Extraction Technology of Chinese-fir Heartwood by Supercritical Fluid Carbon Dioxide

Taking extraction rate as an indicator,the extraction technology of Chinese-fir heartwood by supercritical carbon dioxide treatment was studied, and the extraction rate of the SFE-CO₂ method was compared to that of traditional extraction method. The results show that when extraction processing condition were:extraction pressure 30 MPa,extraction temperature 40℃,extraction time 120 m,and flow velocity 20 kg/h,the extraction rate of SFE-CO₂ was 0.99%,0.20%more than that of the traditional extraction method.However,taking the cost into consideration,it is proposed that the traditional extraction is used unless there are specific requirements.     

Modeling surface fuels moisture content in Pinus brutia stands

Fuel moisture content is an important variable for forest fires because it affects fuel ignition and fire behavior. In order to accurately predict fuel ignition potential, fuel moisture content must be assessed by evaluating fire spread, fireline intensity and fuel consumption.Our objective here is to model moisture content of surface fuels in normally stocked Calabrian pine(Pinus brutia Ten.) stands in relation to weather conditions, namely temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed in the Mugla province of Turkey. All surface fuels were categorized according to diameter classes and fuel types. Six fuel categories were defined: these were 0–0.3, 0.3–0.6, and0.6–1 cm diameter classes, and cone, surface litter, and duff. Plastic containers 15 9 20 cm in size with 1 9 1 mm mesh size were used. Samples were taken from 09:00 to19:00 h and weighed every 2 h with 0.01 g precision for10 days in August. At the end of the study, samples were taken to the laboratory, oven-dried at 105 °C for 24 h and weighed to obtain fuel-moisture contents. Weather measurements were taken from a fully automated weather station set up at the study site prior to the study. Correlation and regression analyses were carried out and models were developed to predict fuel moisture contents for desorption and adsorption phase for each fuel type categories. Practical fuel moisture prediction models were developed for dry period. Models were developed that performed well with reasonable accuracy, explaining up to 92 and 95.6%of the variability in fuel-moisture contents for desorption and adsorption phases, respectively. Validation of the models were conducted using an independent data set and known fuel moisture prediction models. The predictive power of the models was satisfactory with mean absolute error values being 1.48 and 1.02 for desorption and adsorption as compared to the 2.05 and 1.60 values for the Van Wagner's hourly litter moisture content prediction model. Results obtained in this study will be invaluable for fire management planning and modeling.     

Effect of compression on hydroscopicity of extracted Chinese fir heartwood

In order to clarify the effects of extraction and compression on the hydroscopicity of wood, Chinese fir （Cunninghamia lanceolata Hook.） heartwood samples with or without extraction were radially or tangentially compressed under water-saturated condition at room temperature. Warm water and 1% sodium hydroxide were used as different solutions for extraction. Water absorption capacity and moisture adsorption isotherms of the compressed samples were then tested. The fractal dimension of internal wood surfaces （Dfs） was calculated based on adsorption isotherms by FHH equation. Results showed that in both compressed groups, the hydroscopicity of samples extracted by sodium hydroxide solution improved greatly, while that of samples extracted by warm water changed little, compared with that of water-saturated samples. Recovery of set and the change of hydroscopic environment inside wood were main reasons for the difference of water absorption among water-saturated samples and samples extracted with warm water and sodium hydroxide solution. The swelling rate of samples extracted by sodium hydroxide solution significantly increased. Moreover, the swelling rate in the tangential direction of tangentially compressed samples was obviously higher than that in radial direction of radially compressed ones. Dfs values of woods extracted by warm water and sodium hydroxide solution decreased by 0.002 and 0.007 in a radially compressed group and by 0.013 and 0.013 in a tangentially compressed group, compared to those of water-saturated one. Therefore, the conclusion can be made that the extraction and compression treatments used in this study have no obvious effects on internal wood surface.     

