Terrestrial Laser Scanning to Detect Liana Impact on Forest Structure

Tropical forests are currently experiencing large-scale structural changes, including an increase in liana abundance and biomass. Higher liana abundance results in reduced tree growth and increased tree mortality, possibly playing an important role in the global carbon cycle. Despite the large amount of data currently available on lianas, there are not many quantitative studies on the influence of lianas on the vertical structure of the forest. We study the potential of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) in detecting and quantifying changes in forest structure after liana cutting using a small scale removal experiment in two plots (removal plot and non-manipulated control plot) in a secondary forest in Panama. We assess the structural changes by comparing the vertical plant profiles and Canopy Height Models (CHMs) between pre-cut and post-cut scans in the removal plot. We show that TLS is able to detect the local structural changes in all the vertical strata of the plot caused by liana removal. Our study demonstrates the reproducibility of the TLS derived metrics for the same location confirming the applicability of TLS for continuous monitoring of liana removal plots to study the long-term impacts of lianas on forest structure. We therefore recommend to use TLS when implementing new large scale liana removal experiments, as the impact of lianas on forest structure will determine the aboveground competition for light between trees and lianas, which has important implications for the global carbon cycle

Resposta de cultivares de milho-pipoca a doses de adubação de semeadura.

Este trabalho teve o objetivo de verificar a resposta de cultivares de milho-pipoca, quanto à produtividade e a qualidade da pipoca, a duas doses de adubação na semeadura, em três locais do Estado de Minas Gerais. Foram avaliados oito cultivares de milho-pipoca, em dois experimentos, em Lavras, Ijaci e Sete Lagoas, nos anos agrícolas de 2000/01 e 2001/02. Em um dos experimentos de cada local foram utilizados, na adubação de semeadura, 250 kg.ha-1 da formulação 8 (N): 28 (P2O5): 16 (K2O) e, no Outro experimento, 500 kg.ha -1 da mesma formulação. A adubação de cobertura foi semelhante em ambos os experimentos. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos casualizados com quatro repetições. Foram avaliados o peso de grão (kg.ha'-1) e a capacidade de expansão (ml/g). Os resultados permitiram concluir que existe resposta para a maior dose de adubação de semeadura apenas em relação à produtividade de grãos que, em média, é de 10%, quando comparada à menor dose; o aumento da dose de adubação de semeadura não altera a capacidade de expansão e, conseqüentemente, a qualidade da pipoca, independentemente do cultivar, local e ano agrícola; o desempenho dos cultivares, quanto à produção de grãos e capacidade de expansão, varia com o ano e o local; os cultivares IAC-112, Ames-4198 e Zélia associam boas produtividades e capacidade dos expansão de grãos

Estabilidade de cultivares de milho-pipoca em diferentes ambientes, no Estado de Minas Gerais.

O desempenho das cultivares de milho-pipoca varia com os ambientes, de modo que uma cultivar dificilmente é a melhor em todas as condições de cultivo. A resposta diferenciada das cultivares à variação ambiental denomina-se interação genótipo por ambientes. Este trabalho teve como objetivo estimar a adaptabilidade e estabilidade de cultivares de milho-pipoca quando estas foram submetidas a diferentes doses de adubação de semeadura, em diferentes locais e anos agrícolas, no estado de Minas Gerais. Foram avaliadas oito cultivares de milho-pipoca, utilizando duas doses de adubação de semeadura, em Lavras, Ijaci e Sete Lagoas, nos anos agrícolas de 2000/01 e 2001/02, perfazendo 12 ambientes. Em um dos experimentos de cada local foram utilizados 250 kg.ha-1 da formulação 8 (N): 28 (P2O5): 16 (K2O) na adubação de semeadura, e no outro experimento, 500 kg.ha-1 da mesma formulação. A adubação de cobertura foi semelhante para ambos os experimentos. O delineamento experimental para cada experimento foi o de blocos casualizados, com quatro repetições. Cada experimento foi considerado um ambiente, uma vez que foram conduzidos em diferentes locais, doses de adubação e anos agrícolas. Os resultados obtidos em todos os experimentos foram submetidos à análise de variância conjunta, considerando o peso de grão (Kg.ha-1) e a capacidade de expansão (m1.g-1). Os parâmetros que avaliaram a adaptabilidade e estabilidade foram estimados a partir das metodologias de Eberhart e Russell (1966) e Annicchiarico (1992). As cultivares diferiram quanto à adaptabilidade e estabilidade para o peso de grão, não sendo observado o mesmo para a capacidade de expansão. As cultivares Zélia, IAC 112 e Ames-4198 apresentaram os melhores resultados para a produção de grãos, 2.710, 2.728 e 2.696 kg.ha-1 e capacidade de expansão, 28,6, 27,6 e 27,5 ml.g-1, respectivamente, tanto para ambientes favoráveis como desfavoráveis. Esses cultivares apresentaram comportamento previsível e alto índice de confiança na recomendação para as regiões avaliadas

