Following wildfires, plant materials are direct-seeded to limit erosion and annual weed invasion. Seedlings often fail to establish because selected plant materials are not always well adapted to local soil moisture and temperature conditions. In an effort to help improve plant materials selection and to evaluate sites potential revegetation, we have worked toward developing methodology to predict germination and root growth based on site specific soil moisture and temperature conditions. First, we characterized the seedbed environment of 24 sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) steppe sites throughout the Intermountain West to determine the wet-thermal time of five temperature ranges relevant to germination response and thermal-time model accuracy (Chapter 1). Second, we predicted potential germination for 31 plant materials at those same sites (Chapter 2). Third, in preparation to predict root growth at multiple sites, we characterized the drying patterns and the associated plant-available water for in the seedling root zone across nine woodland (Juniperus spp. and Piñus spp.) sites (Chapter 3). For all of these studies, we determined the effects of tree reduction and tree infilling phase at time of tree reduction. Our key findings are that seedbeds generally sum most wet-thermal time at temperature ranges where the germination rates fit thermal accumulation models quite well (R2 ≥ 0.7). The majority of plant materials summed enough wet-thermal time for a potential germination at most sites during the fall, early spring, and late spring. Soil drying primarily occurs from the soil surface downward. Drying rates and Plant available water associated with the first drying event increased with increasing soil depth. Root zone (1-30 cm) plant-available water increased before and decreased after the first spring drying event with increasing soil depth. Tree removal with increasing pretreatment tree infilling phase generally added progress toward germination, plant available water, and wet-thermal time in the seedbed and root zones of the sagebrush steppe in the Great Basin. Because soil moisture and temperature does not appear to be limiting for potential germination, combining germination and root growth models to create a more comprehensive model may allow for a more robust prediction for seedling survival. For either root growth or combined germination and root growth models, plant available water and wet-thermal time before the first spring drying period hold the most potential for successfully predicting seedling survival.

Varje år kasserar Försvarets materielverk (FMV) en stor mängd av soldatutrustning av textil. Den textila soldatutrustningen kasseras med anledning att den inte längre går att laga eller har förlorat sin funktion och skickas därmed till förbränning. I enlighet med FMV:s miljöpolicy 2020 vägs ekonomiska och tekniska krav mot mer hållbara alternativ för att bli en mer miljömässigt hållbar verksamhet. Med avsikt att ytterligare utveckla sitt hållbarhetsarbete vill FMV utreda möjligheterna till textilåtervinning för att förlänga livslängd av textila material ytterligare. Därav har denna rapport behandlat mekanisk återvinning av textila soldatutrustningar samt garnspinning av återvunna fibrer. Arbetets bedrivs med syfte att redogöra en studie på uppdrag av FMV med fokus på möjligheter till hur mekanisk återvinning genomförs av textila soldatutrustning och hur garn kan spinnas av fibrer från återvunna fibrer. Genom en litteraturstudie har faktorer som påverkar mekanisk återvinning av textila material samt lämpliga garnspinningsmetoder för återvunna fibrer undersökts i detta arbete. En analys har även genomförts med fokus på fyra klädesplagg fån FMV: skjorta, t-tröja, långkalsong, och stickad tröja. De parametrar som i högsta grad behöver tas hänsyn till för att uppnå så hög garnkvalité är fiberblandning, samt inställningar för spinning, sträckning och kardning. Vid garnspinning är fiberlängden av stor betydelse och därav behöver den mekaniska återvinningen utföras på ett så skonsamt sätt som möjligt för att minska fiberslitaget. För att spinna garn av återvunna fibrer är rotorspinning och friktionsspinning de mest lämpliga metoder, men garnet som produceras har en hög grovlek. För en högre garnkvalité behövs en blandning av jungfruliga fibrer med återvunna fibrer för ett mer tillfredsställande resultat. / Each year, Försvarets Materielverk (FMV) discards a massive amount of textile soldier equipment no longer possible to repair and unqualified to use and are therefore incinerated. In accordance with FMV:s policy for environmental sustainability 2020, economic and technical requirements have to be considered in relation to more sustainable alternatives in order to become a more environmentally sustainable organization. With the purpose to further develop towards more sustainable practices, FMV are interested in investigating the possibilities for mechanical textile recycling and yarn spinning of the re-cycled fibers to extend the life cycle of textile materials. The report’s goal was to focus on possibilities and challenges considering the following garments assigned by FMV: t-shirt, knitted sweater, shirt and thermal underwear. The method is based on a literature study and examination of the garments.Conclusions drawn from the study are that fiber blend and settings for carding, drawing and spinning are crucial to produce yarn of high quality. Especially the fiber length has an impact on the possibilities of yarn spinning since it needs to be long enough. To spin yarns from recycled fibers, open-end spinning methods such as rotor spinning and friction spinning are the most suitable. Furthermore, recycled fibers need to be blended with virgin fibers to enable spinning.