Active organic carbon pool of coniferous and broad-leaved forest soils in the mountainous areas of Beijing

In order to explore the effects of different forest types on active soil carbon pool, the amounts and density of soil organic carbon (SOC) were studied at different soil horizons under typical coniferous and broad-leaved forests in the mountainous area of Beijing. The results showed that the amount of total SOC, readily oxidizable carbon and particulate organic carbon decreased with increasing depths of soil horizons and the amounts at depths of 0–10 cm and 10–20 cm in broad-leaved forest was clearly higher than that in coniferous forests. The trend of a decrease in SOC density with increasing depth of the soil horizon was similar to that of the amount of SOC. However, no regular trend was found for SOC density at different depths between coniferous forest and broad-leaved forests. The ratio of readily oxidizable carbon to total amount of SOC ranged from 0.36–0.45 and the ratio of particulate organic carbon to total amount of SOC from 0.28–0.73; the ratios decreased with increasing depths of soil horizons. Active SOC was significantly correlated with total SOC; the relationship between readily oxidizable carbon and particulate organic carbon was significant. A broad-leaved forest may produce more SOC than a coniferous forest.     

Effect of Allelochemicals of Chinese—fir root extracted by supercritical CO2 extraction on Chinese fir

Allelochemicals of Chinese-fir root was extracted by technology of supercritical CO2 extraction under orthogonal experiment design, and it was used to analyze allelopathic activity of Chinese-fir through bioassay of seed germination, The results showed that as to the available rate of allelochemicals, the pressure and temperature of extraction were the most im-portant factors, The allelochemicals of Chinese-fir root extracted by pure CO2 and ethanol mixed with CO2 have different al-lelopathic activities to seed germination, and the allelochemicals extracted by ethanol mixed with CO2 had stronger inhibitory effects on seed Qermination than that extracted by pure CO2.     

METHODS OF EVALUATING FOREST FIRE HISTORY

Forest fire history can be reconstructed over past centuries across a widevariety of forest types.Fire scars on living tress,and age classes of forest stands,are thetwo sources of information for these reconstructions.Point and area frequencies are usedto reconstruct fire history.Point frequencies are useful in forest types that burn withfrequent,low intensity fire so that many fire-scarred residual trees exist.A true point isa single tree,but more often point estimates are made by combining fire scar records fromseveral adjacent trees.Area frequences are applied where fires are infrequent but ofmoderate to high intensity,so that stand ages are used across wide areas to estimate firereturn interals.Proper selection and application of fire history methods are essential toderiving useful ecological implications from fire history studies.This review evaluates the common methods of determining fire history:what thetechniques are,where they are best applied,and how to interpret them in an ecologicalcontext.E     

Variation in litter decomposition-temperature relationships between coniferous and broadleaf forests in Huangshan Mountain,China

A study was conducted to identify the differences in the decompositions of leaf litter, lignin and carbohydrate between coniferous forest and broadleaf forest at 20℃ and 30℃ in Huangshan Mountain, Anhui Province, China. Results showed that at 20℃ mass loss of leaf litter driven by microbial decomposers was higher in broadleaf forest than that in coniferous forest, whereas the difference in mass loss of leaf litter was not significant at 30℃. The temperature increase did not affect the mass loss of leaf litter for coniferous forest treatment, but significantly reduced the decomposition rate for broadleaf forest treatment. The functional decomposers of microorganism in broadleaf forest produced a higher lignin decomposition rate at 20℃, compared to that in coniferous forest, but the difference in lignin decomposition was not found between two forest types at 30℃. Improved temperature increased the lignin decomposition for both broadleaf and coniferous forest. Additionally, the functional group of microorganism from broadleaf forest showed marginally higher carbohydrate loss than that from coniferous forest at both temperatures. Temperature increase reduced the carbohydrate decomposition for broadleaf forest, while only a little reduce was found for coniferous forest. Remarkable differences occurred in responses between most enzymes （Phenoloxidase, peroxidase, !5-glucosidase and endocellulase） and decomposition rate of leaf litter to forest type and temperature, although there exist strong relationships between measured enzyme activities and decomposition rate in most cases. The reason is that more than one enzyme contribute to the mass loss of leaf litter and organic chemical components. In conclusion, at a community scale the coniferous and broadleaf forests differed in their temperature-decomposition relationships.     

