Thesis (MScFor (Forest and Wood Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Producing high quality end products, rather than focusing on volume production, is slowly but surely becoming the main driving force in the wood processing industry of South Africa. Drying defects such as surface checks and discolouration by yellow stain and kiln brown stain are major factors in softwood timber downgrades when selecting furniture grade timber. Previous efforts to control these defects have focused on schedule adaptation, but as the industry is still mainly concerned with volume production, and because of the varying lumber price, longer schedules to control these drying defects have not yet been that attractive for the larger sawmills. In ongoing research in this laboratory, a dip treatment of freshly sawn softwood boards in an aqueous solution containing a surfactant called sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) was used to try to influence the mechanism involved in the development of these stains. Further, complementary research is reported in this study. Firstly, the possibility of using SLS solutions to control surface mould development and bluestain was investigated. Results showed that SLS did control the development of blue stain and mould growth in open-stacked boards for up to three weeks, using concentrations as low as 0.1%, and up to two weeks in closed-stacked timber when using concentrations of 0.2%. Secondly, it was investigated whether SLS treatment would have a detrimental effect on downstream product quality; in particular, kiln dried boards and glued components for furniture manufacturing. Since SLS influenced fluid water flow during kiln drying, the treatment could have exacerbated the occurrence of surface checking due to altered moisture distribution profiles. Results of this investigation showed that the SLS treatment did not result in increased surface checking. Thirdly, as furniture quality timber treated with SLS would be glued, (and also finished with surface coatings), it was further considered important to determine if SLS treatment influenced adhesion properties of wood surfaces. Based on shear test results, it was established that SLS did not influence the adhesion properties of wood when glued with two most commonly used glues in the furniture industry i.e. polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) and urea formaldehyde (UF).

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:15:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 FranciscoES_Fis.pdf: 479617 bytes, checksum: 973534294f52a9d1981e10ed49800d56 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005-07-26 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / Many astronomical observations in the last few years are strongly suggesting that the current Universe is spatially flat and dominated by an exotic form of energy. This unknown energy density accelerates the universe expansion and corresponds to around 70% of its total density being usually called Dark Energy or Quintessence. One of the candidates to dark energy is the so-called cosmological constant (Λ) which is usually interpreted as the vacuum energy density. However, in order to remove the discrepancy between the expected and observed values for the vacuum energy density some current models assume that the vacuum energy is continuously decaying due to its possible coupling with the others matter fields existing in the Cosmos. In this dissertation, starting from concepts and basis of General Relativity Theory, we study the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation with emphasis on the anisotropies or temperature fluctuations which are one of the oldest relic of the observed Universe. The anisotropies are deduced by integrating the Boltzmann equation in order to explain qualitatively the generation and c1assification of the fluctuations. In the following we construct explicitly the angular power spectrum of anisotropies for cosmologies with cosmological constant (ΛCDM) and a decaying vacuum energy density (Λ(t)CDM). Finally, with basis on the quadrupole moment measured by the WMAP experiment, we estimate the decaying rates of the vacuum energy density in matter and in radiation for a smoothly and non-smoothly decaying vacuum / Muitas observa??es astron?micas feitas nos ?ltimos anos sugerem fortemente que o universo ? espacialmente plano e dominado por uma forma de energia ex?tica. Esta densidade de energia desconhecida acelera a expans?o do universo e corresponde a cerca de 70% da densidade total de energia sendo chamada de Energia Escura ou Quintess?ncia. Um dos candidatos a energia escura, ? a chamada constante cosmol?gica (Λ) que ? usualmente interpretada como a densidade de energia do v?cuo. Contudo, para remover a discrep?ncia entre os valores esperado e observado para a densidade de energia do v?cuo, alguns modelos atuais assumem que a energia do v?cuo decai continuamente devido a seu poss?vel acoplamento com os outros campos materiais do cosmos. Nesta disserta??o, partindo dos conceitos e fundamentos da teoria da relatividade geral, estudamos a radia??o c?smica de fundo com ?nfase nas anisotropias ou flutua??es em sua temperatura que servem de base observacional para o modelo do Big Bang e ? uma das rel?quias mais antigas do universo. As anisotropias s?o deduzidas a partir da integra??o da equa??o de Boltzrnann, que fazemos em primeira ordem para explicar qualitativamente a gera??o e c1assifica??o destas flutua??es. Em seguida construimos o espectro angular de pot?ncia das anisotropias e deduzimos sua forma expl?cita em grandes escalas para o modelo com constante cosmol?gica (ACDM) e para um modelo com decaimento do v?cuo (Λ(t)CDM). Com base no momento de quadrup?lo medido pelo experimento do WMAP; estimamos as raz?es de decaimento da densidade de energia do v?cuo em mat?ria e em radia??o tanto no decaimento homog?neo como no n?o- homog?neo

