2,616 research outputs found
NECROMASS PRODUCTION: STUDIES IN UNDISTURBED AND LOGGED AMAZON FORESTS
Necromass stocks account for up to 20% of carbon stored in tropical forests and have been estimated to be 14â19% of the annual aboveground carbon flux. Both stocks and fluxes of necromass are infrequently measured. In this study, we directly measured the production of fallen coarse necromass (â„2 cm diameter) during 4.5 years using repeated surveys in undisturbed forest areas and in forests subjected to reducedâimpact logging at the Tapajos National Forest, Belterra, Brazil (3.08° S, 54.94° W). We also measured fallen coarse necromass and standing dead stocks at two times during our study. The mean (SE) annual flux into the fallen coarse necromass pool in undisturbed forest of 6.7 (0.8) Mg·haâ1·yrâ1 was not significantly different from the flux under a reducedâimpact logging of 8.5 (1.3) Mg·haâ1·yrâ1. With the assumption of steady state, the instantaneous decomposition constants for fallen necromass in undisturbed forests were 0.12 yrâ1 for large, 0.33 yrâ1 for medium, and 0.47 yrâ1 for small size classes. The mass weighted decomposition constant was 0.15 yrâ1 for all fallen coarse necromass. Standing dead wood had a residence time of 4.2 years, and âŒ0.9 Mg·haâ1·yrâ1 of this pool was respired annually to the atmosphere through decomposition. Coarse necromass decomposition at our study site accounted for 12% of total carbon reâmineralization, and total aboveground coarse necromass was 14% of the aboveground biomass. Use of mortality rates to calculate production of coarse necromass leads to an underestimation of coarse necromass production by 45%, suggesting that nonlethal disturbance such as branch fall contributes significantly to this flux. Coarse necromass production is an important component of the tropical forest carbon cycle that has been neglected in most previous studies or erroneously estimated
An error accounting algorithm for electron counting experiments
Electron counting experiments attempt to provide a current of a known number
of electrons per unit time. We propose architectures utilizing a few readily
available electron-pumps or turnstiles with modest error rates of 1 part per
with common sensitive electrometers to achieve the desirable accuracy of
1 part in . This is achieved not by counting all transferred electrons
but by counting only the errors of individual devices; these are less frequent
and therefore readily recognized and accounted for. Our proposal thereby eases
the route towards quantum based standards for current and capacitance.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures. Builds on and extends white paper arXiv:0811.392
Evaluating multiple causes of persistent low microwave backscatter from Amazon forests after the 2005 drought
Amazonia has experienced large-scale regional droughts that affect forest productivity and biomass stocks. Space-borne remote sensing provides basin-wide data on impacts of meteorological anomalies, an important complement to relatively limited ground observations across the Amazonâs vast and remote humid tropical forests. Morning overpass QuikScat Ku-band microwave backscatter from the forest canopy was anomalously low during the 2005 drought, relative to the full instrument record of 1999â2009, and low morning backscatter persisted for 2006â2009, after which the instrument failed. The persistent low backscatter has been suggested to be indicative of increased forest vulnerability to future drought. To better ascribe the cause of the low post-drought backscatter, we analyzed multiyear, gridded remote sensing data sets of precipitation, land surface temperature, forest cover and forest cover loss, and microwave backscatter over the 2005 drought region in the southwestern Amazon Basin (4°-12°S, 66°-76°W) and in adjacent 8°x10° regions to the north and east. We found moderate to weak correlations with the spatial distribution of persistent low backscatter for variables related to three groups of forest impacts: the 2005 drought itself, loss of forest cover, and warmer and drier dry seasons in the post-drought vs. the pre-drought years. However, these variables explained only about one quarter of the variability in depressed backscatter across the southwestern drought region. Our findings indicate that drought impact is a complex phenomenon and that better understanding can only come from more extensive ground data and/or analysis of frequent, spatially-comprehensive, high-resolution data or imagery before and after droughts
Self-healing elastomer system
A composite material includes an elastomer matrix, a set of first capsules containing a polymerizer, and a set of second capsules containing a corresponding activator for the polymerizer. The polymerizer may be a polymerizer for an elastomer. The composite material may be prepared by combining a first set of capsules containing a polymerizer, a second set of capsules containing a corresponding activator for the polymerizer, and a matrix precursor, and then solidifying the matrix precursor to form an elastomeric matrix
Resistance exercise training restores bone mineral density in heart transplant recipients