Fire behavior characteristics in a pine needle fuel bed in northwest Africa

This paper reports results of research to validate a fire behavior model "Wildland Fire Dynamics Simulator" through comparison of laboratory-scale measurements under the oxygen consumption calorimetry principle to several simulation runs of ground fire spreading in a fuel bed under wind. Pine needle ground covers of Pinus halepensis Mill. and Pinus pinaster Ait., two pine species in a specific region in northwest Africa were tested. In order to gain a deeper understanding of forest fire behavior, investigation into the rate of spread, one of the most relevant quantities used in forest fire science, is fundamental. Moreover, the heat release rate of the fire spread for different fuel types and related thermal functions such as radiant, convective and conductive heat transfer through beds of pine needles were quantified. The results can be helpful for the improvement and validation of the computational Fluid Dynamics CFD model and give global information on fire spread under wind on a bed of pine needles.     

Simple phenols in tropical woods determined by UHPLC-PDA and their antioxidant capacities: an experimental design for Randall extraction using environmentally friendly solvents

A comprehensive experimental design was developed to determine suitable conditions(volume, percentage of solvent, extraction temperature) for the ethanol extraction of phenolic compounds from ten tropical woody plants. Wenge, angelim vermelho, zebrano, merbau,tigerwood, angelim pedra, jatoba, angelim amargoso,massaranduba, and doussie woods were used in experiments. The effects of three independent variables and their interactions on the yields of cinnamic and benzoic acid derivates were analyzed using UHPLC-PDA. The most significant parameters were found to be solvent percentage,extraction volume, and extraction temperature. Optimal conditions for the extraction of phenolic compound contents were an 80℃ extraction temperature, a 30 mL extraction volume, and the use of pure water as the extraction solvent. The tested species of woods contained mainly cinnamic acid derivates. Water extracts after hydrolysis contained greater amounts of cinnamic acid derivates than those extracts from non-hydrolyzed material.The total phenolics content was highest in water extracts of tigerwood, wenge and merbau;however, the extract of merbau wood was a stronger radical scavenger in ABTS?áassays: 34.11 ± 0.02 mM Trolox equivalents per g of dry extract. The main compounds possessing antioxidant activity in the extracts of vermelho wood assessed by UHPLC analysis were hydroxycinnamic acids.     

过度生物干扰和火烧对梨竹林茎秆直径、密度及种子产出的影响

A study was conducted to investigate culms density and size, seed size and production rate in Melocanna baccifera stands disturbed by biotic pressure and fire. Results revealed that culms density, number and size of seeds produced in the bamboo stands were significantly affected by frequent fire and excessive biotic pressure （collection of young shoots for vegetables and mature culms）. The culm density and seed production rate decreased significantly in the stand subjected to excessive biotic pressure. An increasing exposure of culms to sun light was responsible for the above decrease. Seed production rate significantly increased in case of culms subjected to fire in comparison to the control. It indicated that fire stimulated the seed production in M. baccifera stand.     

