Assessing inter- and intra-specific variation in trunk carbon concentration for 32 neotropical tree species

2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 1039-1045 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlène Elias ◽  
Catherine Potvin

Trunk carbon (C) concentrations were assessed for 32 species of tropical trees to understand sources of variation. The main effect of species accounted for 38% of the total variance in C concentration (p < 0.0001). Tectona grandis demonstrated the greatest C concentration (49.4%), while Ormosia macrocalyx displayed the lowest C concentration (44.4%). We also observed significant differences among the sampling sites (F = 2.2, p < 0.02). For three of the species sampled in both plantations and natural forests, the natural forest individuals had significantly higher C concentrations (Dipteryx panamensis: F = 6.10, p = 0.06; Hura crepitans: F = 5.53, p = 0.06; and Miconia argentea: F = 8.92, p = 0.02). C concentration was highly correlated with wood specific gravity (r2 = 0.86). A canonical correspondence analysis was performed to identify the environmental and (or) growth factors explaining variation in trunk C concentration. The two factors with the highest loading values on the first canonical axis are site and diameter at breast height (DBH), while DBH and density load on axis 2. The biplot shows that species respond differently to environmental factors. Our results suggest that a better consideration of interspecific variation in C concentration could reduce the error associated with estimates of C sequestration by up to 10%.

Author(s):  
Meng Na ◽  
Xiaoyang Sun ◽  
Yandong Zhang ◽  
Zhihu Sun ◽  
Johannes Rousk

AbstractSoil carbon (C) reservoirs held in forests play a significant role in the global C cycle. However, harvesting natural forests tend to lead to soil C loss, which can be countered by the establishment of plantations after clear cutting. Therefore, there is a need to determine how forest management can affect soil C sequestration. The management of stand density could provide an effective tool to control soil C sequestration, yet how stand density influences soil C remains an open question. To address this question, we investigated soil C storage in 8-year pure hybrid larch (Larix spp.) plantations with three densities (2000 trees ha−1, 3300 trees ha−1 and 4400 trees ha−1), established following the harvesting of secondary mixed natural forest. We found that soil C storage increased with higher tree density, which mainly correlated with increases of dissolved organic C as well as litter and root C input. In addition, soil respiration decreased with higher tree density during the most productive periods of warm and moist conditions. The reduced SOM decomposition suggested by lowered respiration was also corroborated with reduced levels of plant litter decomposition. The stimulated inputs and reduced exports of C from the forest floor resulted in a 40% higher soil C stock in high- compared to low-density forests within 8 years after plantation, providing effective advice for forest management to promote soil C sequestration in ecosystems.


Author(s):  
Robert E. Dewar ◽  
Jerry G. Ells

There is a need to develop and validate simple, inexpensive techniques for the evaluation of traffic sign messages. This paper examines the semantic differential (a paper-and-pencil test which measures psychological meaning) as a potential instrument for such evaluation. Two experiments are described, one relating semantic differential scores to comprehension and the other relating this index to glance legibility. The data indicate that semantic differential scores on all four factors (evaluative, activity, potency, and understandability) were highly correlated with comprehension of symbolic messages. These scores were unrelated to glance legibility of verbal messages, but two factors (evaluative and understandability) did correlate with glance legibility of symbolic messages. It was concluded that the semantic differential is a valid instrument for evaluating comprehension of symbolic sign messages and that it has advantages over other techniques.


2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 1099-1110 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. BIFULCO ◽  
J. MAHON ◽  
J.-H. KWON ◽  
P. M. MORAN ◽  
C. JACOBS

Background. The Vulnerable Attachment Style Questionnaire (VASQ) was developed to provide a brief self-report tool to assess adult attachment style in relation to depression and validated against an existing investigator-based interview (Attachment Style Interview – ASI). This paper describes the development and scoring of the VASQ and its relationship to poor support and major depression.Method. Items for the VASQ reflected behaviours, emotions and attitudes relating to attachment relationship style, drawn directly from the ASI. The VASQ was validated against the ASI for 262 community-based subjects. Test–retest was determined on 38 subjects.Results. Factor analysis derived two factors, labelled ‘insecurity’ and ‘proximity-seeking’. The VASQ insecurity dimension had highest mean scores for those with interview-based Angry-dismissive and Fearful styles and was significantly correlated with degree of interview-based insecurity. The proximity-seeking VASQ scores had highest mean for those with Enmeshed interview attachment style and was uncorrelated with ASI insecurity. VASQ scores were highly correlated with a well-known self-report measure of insecure attachment (Relationship Questionnaire) and text–retest reliability of the VASQ was satisfactory. The total VASQ score and the insecurity subscale proved highly related to poor support and to depressive disorder. This was not the case for the proximity-seeking subscale.Conclusion. The VASQ is a brief self-report measure that distinguishes individuals with attachment styles vulnerable for depressive disorder. The use of the measure for screening in research and clinical contexts is discussed.


