Describing Signatures: a Key to Successful use of Remote Sensing for Forest Damage AssessmentDescrevendo Assinaturas: a Chave para o Uso Bem Sucedido do Sensoriamento Remoto para Avaliação dos Danos Florestais

Forest damage caused by a variety of agents: wildfire, climatic events, mammals, insects and diseases is often highly visible and can be assessed by remote sensing. Certain characteristics of the damage, as seen via remote sensing, can provide clues to the identity of the agent(s) responsible for the damage. These include the ability to recognize the host tree(s) affected, color and texture of the foliage of affected trees, distribution of damage, size of affected trees and portion of tree crown affected. Examples are provided from the United States and southern Brazil of how combinations of these characteristics are helpful in the identification of damaging forest agents during aerial sketchmap surveys, interpretation of large to medium scale aerial photos or airborne video imagery.Resumo Danos florestais causados por uma variedade de agentes: incêndios, eventos climáticos, mamíferos, insetos e doenças é frequentemente muito visível e pode ser avaliado por sensoriamento remoto. Certas características do dano, como vistos por sensoriamento remoto, podem proporcionar indícios para identificar o(s) agente(s) responsável pelo dano. Estas incluem a habilidade em reconhecer a(s) árvores hospedeiras afetadas, a cor e textura da folhagem da árvore atacada, a distribuição do dano, o tamanho das árvores afetadas e as partes da copa afetada. Exemplos são fornecidos dos Estados Unidos e do sul do Brasil de como as combinações dessas características são valiosas na identificação dos agentes causadores de danos durante os levantamentos aéreos expeditos, a interpretação de fotografias aéreas em escalas grandes a médias ou de imagens aéreas de vídeo

2013 Colorado forest insect and disease update

The reports describes "an annual investigation of critical forest health issues, including the identification of priority areas across the state where current forest conditions demand timely action." They are intended to "expand Coloradans' knowledge of and interest in our state's forest resources.".Reports produced by the Colorado State Forest Service in conjunction with Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry.Includes bibliographical references.January 2014.Includes the 2013 Colorado forest insect and disease update supplement.The theme of the 2013 report is Caring for Colorado's Forests: Today's Challenges, Tomorrow's Opportunities. How best to care for this vital resource has been a major topic of discussion. This year's report focuses on the values our forests provide and includes several examples of the successful collaborative forest management programs that were created to address the impacts of mountain pine beetle, threats associated with wildfire, and protection of critical watersheds and other values at risk. Hopefully theseexamples will lead to the identification of other potential solutions to the challenges our forests are facing. One thing is clear: forest stewardship is best achieved through the collective efforts of private landowners, public land managers, non-governmentalconservation organizations, elected officials and other interested stakeholders. The mission of the Colorado State Forest Service is to "achieve stewardship of Colorado's diverse forest environments for the benefit of present and future generations." At no time in Colorado's history has the CSFS mission been so relevant - and working with stakeholders to identify and implement innovative programs will help us further our mission

Meteorite evidence for partial differentiation and protracted accretion of planetesimals.

Modern meteorite classification schemes assume that no single planetary body could be source of both unmelted (chondritic) and melted (achondritic) meteorites. This dichotomy is a natural outcome of formation models assuming that planetesimal accretion occurred nearly instantaneously. However, it has recently been proposed that the accretion of many planetesimals lasted over ≳1 million years (Ma). This could have resulted in partially differentiated internal structures, with individual bodies containing iron cores, achondritic silicate mantles, and chondritic crusts. This proposal can be tested by searching for a meteorite group containing evidence for these three layers. We combine synchrotron paleomagnetic analyses with thermal, impact, and collisional evolution models to show that the parent body of the enigmatic IIE iron meteorites was such a partially differentiated planetesimal. This implies that some chondrites and achondrites simultaneously coexisted on the same planetesimal, indicating that accretion was protracted and that apparently undifferentiated asteroids may contain melted interiors

Evaluation of pine bark beetle infestations on Blue Mountain, Missoula District, Lolo National Forest, Montana

An evaluation of the status of bark beetle infestations in ponderosa pine stands on Blue Mountain, Missoula District, Lolo National Forest, was made March 30 and April 4, 1972, at the request of personnel of the Missoula District. Extensive group killing of ponderosa pine in the vicinity of Blue Mountain was detected by District personnel in 1971. A subsequent evaluation revealed that tree killing was the result of pine engraver beetle, Ips pini (Say), infestation over most of the area and that a localized outbreak of mountain pine beetle, Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopk., occurred in the Hayes Creek drainage (Ciesla et al. 1971). Presuppression surveys in the Hayes Creek drainage indicated that a total of 4,814 ponderosa pines were killed by mountain pine beetle in 1969 and 1970 with a resultant volume loss of 29,640 board feet (Ciesla and McGregor 1971). Attempts by District personnel to initiate salvage sales in the area during 1971 failed