Effects of an ectomycorrhizal fungus on the growth and physiology of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica seedlings subjected to saline-alkali stress

This research investigates the mechanism of increased salinity tolerance of ectomycorrhizal fungiinoculated P. sylvestris var. mongolica to provide a theoretical basis for the application of the fungus in saline soils.Growth effects due to inoculation of seedlings with Suillus luteus(a symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungus), were determined in four kinds of saline–alkali soils. Growth and physiological indicators, including photosynthetic characteristics, plant height, biomass, photosynthetic pigments,catalase(CAT) and superoxide dismutase(SOD) enzyme levels, and malondialdehyde(MDA), an organic marker for oxidative stress, and soluble protein levels were determined. Mycorrhizal colonization rate decreased with increasing saline–alkalinity and growth of inoculated seedlings was significantly enhanced. Biomass and chlorophyll contents also increased significantly. SOD and CAT activities were higher than in non-inoculated seedlings. However, MDA content decreased in inoculatedseedlings. Soluble protein content did not increase significantly. Inoculation with a symbiotic ectomycorrhizal fungus could enhance the saline–alkali tolerance of P. sylvestris var. mongolica. Growth and physiological performance of inoculated seedlings were significantly better than that of uninoculated seedlings. The results indicate that inoculated P. sylvestris var. mongolica seedlings may be useful in the improvement of saline–alkali lands.     

Forecasting the development of boreal paludified forests in response to climate change: a case study using Ontario ecosite classification

Background:Successional paludification,a dynamic process that leads to the formation of peatlands,is influenced by climatic factors and site features such as surficial deposits and soil texture.In boreal regions,projected climate change and corresponding modifications in natural fire regimes are expected to influence the paludification process and forest development.The objective of this study was to forecast the development of boreal paludified forests in northeastern North America in relation to climate change and modifications in the natural fire regime for the period 2011–2100.Methods:A paludification index was built using static(e.g.surficial deposits and soil texture)and dynamic(e.g.moisture regime and soil organic layer thickness)stand scale factors available from forest maps.The index considered the effects of three temperature increase scenarios(i.e.+1°C,+3°C and+6°C)and progressively decreasing fire cycle(from 300 years for 2011–2041,to 200 years for 2071–2100)on peat accumulation rate and soil organic layer(SOL)thickness at the stand level,and paludification at the landscape level.Results:Our index show that in the context where in the absence of fire the landscape continues to paludify,the negative effect of climate change on peat accumulation resulted in little modification to SOL thickness at the stand level,and no change in the paludification level of the study area between 2011 and 2100.However,including decreasing fire cycle to the index resulted in declines in paludified area.Overall,the index predicts a slight to moderate decrease in the area covered by paludified forests in 2100,with slower rates of paludification.Conclusions:Slower paludification rates imply greater forest productivity and a greater potential for forest harvest,but also a gradual loss of open paludified stands,which could impact the carbon balance in paludified landscapes.Nonetheless,as the thick Sphagnum layer typical of paludified forests may protect soil organic layer from drought and deep burns,a significant proportion of the territory has high potential to remain a carbon sink.     

Compression strength prediction of Xylosma racemosum using a transfer learning system based on near-infrared spectral data

A transfer learning system was designed to predict Xylosma racemosum compression strength.Near-infrared(NIR)spectral data for Acer mono and its compression strength values were used to resolve the weak generalization problem caused by using a X.racemosum dataset alone.Transfer component analysis and principal component analysis are domain adaption and feature extraction processes to enable the use of A.mono NIR spectral data to design the transfer learning system.A five-layer neural network relevant to the X.racemosum dataset,was fine-tuned using the A.mono dataset.There were 109 A.mono samples used as the source dataset and 79 X.racemosum samples as the target dataset.When the ratio of the training set to the test set was 1:9,the correlation coeffi cient was 0.88,and mean square error was 8.84.The results show that NIR spectral data of hardwood species are related.Predicting the mechanical strength of hardwood species using multi-species NIR spectral datasets will improve the generalization ability of the model and increase accuracy.     