2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (11) ◽  
pp. 2204-2214 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. R. Palupi ◽  
J. N. Owens ◽  
S. Sadjad ◽  
Sudarsono ◽  
D. D. Solihin

Teak ( Tectona grandis L.) is believed to have been introduced from India 400–500 years ago and there appear to be no old-growth natural forests. However, Indonesia has many teak plantation forests and 40%–50% of seeds for reforestation come from seed orchards and the remainder from plantations. In both, flower and fruit abortion results in low fruit set and thus seed production. We investigated flower and fruit development in a clonal seed orchard in East Java in 1999 and 2001 using cross- and open-pollinated trees. The rates of abortion using cross-pollinations showed a similar pattern but were lower than for open-pollinations. The highest rate of abortion in cross- and open-pollinations was during pollination and fertilization, ranging 11%–23% and 31%–32%/day, respectively, less during fruit initiation (5%–6% and 6%–8%/day) and the lowest was during fruit maturation (<0.5%/day). Cross-pollinations increased fruit production by 10-fold compared with open-pollinations. About 30% of flowers were pollinated with an average of five pollen grains per stigma in open-pollinations. Pollen viability varied among clones and time of day but was not affected by position of flowers in an inflorescence. We conclude that low pollination success and low pollen viability are major causes for low fruit production in teak and are related to insect pollinators.


1989 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian R. Lemmon ◽  
Judith P. Goggin

ABSTRACTThe present experiments explored various measures of English and Spanish language ability and compared monolingual and bilingual subjects on tests of cognitive skill. Language ability was assessed in Experiment 1. These measures were found to be highly correlated with each other, with at least two factors needed to describe the associations among the tests in each language. In Experiment 2, subjects were given tests of cognitive skill. To be included in this study, all subjects were required to show adequate understanding of English and were divided into monolingual and bilingual groups on the basis of their Spanish abilities. Monolinguals scored higher than bilinguals on most of the measures of cognitive skill, but subsequent comparisons of the monolinguals with high and low bilingual subgroups suggested that the differences were attributable to those subjects characterized as low bilinguals.


Author(s):  
Fabian Reichenbach ◽  
Yuliya Burren ◽  
Christoph Flückiger ◽  
Hansjörg Znoj ◽  
Franz Moggi

Abstract. Aim: In the research and treatment of Substance Use Disorders (SUDs), craving for alcohol, nicotine, and drugs is an important concept associated with addictive processes, including relapse after treatment. The 12-item Mannheimer Craving Scale (MaCS) has been proved to be an economic, reliable, and valid self-rating instrument across several substances in German samples. The aim of this study was to examine its psychometric characteristics in a Swiss German sample. Method: Overall, 166 patients were recruited from an inpatient SUD treatment program at the University Hospital of Psychiatry in Bern, Switzerland. Results: The internal consistency was high and the test-retest reliability was satisfactory. The total scale and three specific analogue craving measures were highly correlated. Principal component analysis extracted two factors, explaining 62 % of the total variance, and these factors were confirmed through confirmatory factor analysis. However, the two factors correlated highly, and several items loaded on both factors, so that the factor structure was inconclusive. Conclusions: The psychometric characteristics of the MaCS in a Swiss German sample are as good as those characteristics of the German version, suggesting that it is a valid and reliable measure. The MaCS factor structure must be examined on a larger sample that integrates a broader range of SUDs and their severities.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 9587-9612 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Li ◽  
J. Zhu ◽  
H. Hu ◽  
Z. Guo ◽  
Y. Pan ◽  
...  

Abstract. Forests play a leading role in regional and global terrestrial carbon (C) cycles. Changes in C sequestration within forests can be attributed to areal expansion (increase in forest area) and forest growth (increase in biomass density). Detailed assessment of the relative contributions of areal expansion and forest growth to C sinks is crucial to reveal the mechanisms that control forest C sinks and is helpful for developing sustainable forest management policies in the face of climate change. Using the Forest Identity concept and forest inventory data, this study quantified the spatial and temporal changes in the relative contributions of forest areal expansion and increased biomass growth to China's forest C sinks from 1977 to 2008. Over the last 30 years, the areal expansion of forests was a larger contributor to C sinks than forest growth for all forests and planted forests in China (74.6 vs. 25.4 % for all forests, and 62.4 vs. 37.8 % for plantations). However, for natural forests, forest growth made a larger contribution than areal expansion (60.4 vs. 39.6 %). The relative contribution of forest growth of planted forests showed an increasing trend from an initial 25.3 to 61.0 % in the later period of 1998 to 2003, but for natural forests, the relative contributions were variable without clear trends owing to the drastic changes in forest area and biomass density over the last 30 years. Our findings suggest that afforestation can continue to increase the C sink of China's forests in the future subject to persistently-increasing forest growth after establishment of plantation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 375-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Li ◽  
J. Zhu ◽  
H. Hu ◽  
Z. Guo ◽  
Y. Pan ◽  
...  