The Herschel Virgo Cluster Survey XIX. Physical properties of low luminosity FIR sources at z < 0.5

Context. The star formation rate is a crucial parameter for the investigation galaxy evolution. At low redshift the cosmic star formation rate density declines smoothly, and massive active galaxies become passive, reducing their star formation activity. This implies that the bulk of the star formation rate density at low redshift is mainly driven by low mass objects. Aims. We investigate the properties of a sample of low luminosity far-infrared sources selected at 250 μm. We have collected data from ultraviolet to far-infrared in order to perform a multiwavelengths analysis. The main goal is to investigate the correlation between star formation rate, stellar mass, and dust mass for a galaxy population with a wide range in dust content and stellar mass, including the low mass regime that most probably dominates the star formation rate density at low redshift. Methods. We define a main sample of ~800 sources with full spectral energy distribution coverage between 0.15 <λ< 500 μm and an extended sample with ~5000 sources in which we remove the constraints on the ultraviolet and near-infrared bands. We analyze both samples with two different spectral energy distribution fitting methods: MAGPHYS and CIGALE, which interpret a galaxy spectral energy distribution as a combination of different simple stellar population libraries and dust emission templates. Results. In the star formation rate versus stellar mass plane our samples occupy a region included between local spirals and higher redshift star forming galaxies. These galaxies represent the population that at z 3 × 1010 M⊙) do not lie on the main sequence, but show a small offset as a consequence of the decreased star formation. Low mass galaxies (M∗< 1 × 1010 M⊙) settle in the main sequence with star formation rate and stellar mass consistent with local spirals. Conclusions. Deep Herschel data allow the identification of a mixed galaxy population with galaxies still in an assembly phase or galaxies at the beginning of their passive evolution. We find that the dust luminosity is the parameter that allow us to discriminate between these two galaxy populations. The median spectral energy distribution shows that even at low star formation rate our galaxy sample has a higher mid-infrared emission than previously predicted

Evaluation of the pine butterfly infestation on the Nezperce National Forest, 1972

The pine butterfly, Neophasia menapia (Felder and Felder), infestation on the Nezperce National Forest was aerially surveyed in mid-August 1972. A followup ground evaluation was made in September. Results of the survey show the infestation has increased substantially in intensity and size. The infestation was first reported in 1971 when 4,200 acres of aerially visible defoliation were detected along the south-facing slopes of the Salmon River breaks east of Riggins, Idaho. Approximately 22,000 acres of defoliation were mapped during the 1972 aerial survey. In addition to the infested areas east of Riggins, defoliation exists as far north as Slate Creek and also on the "island" to the south (Fig. 1). Defoliation intensities range from just detectable to complete removal of the foliage. Most of the trees still have their 1972 needles

Supplemental egg mass data from a Douglas-fir tussock moth infestation, North of Polson, Montana, April 1975

A supplemental Douglas-fir tussock moth egg mass evaluation was made within three quarter sections north of Poison, Montana, during April 1975. These areas were being considered for a pilot control project of a nucleopolyhedrosis virus spray. Results from the April evaluation showed these areas no longer qualified as sites for pilot control projects

The Cdc42 inhibitor secramine B prevents cAMP-induced K+ conductance in intestinal epithelial cells

Cyclic AMP- (cAMP) and calcium-dependent agonists stimulate chloride secretion through the coordinated activation of distinct apical and basolateral membrane channels and ion transporters in mucosal epithelial cells. Defects in the regulation of Cl– transport across mucosal surfaces occur with cystic fibrosis and V. cholerae infection and can be life threatening. Here we report that secramine B, a small molecule that inhibits activation of the Rho GTPase Cdc42, reduced cAMP-stimulated chloride secretion in the human intestinal cell line T84. Secramine B interfered with a cAMP-gated and Ba2+-sensitive K+ channel, presumably KCNQ1/KCNE3. This channel is required to maintain the membrane potential that sustains chloride secretion. In contrast, secramine B did not affect the Ca2+-mediated chloride secretion pathway, which requires a separate K+ channel activity from that of cAMP. Pirl1, another small molecule structurally unrelated to secramine B that also inhibits Cdc42 activation in vitro, similarly inhibited cAMP-dependent but not Ca2+-dependent chloride secretion. These results suggest that Rho GTPases may be involved in the regulation of the chloride secretory response and identify secramine B an inhibitor of cAMP-dependent K+ conductance in intestinal epithelial cells.Chemistry and Chemical Biolog