Até a década de 80, os resíduos florestais eram vistos apenas como empecilho para as operações de reforma das plantações de eucalipto. Este fato motivou a queima e a incorporação desses resíduos. Tinham-se também o conceito de que o eucalipto necessitava de um preparo de solo intensivo para atingir boas produtividades. Atualmente esses conceitos não existem mais, e todas as áreas florestais são estabelecidas sob o sistema de cultivo mínimo do solo, porém pressões quanto à utilização desses resíduos vêm surgindo. Com as restrições da compra de terras e as elevações dos preços dos combustíveis fósseis, esses resíduos estão sendo vistos como fonte alternativa de energia nas indústrias. Apesar de ser uma fonte de energia renovável, os benefícios da manutenção desses resíduos no campo não podem ser esquecidos. Este estudo mostra que áreas manejadas sob o sistema de cultivo mínimo, apresentam a mesma produção de madeira que áreas manejadas sob sistema de cultivo intensivo. A principal vantagem da manutenção dos resíduos florestais sobre o solo, que resulta em ganhos de produtividade em curto prazo, é a redução na exportação de nutrientes. Por esse motivo, quando esses resíduos são removidos, maiores investimentos com fertilização devem ser efetuados. Para considerar esses aspectos, foi efetuado também um balanço financeiro da remoção desses resíduos. Quando se considera apenas o custo da reposição nutricional, em muitos casos, torna-se viável a remoção desses resíduos, porém outros benefícios da manutenção dos resíduos florestais não devem ser esquecidos. A proteção do solo contra erosão, a redução da evaporação da água na superfície do solo, o aumento do conteúdo e da qualidade da matéria orgânica do solo são benefícios da manutenção dos resíduos que não resultam em ganhos de produtividade em curto prazo e são de difícil valoração financeira, mas são extremamente importantes. Foi observado que a remoção dos resíduos florestais reduz em 50% o carbono orgânico oxidável da camada superficial do solo, e que 75% dessa redução ocorrem nas frações mais lábeis. Este estudo objetivou também entender a dinâmica e os fatores que interferem na decomposição dos resíduos florestais. Foi observado que nos tratamentos que foram mantidas sobre o solo apenas a serapilheira, a omissão de N e P na formação do povoamento de eucalipto, não influenciou a velocidade de decomposição desses resíduos, pois não foi observado mudanças nas características químicas desses. A ausência de calagem reduziu a taxa de decomposição inicial dos resíduos florestais. A taxa média de decomposição dos resíduos florestais foi de 0,8. Não foram observadas grandes alterações na disponibilidade de nutrientes do solo em função da decomposição dos resíduos florestais, pois logo que os nutrientes são disponibilizados, esses são rapidamente absorvidos pelas árvores, não modificando a fertilidade do solo. / Until the yers 80 forest residues were only seen as an impediment to reform operations of eucalyptus plantations. This fact led to the burning and incorporation of these residues. They had also the concept that eucalyptus needed an intensive soil preparation to achieve good yields. Currently these concepts no longer exist, and all forest areas are established under minimum tillage system of soil, but pressures on the use of these wastes are emerging. With the restrictions on land purchases and increases in the prices of fossil fuels, these wastes are being seen as an alternative source of energy in industries. Despite being a renewable energy source, the benefits of maintaining these residues in the field can not be forgotten. This study shows that areas managed under minimum tillage system, have the same timber production that managed areas under intensive cultivation system. The main advantage of the maintenance of forest residues on the soil, resulting in productivity gains in the short term is the reduction in the export of nutrients. Therefore, when these residues are removed, greater investment should be made with fertilization. To consider these aspects was also made a financial removing these residues. When considering only the cost of nutritional replacement, in many cases it is feasible to remove these residues, but other benefits of maintaining forest residues should not be forgotten. The protection of soil against erosion, reduction of evaporation of water on the road surface, increasing the content and quality of soil organic matter, the maintenance benefits are residues which do not result in gains in productivity are short and valuation difficult, however are extremely important. It has been observed that removal of forest residues reduces by 50% the oxidizable organic carbon from the surface layer of the soil, and that 75% of the reduction occurs in the more labile. This study also sought to understand the dynamics and the factors that influence the decomposition of forest residues. It was observed that the omission of N and P in the formation of a stand of eucalyptus did not influence the rate of decomposition of the waste, which was kept on the ground only litter because it was not observed changes in the chemical characteristics of this. The absence of liming reduced the initial rate of decomposition of forest residues. The average rate of decomposition of forest residues was 0.8. There were no major changes in the availability of soil nutrients due to the decomposition of forest residues as soon as nutrients are available, these are quickly absorbed by the trees, not modifying soil fertility.

