Time domain properties of 23 tree-ring chronologies derived from a large sample of Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine trees growing in closed-canopy forests of Colorado and New Mexico were analyzed using Box-Jenkins models. A variety of statistical criteria were employed during the identification and validation stages for evaluating the performance of different significant models, and the "best" Box-Jenkins model and its immediate "competitor" were reported for each tree-ring chronology. All series were stationary, and only one was approximately a white noise series. Overall, the ARMA(1,1) model was judged the best for 11 series, and the second for 7 of the remaining 12 series. The AR(2) model was considered the best for 6 series, and the second for 4 of the remaining 17 series. No statistical evidence was found for moving average models, nor for models with more than three different parameters. However, both cyclical (or seasonal) models and third-order autoregressive models with a null second-order parameter were chosen for some series. Fitted models explained from 7 to 51% of the variance of the original ring-index series, with an average of about 22 %. All parameter estimates were positive, and they varied within a relatively small range. From a comparison of all employed criteria, Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) was the one that performed best in identifying Box-Jenkins models for tree-ring chronologies. Possible distinctions were recognized that would separate the selected models according to species and /or standardization option. Among the 12 chronologies from Colorado sites, all derived using the same standardization option, most Douglas-fir series were best fitted by the ARMA(1,1) model, while most ponderosa pine series were best fitted by the AR(2) model, suggesting a difference in the biological persistence of the two species. On the other hand, most of New Mexico chronologies, developed using various standardization options, were best fitted by the ARMA(1,1) model, and no difference was found between Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine series. Also, models fitted to Colorado chronologies explained a lower amount of variance than those for New Mexico chronologies (averages of 17 versus 29% respectively), and cyclical models were mainly selected for New Mexico series. Although periodicities in Douglas-fir series were probably caused by western spruce budworm outbreaks, similar periodic patterns in ponderosa pine series were more difficult to explain because pine trees in the study area had not been defoliated by that insect. Compared to the original tree-ring chronologies, prewhitened series showed similar short-term growth patterns, reduced long-term growth fluctuations, lower standard deviations, and higher mean sensitivities. Also, cross-correlations between chronologies from the same area usually increased after prewhitening. Since the autocorrelation problem is crucial in analyzing the relationships between different time series, and in removing the biological persistence included in tree-ring chronologies, the Box-Jenkins approach should facilitate the analysis of the dynamic relationships between tree growth and environmental variables.

We examined tree rings from Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca (Beissn.) Franco) timbers in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, constructed from 1863–1867 in Salt Lake City, Utah. A seismic upgrade to the Tabernacle initiated in 2005 required the replacement of wooden timbers with steel beams. Our objectives were to 1) determine cutting dates for the timbers to identify logs that may have been salvaged from previous structures, and consequently would have greater historical significance, 2) identify the species and provenance of the timbers, and 3) develop a chronology that could extend or strengthen the existing tree-ring record for environmental and historical applications in northern Utah. We built a 162-year floating chronology from 13 cores and 15 cross-sections, crossdated visually using skeleton plots and verified statistically with COFECHA. Statistically significant (p , 0.0001) comparisons with established chronologies from northern Utah indicated that the Tabernacle chronology extends from 1702–1862. Cutting dates ranged from 1836–1863, with most in 1862 or 1863 and a smaller cluster around 1855. The broad range of cutting dates suggests that some of the timbers were used in previous structures, and that some trees were dead before they were cut. This study provides valuable information for the preservation of historical materials, and increases the sample depth of existing chronologies during the 18th and 19th Centuries.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Institute of Paper Chemistry, 1980. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-59).

No description available.

The 1994 Beaver Mountain fire ignited the canopies of subalpine fir, Abies lasiocarpa, and spread ground fire into adjacent Douglas-fir forests, Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca. Despite shorter flight seasons due to lower annual temperatures and persistent snow, the Douglas-fir bark beetle, Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopkins, attacked a range of moderately fire-injured host conifers. Logistic regression models illustrated that in 1995 associated bark beetles selected large diameter Douglas-fir with 60-80% bole char, 60-80% crown volume scorch, and 50-70% probability of mortality due to fire. In 1996 beetle preference shifted to smaller diameter trees with lighter fire injury. Tree size was less significant for predicted attack in 1996 because most large fire-damaged conifers were colonized by beetles in 1995. Beetle populations did not reach outbreak proportions outside the fire boundary, but 53 green trees were also infested in 1997 along the burn perimeter. Log linear tests conducted to quantify beetle emergence supported conclusions that beetles were not only attracted to mature, moderately fire-weakened conifers, but also produced greater brood numbers with up to 60-80 emergence holes/ 1800 cm2. Fire-defoliated trees provided bark beetles with sufficient phloem and limited resistance, allowing beetles to aggregate on areas of viable stem tissue regardless of overall bole char extent.

