with the gene for the protein FCGR3A 158V have an immune cell receptor that binds tightly to antibody-bound ...
August 27, 2013
Nyon, Switzerland
An influential report published in the journal 'Osteoporosis International', recommends 13 best practice standards in the implementation of coordinator-based fracture liaison services (FLS). The report, 'Capture the Fracture: A Best Practice Framework and Global Campaign to Break the Fragility Fracture Cycle' (1), has been been shaped by input from leaders of established Fracture Liaison Services throughout the world and endorsed by the International Osteoporosis Foundation.
Coordinator-based FLS centre around a coordinator, often ...
Divorce is associated with an increased risk of future depressive episodes but only for those who already have a history of depression, according to a new study published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
"Stressful life events like divorce are associated with significant risk for prolonged emotional distress, including clinically-significant depression," notes psychological scientist and lead researcher David Sbarra of the University of Arizona. "At the same time, we know from considerable research that the experience ...