Using ����C cross polarization magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance techniques on 5 species of dead trees from the northwest (western hemlock, Douglas fir, Sitka spruce, lodgepole pine and ponderosa pine) I tracked the lignin and cellulose content over a 22 to 36 year period in order to determine the effects of decay fungi, if any, that is attacking certain species of tree. I had samples from the wood of the roots, the bark on the roots and, in some cases, the resin core of the roots. The Department of Forest Science at Oregon State University has studied this problem by using wet chemical analysis, and direct visual observation. Mark Harmon and Hua Chen of the Department of Forest Science believe that white rot occurred most frequently in the lodgepole pine and ponderosa pine and brown rot was more frequent in the Douglas-fir and Sitka spruce. Western hemlock seemed to have both brown and white rots active. The Douglas fir bark sample showed definite decomposition consistent with white rot during the first 10 years. The ponderosa pine sap showed decomposition consistent with white rot in the 10 to 22 year period. Sitka Spruce showed some decomposition consistent with white rot in the bark from 7 to 33 years, and the western hemlock showed some decomposition consistent with white rot in the sap in the first 10 years. The decompositions consistent with brown rot were much easier to see in this study. Virtually all the sap and bark samples showed decomposition consistent with brown rot at some point. The Douglas fir was the only species, other than lodgepole pine, not to show any decomposition consistent with brown rot in the bark of the tree, only decomposition consistent with white rot. The Douglas fir did show a decay consistent with brown rot in the sap for the first ten years. Ponderosa pine showed evidence of decay that brown rot would cause for the first 10 years in the sap and the bark. The Sitka spruce species analysis showed brown rot type decay in the bark for the first 7 years and in the sap for the entire time studied of 33 years. The lodgepole pine was the only species to not show any brown rot type decay in the sap or bark for the entire 22 year period studied. The western hemlock was distinct by not showing any definitive brown rot type decay for the first 10 years, but showed massive decay consistent with brown rot in both sap and bark during the following 26 years studied. I used an 8 Tesla magnet and the MAS frequency was at 5 kHz. The recycle time was 1.5 seconds and the contact time was 1 ms. I generally took about 10,000 acquisitions per sample, which added up to about 4 hours total acquisition time per sample. Presence of these rots shows that certain species are more susceptible than others, and also shows that local environmental conditions can contribute to rot susceptibility. / Graduation date: 2003

Conservation of wood-decaying fungi requires improved knowledge about the long-term effects of forest management; regarding habitat loss, fragmentation and fire suppression. To better understand such effects, I examined the influence of area, isolation, fire history and forest stand characteristics on communities of wood-decaying fungi. Species richness and composition were studied along a gradient of 22 forested islands varying in size (0.16 to 17.58 ha) and fire history (spanning 5000 years) in a boreal forest archipelago in northern Sweden. A total of 490 records of 41 polypore species were found in 33 circular plots, each 0.1 ha in size. Species richness and the number of red-listed species were analyzed using generalized linear models (GLMs), while species composition was examined using non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination. The species composition was clearly different between recent-fire (< 300 years since last fire) and old-fire (≥ 300 years since last fire) islands, mirroring the shift in tree species composition as pine-associated fungal species were replaced by spruce-associated fungal species. The volume of logs was the only variable influencing the species richness, although the diversity of logs showed a clear trend of also influencing species richness positively. The results demonstrate the importance of having both recent-fire and old-fire forests as landscape-level habitats and species pools, where fire naturally would constitute a key role for maintaining forest biodiversity in the boreal forest landscape. The results also stress the importance of dead wood for species richness at the individual forest stands.