The OPERA magnetic spectrometer

The OPERA neutrino oscillation experiment foresees the construction of two magnetized iron spectrometers located after the lead-nuclear emulsion targets. The magnet is made up of two vertical walls of rectangular cross section connected by return yokes. The particle trajectories are measured by high precision drift tubes located before and after the arms of the magnet. Moreover, the magnet steel is instrumented with Resistive Plate Chambers that ease pattern recognition and allow a calorimetric measurement of the hadronic showers. In this paper we review the construction of the spectrometers. In particular, we describe the results obtained from the magnet and RPC prototypes and the installation of the final apparatus at the Gran Sasso laboratories. We discuss the mechanical and magnetic properties of the steel and the techniques employed to calibrate the field in the bulk of the magnet. Moreover, results of the tests and issues concerning the mass production of the Resistive Plate Chambers are reported. Finally, the expected physics performance of the detector is described; estimates rely on numerical simulations and the outcome of the tests described above.Comment: 6 pages, 10 figures, presented at the 2003 IEEE-NSS conference, Portland, OR, USA, October 20-24, 200

Signal modeling of high-purity Ge detectors with a small read-out electrode and application to neutrinoless double beta decay search in Ge-76

The GERDA experiment searches for the neutrinoless double beta decay of Ge-76 using high-purity germanium detectors enriched in Ge-76. The analysis of the signal time structure provides a powerful tool to identify neutrinoless double beta decay events and to discriminate them from gamma-ray induced backgrounds. Enhanced pulse shape discrimination capabilities of "Broad Energy Germanium" detectors with a small read-out electrode have been recently reported. This paper describes the full simulation of the response of such a detector, including the Monte Carlo modeling of radiation interaction and subsequent signal shape calculation. A pulse shape discrimination method based on the ratio between the maximum current signal amplitude and the event energy applied to the simulated data shows quantitative agreement with the experimental data acquired with calibration sources. The simulation has been used to study the survival probabilities of the decays which occur inside the detector volume and are difficult to assess experimentally. Such internal decay events are produced by the cosmogenic radio-isotopes Ge-68 and Co-60 and the neutrinoless double beta decay of Ge-76. Fixing the experimental acceptance of the double escape peak of the 2.614 MeV photon to 90%, the estimated survival probabilities at Qbb = 2.039 MeV are (86+-3)% for Ge-76 neutrinoless double beta decays, (4.5+-0.3)% for the Ge-68 daughter Ga-68, and (0.9+0.4-0.2)% for Co-60 decays.Comment: 27 pages, 17 figures. v2: fixed typos and references. Submitted to JINS

Prospect for Charge Current Neutrino Interactions Measurements at the CERN-PS

Tensions in several phenomenological models grew with experimental results on neutrino/antineutrino oscillations at Short-Baseline (SBL) and with the recent, carefully recomputed, antineutrino fluxes from nuclear reactors. At a refurbished SBL CERN-PS facility an experiment aimed to address the open issues has been proposed [1], based on the technology of imaging in ultra-pure cryogenic Liquid Argon (LAr). Motivated by this scenario a detailed study of the physics case was performed. We tackled specific physics models and we optimized the neutrino beam through a full simulation. Experimental aspects not fully covered by the LAr detection, i.e. the measurements of the lepton charge on event-by-event basis and their energy over a wide range, were also investigated. Indeed the muon leptons from Charged Current (CC) (anti-)neutrino interactions play an important role in disentangling different phenomenological scenarios provided their charge state is determined. Also, the study of muon appearance/disappearance can benefit of the large statistics of CC muon events from the primary neutrino beam. Results of our study are reported in detail in this proposal. We aim to design, construct and install two Spectrometers at "NEAR" and "FAR" sites of the SBL CERN-PS, compatible with the already proposed LAr detectors. Profiting of the large mass of the two Spectrometers their stand-alone performances have also been exploited.Comment: 70 pages, 38 figures. Proposal submitted to SPS-C, CER

Modeling the Impact of Liana Infestation on The Demography and Carbon Cycle of Tropical Forests

There is mounting empirical evidence that lianas affect the carbon cycle of tropical forests. However, no single vegetation model takes into account this growth form, although such efforts could greatly improve the predictions of carbon dynamics in tropical forests. In this study, we incorporated a novel mechanistic representation of lianas in a dynamic global vegetation model (the Ecosystem Demography Model). We developed a liana‐specific plant functional type and mechanisms representing liana–tree interactions (such as light competition, liana‐specific allometries, and attachment to host trees) and parameterized them according to a comprehensive literature meta‐analysis. We tested the model for an old‐growth forest (Paracou, French Guiana) and a secondary forest (Gigante Peninsula, Panama). The resulting model simulations captured many features of the two forests characterized by different levels of liana infestation as revealed by a systematic comparison of the model outputs with empirical data, including local census data from forest inventories, eddy flux tower data, and terrestrial laser scanner‐derived forest vertical structure. The inclusion of lianas in the simulations reduced the secondary forest net productivity by up to 0.46 tC ha−1 year−1, which corresponds to a limited relative reduction of 2.6% in comparison with a reference simulation without lianas. However, this resulted in significantly reduced accumulated above‐ground biomass after 70 years of regrowth by up to 20 tC/ha (19% of the reference simulation). Ultimately, the simulated negative impact of lianas on the total biomass was almost completely cancelled out when the forest reached an old‐growth successional stage. Our findings suggest that lianas negatively influence the forest potential carbon sink strength, especially for young, disturbed, liana‐rich sites. In light of the critical role that lianas play in the profound changes currently experienced by tropical forests, this new model provides a robust numerical tool to forecast the impact of lianas on tropical forest carbon sinks