Extraction of betulin from bark of Betula platyphylla by supercritical carbon dioxide extraction

Betulin, which is a medicinal pentacyclic triterpene, is abundant in the bark of white birch (Betula platyphlly). The bark of birch was collected at Tayuan Forest Farm of Jiagedaqi, Heilongjiang Province in September 2000. Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) that is a new separation technology has been used for the processing pharmaceutical and natural products. In this paper, the extraction of betulin from the bark of birch by supercritical CO2 extraction was studied. The authors investigated and analyzed a few parameters such as modifier dosage, extraction pressure and extraction temperature. The optimal extraction conditions showed that the modifier dosage used for per gram bark powder was 1.5 mL, the extraction pressure was at 20 Mpa, and the extraction temperature was at 55 ℃. The velocity of flow of liquid CO2 was at 10 kg/h. The pressure and temperature in separation vessel were at 5.5 Mpa and 50 ℃, respectively.     

The impact of climate change on fire risk in Daxing’anling,China

Daxing'anling is a key region for forest fire prevention in China.Assessing changes in fire risk in the future under multiple climatic scenarios will contribute to our understanding of the influences of climate change for the region and provide a reference for applying adaptive measures for fire management.This study analyzed the changes in fire weather indices and the fire season under four climate scenarios(RCP2.6,RCP4.5,RCP6.0,RCP8.5)for 2021–2050 using data from five global climate models together with observation data.The results showed that the analog data could project the average state of the climate for a given period but were not effective for simulating extreme weather conditions.Compared with the baseline period(1971–2000),the period 2021–2050 was predicted to have an increase in average temperature of 2.02–2.65 °C and in annual precipitation 25.4–40.3 mm,while the fire weather index(FWI) was predicted to increase by6.2–11.2% and seasonal severity rating(SSR) by5.5–17.2%.The DMC(Duff moisture code),ISI(initial spread index),BUI(build-up index),FWI and SSR were predicted to increase significantly under scenarios RCP4.5,RCP6.0,and RCP8.5.Furthermore,days with high or higher fire danger rating were predicted to be prolonged by 3–6 days,with the change in the southern region being greater under scenarios RCP4.5,RCP6.0,and RCP8.5.     

Relationships between Artemisia ordosica communities and environmental factors following sand-dune stabilization in the Mu Us desert,northwest China

Artemisia ordosica is an excellent sand-fixing shrub for sand stabilization in northwestern China. Sand dune stabilization, a critically important process, leads changes in abiotic factors, such as soil structure and nutrient contents. However, the effects of factors on an A.ordosica community following sand stabilization remain unclear. In this study, we used canonical correspondence analysis(CCA) to examine the relationships between A.ordosica communities and environmental factors at three habitats: semi-fixed dune(SF), fixed dune with low-coverage biological soil crust(F), and fixed dune with highcoverage biological soil crust(FC) in Mu Us desert. The mean height and coverage of plants increased with sand stabilization, while species diversity and richness increased initially and then reduced significantly. Correlation analysis and CCA revealed that slope, soil organic carbon, and nutrient contents, proportion of fine soil particles, soil moisture, and thickness of biological soil crust were allhighly correlated with vegetation characteristics. These environmental factors could explain 40.42 % of the vegetation–environment relationships at the three habitats. The distribution of plant species was positively related to soil moisture in the SF dune. Soil moisture, soil nutrient, and fine-particle contents mainly affected plants distribution in the F dune. In the FC dune, distribution of plant species was positively and negatively correlated with the thickness of biological soil crust and soil moisture at a depth0–20 cm, respectively. The dominance value of typical steppe species increased significantly following sand-dune stabilization and relations between species and samples in CCA ordination bi-plots showed that perennial grasses could invade the A. ordosica community on FC, indicating A. ordosica communities had a tendency to change into typical steppe vegetation with the further fixation. We conclude that the significant differentiation not only occurred in community characteristics, but also in the relationships between vegetation and environmental factors among the three stages of dune fixation. So, restoration of degraded dune ecosystems should be based on habitat conditions and ecological needs.     