Tree-ring studies have demonstrated that conifer latewood measurements contain information on long-term North American monsoon (NAM) variability, a hydroclimatic feature of great importance to plants, animals, and human society in the US Southwest. This paper explores data-treatment options for developing latewood chronologies aimed at NAM reconstruction. Archived wood samples for five Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii, Mirb. Franco) sites in southeastern Arizona are augmented with new collections. The combined dataset is analyzed along with time series of regionally averaged observed precipitation to quantify the strength of regional precipitation signal in latewood time series and to identify ways of increasing the signal strength. Analysis addresses the signal strength influences of including or excluding ‘‘false’’ latewood bands in the nominal ‘‘latewood’’ portion of the ring, the necessary adjustment of latewood width for statistical dependence on antecedent earlywood width, and tree age. Results suggest that adjusted latewood width chronologies from individual sites can explain around 30% of the variance of regional summer (July–August) precipitation—increasing to more than 50% with use of multiple chronologies. This assessment is fairly insensitive to the treatment of false latewood bands (in intra-annual width and 𝛿¹³C variables), and to whether latewood-width is adjusted for dependence on earlywood-width at the core or site level. Considerations for operational chronology development in future studies are (1) large tree-to-tree differences in moisture signal, (2) occasional nonlinearity in EW-LW dependence, and (3) extremely narrow and invariant latewood width in outer portions of some cores. A protocol for chronology development addressing these considerations is suggested.

La capitalisation sur pied et la substitution d'essences sont deux stratégies sylvicoles analysées dans cette thèse, chacune pressentie pour être favorable au stockage du carbone, enjeu majeur de ce XXIème siècle pour la lutte contre le réchauffement climatique. La première correspond à un ralentissement des récoltes, qui devrait générer un puits de carbone additionnel par l'augmentation des stocks moyens de biomasse sur pied. La substitution d'essences à croissance lente comme le Chêne sessile ou le Hêtre par des essences résineuses à croissance rapide comme le Pin laricio ou le Douglas pourrait entraîner une absorption plus rapide du CO2. L'impact sur le carbone de ces deux stratégies est d'autant plus intéressant à étudier que les gestionnaires forestiers les pratiquent déjà. La construction d'une chaîne de modèles prenant en compte l'ensemble des compartiments dans lesquels le carbone est impliqué, à savoir la biomasse forestière, le sol, mais aussi les produits forestiers issus de l'exploitation, permet d'effectuer des simulations donnant des résultats quantitatifs sur ces pratiques. Nous montrons qu'une capitalisation sur pied engendrerait un puits de carbone additionnel dépendant de l'état initial des peuplements, de la fertilité et de la nouvelle sylviculture pratiquée. Il pourrait s'élever jusqu'à 142 tC/ha après obtention du régime permanent dans le cas le plus favorable. La substitution de feuillus à croissance lente par des résineux à croissance rapide serait également un puits de carbone important (jusqu'à 2 tC/ha/an) pendant plusieurs décennies, mais s'avérerait d'un stock de carbone moyen inférieur sur le long terme.

Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii), a keystone species in western Washington, faces threats on plantations across this region from the invasive species Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link), whose invasions on recently established stands can lead to mortality of Douglas-fir through overtopping. The susceptibility of sites to Scotch broom achieving dominance over Douglas-fir has been demonstrated as highly site dependent, however the site conditions that cause this have not yet been identified. Scotch broom has a demonstrated average maximum height of 3m, thus, after Douglas-fir exceeds this height, its risk of being overtopped is significantly reduced. This thesis strives to identify sites that were at the greatest risk Douglas-fir being overtopped by Scotch broom by first, identifying what factors improved growth of Douglas-fir during the period when they are at the greatest risk, and second, identifying factors that led to Douglas-fir outcompeting Scotch broom on sites they cohabitated. In Chapter 1, we utilized LiDAR scans, Soil Survey Geographic Database characteristics, and management histories to identify conditions that improved growth for Douglas-fir in ages 3-8. Individual tree detection was used to measure Douglas-fir heights, and a correction algorithm for LiDAR measured young Douglas-fir heights was established from field validation data. We identified that young Douglas-fir had improved growth on sites with lower elevation, flatter slopes, and finer textured soils. The factors identified were then transformed into four potential site index models based on mean stand elevation class, Mean stand elevation class and clay class, textural class and slope class, and textural class and Mean stand elevation class. In Chapter 2, we used paired field plots to examine Douglas-fir and Scotch broom competition on 19 sites across western Washington. Each site had 2 plots with only Douglas-fir and 2 plots with Douglas-fir and Scotch broom. Elevation, soil texture, and soil nutrient composition for carbon, nitrogen and available phosphorous were examined for influence on height and growth rate of both species. We identified that Scotch broom presence was negatively related to Douglas-fir height growth and that sites with either higher percentages of silt, lower concentrations of phosphorous, or higher percentages of Carbon were more likely to have growth patterns close to or exceeding Scotch broom. / Master of Science / Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii) is a valuable timber species across western Washington that is commonly grown in plantations. In western Washington when Douglas-fir are planted on a site they often face competition from the invasive shrub Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link). When Scotch broom invasions occur on a recently planted Douglas-fir stands, they can cause death of the trees if Scotch broom plants grow taller than the young Douglas-fir and obstruct their access to light, a process called overtopping. The risk of Douglas-fir being overtopped has been shown to be dependent on location, however what causes a location to be at risk of overtopping is yet unknown. Scotch broom has a demonstrated average maximum height of 3m, thus, after Douglas-fir exceeds this height, its risk of being overtopped is significantly reduced. This study aims to identify sites that were at the greatest risk Douglas-fir being overtopped by Scotch broom by first, identifying what sites generate the best Douglas-fir growth when they are young and at risk of being overtopped, and second, identifying site characteristics led to Scotch broom growing faster than Douglas-fir on sites they both occur on. To identify sites that produced greater young Douglas-fir height growth we used publicly available soil data from the Soil Survey Geographic Database and company management histories to predict tree heights measured through aerial laser scanning (LiDAR). We found that sites with soil textures that had higher percentages of smaller particles, were on lower elevations, and had gentler hillslopes could all produce greater Douglas-fir height growth. When attempting to identify what causes Douglas-fir to be at risk of being overtopped by Scotch broom we used plots with and without Scotch broom on a variety of field sites. This allowed us to not only identify which characteristics of sites where Douglas-fir was being outgrown by Scotch broom, but also identify if Scotch broom was changing how Douglas-fir grew. We found that reductions in Douglas-fir growth were related to Scotch broom being present and that increases in soil silt percentages, decreases in soil phosphorus concentrations, and increases in soil carbon percentages were related to Douglas-fir having height growth closer to or exceeding that of scotch broom.

Pseudotsuga menziesii, naturalized conifer from the North America, has been planted in the area of the present-day České Švýcarsko National Park (Czech Republic) from 19th century. These surveys concentrate on the question of environmental preferences of seedlings and saplings of Pseudotsuga, and characterize potential distance distribution of this tree. In conclusion, Pseudotsuga is still only naturalized species, but danger of becoming to be invasive is very high.

Almost all conifer ovules produce a liquid secretion as part of reproduction. This secretion, termed an ovular secretion, is produced during ovule receptivity and is involved in pollen capture and transport. Historically, examinations of the ovular secretion have focused on how they are part of pollination mechanisms. As a result, the chemical composition of the ovular secretion has not been examined systematically. Investigations into the constituents of the ovular secretion were limited to analyses for simple water soluble compounds such as sugars, minerals, amino acids and organic acids. More recently, the protein component of the secretion has been investigated using mass spectrometry-based proteomics. Proteins involved in processes such as carbohydrate modification, proteolysis, and defence have been identified in conifer ovular secretions. This biochemical complexity suggests a broader view of the function of the ovular secretion is warranted. However, protein identifications only provide putative information on function. Functional characterization of these proteins is needed in order to fully understand how they contribute to ovular secretion function. The research outlined in this dissertation describes the first functional characterizations of proteins found in conifer ovular secretions. Three proteins - invertase, chitinase, and thaumatin-like protein - were characterized in the ovular secretions of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and hybrid yew (Taxus × media). The Douglas-fir ovular secretion is capable of converting sucrose to glucose and fructose, confirming that invertases present in the secretion are functional. The invertase activity was maximal at pH 4.0. Activity was 77% of maximal at pH 4.5, the physiological pH. This indicates that post-secretory hydrolysis of sucrose occurs in situ in the Douglas-fir ovular secretion. Invertases in the ovular secretion are likely involved in controlling the movement of carbohydrates to developing pollen and could facilitate pollen selection. Chitinases present in the Douglas-fir ovular secretion are functional at physiological conditions. All three modes of chitinolytic activity, i.e. endochitinase, chitobiosidase and β-N-acetylglucosaminidase, were detected at physiological pH. β-N-acetylglucosaminidase activity was 80 % of maximal at physiological pH. Chitinases are pathogenesis-related proteins capable of hydrolysing chitin in fungal cell walls. These results suggest the ovular secretion is capable of defending the ovule against infection by phytopathogens. Thaumatin-like protein was immunolocalized to the cell wall and amyloplasts in Douglas-fir and yew nucellar tissue in a pattern consistent with a defensive role. It was also localized to the cell wall of fungal spores and germinating hyphae that were present in the micropyle of a yew ovule. These results provide additional evidence for an antifungal role for the ovular secretion. Functioning enzymes involved in pollen-ovule interactions and ovule defence are present in the conifer ovular secretion. The ovular secretion has functions beyond pollen capture. A revised functional model for the conifer ovular secretion is proposed. / Graduate / 2021-08-17