Até a década de 80, os resíduos florestais eram vistos apenas como empecilho para as operações de reforma das plantações de eucalipto. Este fato motivou a queima e a incorporação desses resíduos. Tinham-se também o conceito de que o eucalipto necessitava de um preparo de solo intensivo para atingir boas produtividades. Atualmente esses conceitos não existem mais, e todas as áreas florestais são estabelecidas sob o sistema de cultivo mínimo do solo, porém pressões quanto à utilização desses resíduos vêm surgindo. Com as restrições da compra de terras e as elevações dos preços dos combustíveis fósseis, esses resíduos estão sendo vistos como fonte alternativa de energia nas indústrias. Apesar de ser uma fonte de energia renovável, os benefícios da manutenção desses resíduos no campo não podem ser esquecidos. Este estudo mostra que áreas manejadas sob o sistema de cultivo mínimo, apresentam a mesma produção de madeira que áreas manejadas sob sistema de cultivo intensivo. A principal vantagem da manutenção dos resíduos florestais sobre o solo, que resulta em ganhos de produtividade em curto prazo, é a redução na exportação de nutrientes. Por esse motivo, quando esses resíduos são removidos, maiores investimentos com fertilização devem ser efetuados. Para considerar esses aspectos, foi efetuado também um balanço financeiro da remoção desses resíduos. Quando se considera apenas o custo da reposição nutricional, em muitos casos, torna-se viável a remoção desses resíduos, porém outros benefícios da manutenção dos resíduos florestais não devem ser esquecidos. A proteção do solo contra erosão, a redução da evaporação da água na superfície do solo, o aumento do conteúdo e da qualidade da matéria orgânica do solo são benefícios da manutenção dos resíduos que não resultam em ganhos de produtividade em curto prazo e são de difícil valoração financeira, mas são extremamente importantes. Foi observado que a remoção dos resíduos florestais reduz em 50% o carbono orgânico oxidável da camada superficial do solo, e que 75% dessa redução ocorrem nas frações mais lábeis. Este estudo objetivou também entender a dinâmica e os fatores que interferem na decomposição dos resíduos florestais. Foi observado que nos tratamentos que foram mantidas sobre o solo apenas a serapilheira, a omissão de N e P na formação do povoamento de eucalipto, não influenciou a velocidade de decomposição desses resíduos, pois não foi observado mudanças nas características químicas desses. A ausência de calagem reduziu a taxa de decomposição inicial dos resíduos florestais. A taxa média de decomposição dos resíduos florestais foi de 0,8. Não foram observadas grandes alterações na disponibilidade de nutrientes do solo em função da decomposição dos resíduos florestais, pois logo que os nutrientes são disponibilizados, esses são rapidamente absorvidos pelas árvores, não modificando a fertilidade do solo. / Until the yers 80 forest residues were only seen as an impediment to reform operations of eucalyptus plantations. This fact led to the burning and incorporation of these residues. They had also the concept that eucalyptus needed an intensive soil preparation to achieve good yields. Currently these concepts no longer exist, and all forest areas are established under minimum tillage system of soil, but pressures on the use of these wastes are emerging. With the restrictions on land purchases and increases in the prices of fossil fuels, these wastes are being seen as an alternative source of energy in industries. Despite being a renewable energy source, the benefits of maintaining these residues in the field can not be forgotten. This study shows that areas managed under minimum tillage system, have the same timber production that managed areas under intensive cultivation system. The main advantage of the maintenance of forest residues on the soil, resulting in productivity gains in the short term is the reduction in the export of nutrients. Therefore, when these residues are removed, greater investment should be made with fertilization. To consider these aspects was also made a financial removing these residues. When considering only the cost of nutritional replacement, in many cases it is feasible to remove these residues, but other benefits of maintaining forest residues should not be forgotten. The protection of soil against erosion, reduction of evaporation of water on the road surface, increasing the content and quality of soil organic matter, the maintenance benefits are residues which do