AbstractObjectives. This was a prospective, randomized, controlled study designed to determine the effect of resistance exercise traning on bone metabolism in heart transplant recipients.Background. Osteoporosis frequently complicates heart transplantation. No preventative strategy is generally accepted for glucocorticoid-induced bone loss.Methods. Sixteen male heart transplant recipients were randomly assigned to a resistance exercise group that trained for 6 months (mean [±SD] age 56 ± 6 years) or a control group (mean age 52 ± 10 years) that did not perform resistance exercise. Bone mineral density (BMD) of the total body, femur neck and lumbar spine (L2 to L3) was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry before and 2 months after transplantation and after 3 and 6 months of resistance exercise or a control period. The exercise regimen consisted of lumbar extension exercise (MedX) performed 1 day/week and variable resistance exercises (Nautilus) performed 2 days/week. Each exercise consisted of one set of 10 to 15 repetitions performed to volitional fatigue.Results. Pretransplantation baseline values for regional BMD did not differ in the control and training groups. Bone mineral density of the total body, femur neck and lumbar vertebra (L2 to L3) were significantly decreased below baseline at 2 months after transplantation in both the control (â3.3 ± 1.3%, â 4.5 ± 2.8%, â12.7 ± 6.2%, respectly) and training groups (â2.9 ± 1.1%, 5.9 ± 3.2%, â14.8 ± 3.1%, respectively). Six months of resistance exercise restored BMD of the whole body, femur neck and lumbar vertebra to within 1%, 1.9% and 3.6% of pretransplantation levels, respectively. Bone mineral density of the control group remained unchanged from the 2-month posttransplantation levels.Conclusions. Within 2 months after heart transplantation, â 3% of whole-body BMD is lost, mostly due to decreases in trabecular bone (â12% to â15% of lumbar vertebra). Six months of resistance exercise, consisting of low back exercise that isolates the lumbar spine and a regimen of variable resistance exercises, restores BMD toward pretransplantation levels. Our results suggest that resistance exercise is osteogenic and should be initiated early after heart transplantation
CARBON BALANCE AND VEGETATION DYNAMICS IN AN OLDâGROWTH AMAZONIAN FOREST
Amazon forests could be globally significant sinks or sources for atmospheric carbon dioxide, but carbon balance of these forests remains poorly quantified. We surveyed 19.75 ha along four 1âkm transects of wellâdrained oldâgrowth upland forest in the TapajĂłs National Forest near SantarĂ©m, ParĂĄ, Brazil (2°51âČ S, 54°58âČ W) in order to assess carbon pool sizes, fluxes, and climatic controls on carbon balance. In 1999 there were, on average, 470 live trees per hectare with diameter at breast height (dbh) â„10 cm. The mean (and 95% ci) aboveground live biomass was 143.7 ± 5.4 Mg C/ha, with an additional 48.0 ± 5.2 Mg C/ha of coarse woody debris (CWD). The increase of live wood biomass after two years was 1.40 ± 0.62 Mg C·haâ1·yrâ1, the net result of growth (3.18 ± 0.20 Mg C·haâ1·yrâ1 from mean bole increment of 0.36 cm/yr), recruitment of new trees (0.63 ± 0.09 Mg C·haâ1·yrâ1, reflecting a notably high stem recruitment rate of 4.8 ± 0.9%), and mortality (â2.41 ± 0.53 Mg C·haâ1·yrâ1 from stem death of 1.7% yrâ1). The gain in live wood biomass was exceeded by respiration losses from CWD, resulting in an overall estimated net loss from total aboveground biomass of 1.9 ± 1.0 Mg C·haâ1·yrâ1. The presence of large CWD pools, high recruitment rate, and net accumulation of smallâtree biomass, suggest that a period of high mortality preceded the initiation of this study, possibly triggered by the strong El Niño Southern Oscillation events of the 1990s. Transfer of carbon between live and dead biomass pools appears to have led to substantial increases in the pool of CWD, causing the observed net carbon release. The data show that biometric studies of tropical forests neglecting CWD are unlikely to accurately determine carbon balance. Furthermore, the hypothesized sequestration flux from CO2 fertilization (\u3c0.5 Mg C·haâ1·yrâ1) would be comparatively small and masked for considerable periods by climateâdriven shifts in forest structure and associated carbon balance in tropical forests
Fine root dynamics and trace gas fluxes in two lowland tropical forest soils
Fine root dynamics have the potential to contribute significantly to ecosystem-scale biogeochemical cycling, including the production and emission of greenhouse gases. This is particularly true in tropical forests which are often characterized as having large fine root biomass and rapid rates of root production and decomposition. We examined patterns in fine root dynamics on two soil types in a lowland moist Amazonian forest, and determined the effect of root decay on rates of C and N trace gas fluxes. Root production averaged 229 ( 35) and 153 ( 27) gm 2 yr 1 for years 1 and 2 of the study, respectively, and did not vary significantly with soil texture. Root decay was sensitive to soil texture with faster rates in the clay soil (k5 0.96 year 1) than in the sandy loam soil (k5 0.61 year 1),leading to greater standing stocks of dead roots in the sandy loam. Rates of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions were significantly greater in the clay soil (13 1ngNcm 2 h 1) than in the sandy loam (1.4 0.2 ngNcm 2 h 1). Root mortality and decay following trenching doubled rates of N2O emissions in the clay and tripled them in sandy loam over a 1-year period. Trenching also increased nitric oxide fluxes, which were greater in the sandy loam than in the clay. We used trenching (clay only) and a mass balance approach to estimate the root contribution to soil respiration. In clay soil root respiration was 264â380 gCm 2 yr 1, accounting for 24% to 35% of the total soil CO2 efflux. Estimates were similar using both approaches. In sandy loam, root respiration rates were slightly higher and more variable (521 206 gCm2 yr 1) and contributed 35% of the total soil respiration. Our results show that soil heterotrophs strongly dominate soil respiration in this forest, regardless of soil texture. Our results also suggest that fine root mortality and decomposition associated with disturbance and land-use change can contribute significantly to increased rates of nitrogen trace gas emissions
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