Growth and nutrient dynamics of Betula alnoides seedlings under exponential fertilization

Betula alnoides is a fast-growing hardwood species grown in large plantations in Southeast Asia and South China.Nitrogen requirements for producing robus seedlings,growth and nutrient dynamics were investigated using exponential fertilization treatments.Root collar diameter,height,dry mass and nutrient contents of seedlings increased exponentially in all fertilization treatments as time progressed.Moreover,with water soluble fertilizer(Plant Products plus microelements N–P_2O_5–K_2O:20–20–20),300 mg N seedling~(-1)was adequate.Vector analysis revealed that P was the most responsive nutrient element followed by N and K.Dilutions of N and K were evident in the plants without N addition,which induced initial P sufficiency and then luxury consumption probably due to the antagonistic interaction between N and P.However deficiencies of N,P and K were mostly observed in al exponential regimes during the experiment because seedling growth rate exceeded nutrient uptake rate,inferring that further study on improving the nutrient uptake efficiency is needed.Analysis of relationships among nutrient supply,dry mass,N content and N concentration demonstrated that 100–400 mg N seedling~(-1)induced sufficiency to luxury consumption of nitrogen without significant change in dry mass,and 400 mg N seedling~(-1)is recommended to apply for nutrient loading of seedlings before outplanting.The findings will help improve seedling quality and enhance the production of robust seedlings for plantation forestry of this species.     

Influence of genotypes and environmental factors on leaf triterpenoid content and growth of Cyclocarya paliurus

Cyclocarya paliurus, an economically valuable tree species, has traditionally been used as a nutraceutical food or medicine in China. However, limited information is available on its genotype selection and cultivation under a wide range of environmental conditions for growth and targeted health-promoting substances. We studied the effects of genotype and environment, and their interaction on leaf triterpenoid content and tree growth for 12 genotypes of C. paliurus grown at four sites. We quantified the correlation between leaf triterpenoid accumulation and tree growth. The contents of cyclocaric acid B, cyclocarioside I, and arjunolic acid ranged from 0.06 to 3.89, 0 to 3.71, and 0.65 to 8.86 mg g^-1, respectively. Three individual triterpenoids were primarily influenced by genotype (variation ranged from 53.7 to 68.0%), while environment accounted for most of the variation in total triterpenoid content and tree growth (71.3–89.5%). Most tested environmental parameters were significantly correlated to total triterpenoid content, but not to the contents of the individual triterpenoids measured. Growth in tree height and diameter at breast height were significantly negatively correlated with total triterpenoid content but were non-significantly correlated with individual triterpenoid contents. We conclude that genotypic selection, manipulation of environmental conditions, and implementation of appropriate silvicultural operations would be important strategies for increasing the accumulation of health-promoting phytochemicals.     

可燃物分类与卫星遥感制图

This paper summarizes the fuel type systems currently adopted by the fire danger rating systems or fire behavior prediction systems of some countries, such as Canada, the United States, Australia, Greece, and Switzerland. As an example, the Canadian Forest Fire Danger Rating System organizes fuel types into five major groups, with a total of 16 discrete fuel types recognized. In the United States National Fire Danger Rating System, fuel models are divided into four vegetation groups and twenty fire behavior fuel models. The Promethus System （Greece） divides fuels into 7 types, and Australia has adopted only three distinct fuel types： open grasslands, dry eucalyptus forests, and heath/shrublands. Four approaches to mapping fuels are acceptable： field reconnaissance, direct mapping methods, indirect mapping methods, and gradient modeling. Satellite remote-sensing techniques provide an alternative source of obtaining fuel data quickly, since they provide comprehensive spatial coverage and enough temporal resolution to update fuel maps in a more efficient and timely manner than traditional aerial photography or fieldwork. Satellite sensors can also provide digital information that can be easily tied into other spatial databases using Geographic Information System （GIS） analysis, which can be used as input in fire behavior and growth models. Various fuel-mapping methods from satellite remote sensing are discussed in the paper. According to the analysis of the fuel mapping techniques worldwide, this paper suggests that China should first create appropriate fuel types for its fire agencies before embarking on developing a national fire danger rating system to improve the current data situation for it＇s fire management programs.