not result in gains in productivity are short and valuation difficult, however are extremely important. It has been observed that removal of forest residues reduces by 50% the oxidizable organic carbon from the surface layer of the soil, and that 75% of the reduction occurs in the more labile. This study also sought to understand the dynamics and the factors that influence the decomposition of forest residues. It was observed that the omission of N and P in the formation of a stand of eucalyptus did not influence the rate of decomposition of the waste, which was kept on the ground only litter because it was not observed changes in the chemical characteristics of this. The absence of liming reduced the initial rate of decomposition of forest residues. The average rate of decomposition of forest residues was 0.8. There were no major changes in the availability of soil nutrients due to the decomposition of forest residues as soon as nutrients are available, these are quickly absorbed by the trees, not modifying soil fertility.

The decomposition of organic substrates represents an important part of the global carbon cycle and affects its global change through CO2 release. In temperate forests, deadwood represents a large carbon stock, its amount and decomposition is crucial for ecosystem biodiversity and functioning. The fungi are omnipresent powerful decayers in all terrestrial ecosystems. Their ability to decompose all deadwood compounds, mainly lignocellulose, is highly important. Without fungi, the wood decompositions and the release of withheld nutrients back to nutrient cycles couldn't be performed. While many studies were concerned with the estimation of decomposition rates of deadwood, still deeper knowledge about microbial decomposition processes and the diversity of saproxylic species and their interaction is needed. The fungi are still underrepresented in dead wood studies. This study had two main objectives. First was to describe the fungal community on downed deadwood of Fagus sylvatica and Abies alba in natural forest of Salajka in the Czech Republic, to reflect the substrate changes during the different decay stages, and to link the enzyme activities to fungal community composition and their described ecophysiologies. Second aim was to describe the fungal communities on standing and downed dead logs of...

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2015-12-16T12:34:13Z No. of bitstreams: 1 andredinizdeoliveira.pdf: 3666386 bytes, checksum: 0179545867fe6173fdae7f0b67dff2d3 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2015-12-16T15:15:19Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 andredinizdeoliveira.pdf: 3666386 bytes, checksum: 0179545867fe6173fdae7f0b67dff2d3 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-16T15:15:19Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 andredinizdeoliveira.pdf: 3666386 bytes, checksum: 0179545867fe6173fdae7f0b67dff2d3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-05-27 / Esta tese propõe dois métodos de estimação fasorial do componente fundamental. O pri-meiro estima o fasor na presença de componentes harmônicos, decaimento CC exponen-cial e ruído. O segundo estima o fasor na presença de componentes harmônicos, inter-harmônicos, inter-harmônicos variantes no tempo, decaimento CC exponencial e ruído. Todos os componentes de sinais utilizados são modelados e, para facilitar o entendimento dos métodos que serão propostos, os componentes são divididos em dois grupos: compo-nentes gerais e componentes extras. Alguns algoritmos de estimação existentes na litera-tura são estudados e dois são escolhidos para compor as proposições: DFT com suas va-riações e métodos de subespaços. O primeiro método sintetiza e implementa uma janela seguida da aplicação de uma DTFT para eliminar os componentes fundamental e harmô-nicos do sinal. O resultado é utilizado para estimar a influência do decaimento CC expo-nencial no componente fundamental. Esta influência é subtraída de uma estimação faso-rial via DFT para obter o componente fundamental correto. O segundo método utiliza esta mesma estrutura, entretanto insere um método de subespaço para calcular a frequência e constante de tempo dos componentes extras. Essa união cria um algoritmo distinto dos encontrados na literatura e nomeado de DTFT ESPRIT. A partir da possibilidade dos novos cálculos, o método consegue estimar o componente fundamental na presença de inter-harmônicos e inter-harmônicos variantes no tempo, além de