Abstract. Forests play a leading role in regional and global terrestrial carbon (C) cycles. Changes in C sequestration within forests can be attributed to areal expansion (increase in forest area) and forest growth (increase in biomass density). Detailed assessment of the relative contributions of areal expansion and forest growth to C sinks is crucial to reveal the mechanisms that control forest C sinks and it is helpful for developing sustainable forest management policies in the face of climate change. Using the Forest Identity concept and forest inventory data, this study quantified the spatial and temporal changes in the relative contributions of forest areal expansion and increased biomass growth to China's forest biomass C sinks from 1977 to 2008. Over the last 30 years, the areal expansion of forests has been a larger contributor to C sinks than forest growth for planted forests in China (62.2 % vs. 37.8 %). However, for natural forests, forest growth has made a larger contribution than areal expansion (60.4 % vs. 39.6 %). For all forests (planted and natural forests), growth in area and density has contributed equally to the total C sinks of forest biomass in China (50.4 % vs. 49.6 %).The relative contribution of forest growth of planted forests showed an increasing trend from an initial 25.3 % to 61.0 % in the later period of 1998 to 2003, but for natural forests, the relative contributions were variable without clear trends, owing to the drastic changes in forest area and biomass density over the last 30 years. Our findings suggest that afforestation will continue to increase the C sink of China's forests in the future, subject to sustainable forest growth after the establishment of plantations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S61-S61
Author(s):  
Mariia Kaliuzhna ◽  
Matthias Kirschner ◽  
Fabien Carruzzo ◽  
Matthias Hartmann ◽  
Bischof Martin ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Negative symptoms of schizophrenia are suggested to map onto two distinct factors – amotivation and diminished expression, which relate to different aspects of behaviour and neural activity. Most research in patients with schizophrenia is conducted with broad symptom assessment scales, such as the PANSS, for which factor solutions allowing the distinction between amotivation and diminished expression have only recently been reported. We aimed to establish whether the PANSS factor structure corresponds to the well-established two-factor structure of the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS) and whether it allows distinguishing specific behavioural and neuronal correlates of amotivation. Methods In study 1 (N=120) we examined the correlations between the PANSS factors and the BNSS factors. In study 2 (N=31) we examined whether PANSS amotivation is specifically associated with reduced willingness to work for reward in an effort-based decision making task. In study 3 (N=43) we investigated whether PANSS amotivation is specifically correlated with reduced ventral striatal activation during reward anticipation using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Results On the clinical level, the PANSS amotivation and diminished expression were highly correlated with their BNSS counterparts. On the behavioural level, PANSS amotivation factor but not the diminished expression factor was specifically associated with reduced willingness to invest effort to obtain a reward. On the neural level, PANSS amotivation was specifically associated with ventral striatal activation during reward anticipation. Discussion Our data confirm that the two domains of negative symptoms can be measured with the PANSS and are linked to specific aspects of behaviour and brain function. To our knowledge, this is the first study employing behavioural and neural measures to validate a new approach to clinical measurement of negative symptoms. Our results warrant a re-analysis of previous work that used the PANSS to further substantiate the distinction between the two factors in behavioural and neuroimaging studies.


Paleobiology ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 445-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norman L. Gilinsky

The well-known decline of global background extinction intensity was caused by the sorting of higher taxonomic groups. Two factors were responsible. First, probabilities of familial origination and extinction in these groups (taxonomic orders) were highly correlated. Groups whose families had high probabilities of origination and extinction tended to have highly volatile diversity paths and, consequently, short life spans. Second, orders with high probabilities of familial origination and extinction were rarely replaced by new high-turnover orders. Thus, because high-turnover orders tended to become extinct without replacement, the global background extinction intensity declined. Since familial origination and extinction probabilities are correlated, global background origination intensity inevitably declined as well. As a consequence of these processes, virtually all groups of organisms now living have low probabilities of familial origination and extinction.Simulations of branching evolution were used to obtain the expected relationships among probabilities (of origination and extinction), volatilities, and longevities for the entire range of possible probabilities, and these relationships were compared to those obtained from the empirical record. In the simulations, only the probabilities of origination and extinction were specified, so volatilities and clade longevities were determined entirely by the probabilities. The similarity between results obtained by simulation and those obtained by analysis of the empirical record further supports the inference that the observed decline of background extinction (and origination) intensity can be explained largely by the loss of high-probability groups to induced volatility.


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