The number of state policies aimed at fostering biomass utilization has proliferated in recent years in the United States. Several states aim to increase the use of forest and agriculture biomass through renewable energy production. Several more indirectly encourage utilization by targeting aspects of the supply chain from trees standing in the forest to goods sold. This research classifies 370...

Across the boreal biome, clear-cutting of old, previously non clear-cut forests with high naturalness followed by tree planting or seeding is a major land use change. However, how much uncut forest has been converted to plantations remains unquantified. We combine Swedish national databases on clear-cuts and inventories show that at least 19% all since 2003 have occurred in old were most likely...

Analysis and Synthesis of Expressive Guitar Performance Raymond Vincent Migneco Advisor: Youngmoo Edmund Kim, Ph.D. The guitar is one of the most popular and versatile instruments used in Western music cultures. Dating back to the Renaissance era, the guitar can be heard in nearly every genre of Western music, and is arguably the most widely used instrument in present-day rock music. Over the s...

Spontaneous ignition tests of various forest species were performed with a specifically designed apparatus. The forest species selected: Arbutus andrachne, Cistus incanus, Pinus brutia, Pinus halepensis, Cupressus sempervirens, Pistacia lentiscus, Abies cephalonica are very common in the Mediterranean region which is frequently devastated by forest fires. The same tests were performed in the pr...

We studied changes in area and species composition of six indigenous forest fragments in the Taita Hills, Kenya using 1955 and 1995 aerial photography with 2004 airborne digital camera mosaics. The study area is part of Eastern Arc Mountains, a global biodiversity hot spot that boasts an outstanding diversity of flora and fauna and a high level of endemism.While a total of 260 ha (50%) of indig...

Biodiversity surrogates are commonly used in conservation biology. Here we review how fungi have been used as such in forest conservation, emphasizing proposed surrogate roles and practical applications. We show that many fungal surrogates have been suggested based on field experience and loose concepts, rather than on rigorously collected scientific data. Yet, they have played an important rol...

The tree growth sub-module (PnET) of the mechanistic model Forest-DNDC was calibrated and validated for plantation grown Eucalyptus globulus. Forest-DNDC describes the biogeochemical cycles of C and N and can assist in estimating soil-borne greenhouse gas fluxes. For validation of the forest growth sub-module, data from commercial forest plantations in south-eastern Australia was used. Growth p...

Sensitivities of species compositions of the broadleaf–conifer mixed forest in eastern Eurasian continent to climate change were evaluated with three forest gap models, namely KOPIDE, NEWCOP, and ForClim. Testing sites are located on Changbai Mountain, the middle of the distribution range for the mixed forest. Six climate change scenarios characterizing increase in temperature and increase/decr...

Co-management of forest resources is a process of governance that enables all relevant stakeholders to participate in the decision-making processes. Illegal logging and forest degradation are currently increasing, and logging bans are ineffective in reducing forest degradation. At the same time interest in forest plantations and concern about poverty problems of neighboring people whose livelih...

This study analyzed spatial and temporal changes in land use/land cover in a typical mountain watershed covering an area of 153 km2 in central Nepal by comparing classified satellite images from 1976, 1989 and 2000 coupled by GIS analyses and also investigated changes in the shape of land use patches over the period. The results show an increase in broadleaf forest, conifer forest and winter-cr...