harmônicos, decai-mento CC exponencial e ruído. / This thesis proposes two methods to estimate the phasor of the fundamental frequency component. The first one estimates the phasor in the presence of harmonic, decaying DC, and noise. The second one estimates the phasor in the presence of harmonics, inter-har-monics, time-varying inter-harmonics, decaying DC, and noise. All the signal compo-nents to be used are modeled and divided in two groups (general components and extra componentes) to better understand the proposed methods. The existing estimation algo-rithms in the literature are studied and described. Two algorithms are chosen as part of the new propositions: DFT and its variations and subspaces methods. The first method synthesizes and implements a DTFT window to eliminate the fundamental frequency and harmonic components of the signal. The result is used to estimate the influence of the decaying DC in the fundamental frequency component. This influence is subtracted from a phasor estimation via DFT in order to get the correct fundamental component. The second method has the same structure, however uses a subspace method for computing the frequency and time constant of the extra components. This combination creates a new algorithm named DTFT ESPRIT. From the new variable computing, the method is able to estimate the fundamental frequency component in the presence of different types of components as well as harmonics, decaying DC, and noise: inter-harmonics and time-varying inter-harmonics.

Two codes have been developed and implemented for use on massively parallelsuper computers to simulate two-dimensional and quasigeostrophic turbulence.The codes have been found to scale well with increasing resolution and width ofthe simulations. This has allowed for the highest resolution simulations of two-dimensional and quasigeostrophic turbulence so far reported in the literature.The direct numerical simulations have focused on the statistical characteristicsof turbulent cascades of energy and enstrophy, the role of coherent vorticesand departures from universal scaling laws, theoretized more than 40 yearsago. In particular, the investigations have concerned the enstrophy and energycascade in forced and decaying two-dimensional turbulence. Furthermore, theapplicability of Charney’s hypotheses on quasigeostrophic turbulence has beentested. The results have shed light on the flow evolution at very large Reynoldsnumbers. The most important results are the robustness of the enstrophycascade in forced and decaying two-dimensional turbulence, the unexpecteddependency on an infrared Reynolds number in the spectral scaling of theenergy spectrum in the inverse energy cascade, and the validation of Charney’spredictions on the dynamics of quasigeostrophic turbulence. It has also beenshown that the scaling of the energy spectrum in the enstrophy cascade isinsensitive to intermittency in higher order statistics, but that corrections mightapply to the ”universal” Batchelor-Kraichnan constant.

Four 286m2 plots on alternate sides of the spur ridges on Brush Mt. were established and their plant communities characterized. Agaric and Bolete basidiomycetes were sampled for two years. Fifty species were recorded on the plots. Phenologically, decomposer species were highly dependent upon rainfall events, whereas mycorrhizal species were more seasonal. Two species emerged as dominant litter decomposers. Marasmiellus praeacutus (Ellis) Halling is dominant on southwest facing slopes and occurs on a wide variety of coniferous and hardwood detritus. Collybia subnuda (Ellis ex. Peck) Gilliam is dominant on northeast facing slopes, and occurs on hardwood leaves and small woody detritus. The population structure of both of these species was investigated using tests of somatic incompatibility. Genets of both species are able to persist for more than one year. The observed minimum population density is 0.071 - 0.121 genets/m² for M. praeacutus and 0.039 - 0.093 genets/m² for g. subnuda. Mating tests indicate that M. praeacutus is heterothallic and tetrapolar, and that C. subnuda is heterothallic and bipolar. Preliminary crosses between monokaryotic tester sets indicate a surprisingly low number of mating alleles in both species. Decomposition studies suggest that while the restricted distribution of ~. subnuda to the northeast slopes may be affected by substrate specificity, the restriction of M. praeacutus to the southwest slopes is due to other factors. / Master of Science