Optical clearing of ECM-rich bovine musculoskeletal tissues.

<p>Equilibration to concentrated fructose solutions that closely match the refractive index of biological tissue substantially enhances the macroscopic transmission of light though 2.5 mm thick samples of cartilage (top row) and ligament (bottom row). While the transparency of light was greater in cleared meniscus (middle row, see also <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0116662#pone.0116662.g002" target="_blank">Fig. 2</a>), the background grid pattern was not easily visualized. Control and cleared samples were imaged using the same acquisition parameters on a Leica MZ80 stereomicroscope. Grid spacing = 2.1 mm.</p

High resolution imaging of cartilage reveals evidence of connectivity between individual chondrocytes.

<p>Interactions between individual chondrocytes within bovine articular cartilage can be resolved throughout the entire 307 μm–thick <i>z</i>-stack (arrowheads). The same <i>z</i>-stack shown in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0116662#pone.0116662.g002" target="_blank">Fig. 2C’</a>was bleached corrected and rendered in 3D using FIJI. The top of the volume was imaged just below the articular surface and goes deeper into the cartilage as <i>z</i> increases. Cartilage was stained with DiI, cleared with SeeDB and imaged using a Nikon A1R microscope, with a PlanFluor 20× multi-immersion objective, NA = 0.75, 3× confocal zoom. The depth of the image stack was limited by the working distance of the objective. Tick marks on isolated cell volumes = 10 μm. See also <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0116662#pone.0116662.s003" target="_blank">S1</a>–<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0116662#pone.0116662.s006" target="_blank">S4</a>Movies.</p

Height-specific biomass change as a function of relative height change per grid cell.

<p>Height categories are a) 1–3 m, b) 3–5 m and c) 5–10 m for rangelands of high, intermediate and low wood extraction pressure. There were no data for the 5–10 m height class in the high wood extraction rangeland and the >10 m height class for all rangelands as there were no grid cells with an average height over 10 m. Grid cell size: 25 m x 25 m.</p

Mean biomass increase (Mg ha^-1) at sites under varying wood extraction pressures.

<p>n is the number of 25 m x 25 m grid cells in each rangeland.</p><p>Mean biomass increase (Mg ha^-1) at sites under varying wood extraction pressures.</p

Height-specific biomass change as a function of relative change in canopy cover per grid cell.

<p>Height categories are a) 1–3 m, b) 3–5 m and c) 5–10 m for rangelands of high, intermediate and low wood extraction pressure. There were no data for the 5–10 m height class in the high wood extraction rangeland and the >10 m height class for all rangelands as there were no grid cells with an average height over 10 m. Grid cell size: 25 m x 25 m.</p

Study sites in Bushbuckridge municipality, located in the South African Lowveld.

<p>Sites are classified (from west to east) as low, high and intermediate wood extraction pressure based on the number of households and people utilising each rangeland. Settlements that utilise each rangeland are shown, including the names of the major settlements, as well as the location of the gabbro intrusions in the predominantly granitic landscape.</p

Site-specific biomass models derived from field allometry and LiDAR metric linear regression.

<p>In the model equations, y refers to the plot-level (25 m x 25 m) biomass estimate (kg/625 m²) and x to the LiDAR-derived H x CC predictor metrics, where H is plot-averaged height (> 1.5 m) and CC is the proportion of canopy cover (> 1.5 m in height) per plot. Root mean square error (RMSE) was reported in Mg ha^-1 for ease of interpretation and n is number of 25 m x 25 m plots.</p><p>Site-specific biomass models derived from field allometry and LiDAR metric linear regression.</p

Height-specific subcanopy returns (%) (mean ± standard deviation) for 2008 and 2012.

<p>Wood extraction levels are: a) high (n = 102 cells), b) intermediate (n = 291 cells), and c) low wood extraction (n = 1654 cells). Contribution of height class change (subcanopy returns) to total change (total vegetation column) (%) is the black bar represented by values on the secondary axis. e.g. In the high wood extraction rangeland, 79% of the change in the total vegetation column was attributable to the 1–3 m height class.</p

Height-specific correlation (p < 0.001) between change in biomass (%) and subcanopy returns (%).

<p>Wood extraction levels for each rangeland are listed per column as high, intermediate and low.</p