Eucalyptus tereticornis (forest red gum).

Author(s):  
Nick Pasiecznik ◽  
John Doran

Abstract Eucalyptus tereticornis is a versatile, fast growing and widely planted tree species. It has been especially successful in areas with summer rainfall followed by a moderate to severe dry season, although fast-growing provenances adapted to a winter rainfall are also available from its extensive natural distribution. The species is marginally less drought tolerant than its close relative E. camaldulensis but appears to be less susceptible than this species to leaf pathogens and stem cankers when planted in areas of seasonally-high humidity. Provenances have been identified from the southern, temperate part of the species distribution that are moderately frost and salt tolerant. Eucalyptus tereticornis is proving a valuable partner in various hydrid combinations with other fast growing eucalypts, including E. grandis and E. urophylla. The wood is used for a wide range of purposes including fuel, charcoal, paper, poles, posts, mining timber, hardboard and particleboard while the tree is used for shelterbelts, shade and in apiculture.

EDIS ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy K. Broschat

The Mexican fan palm is a fast-growing species that can reach heights of 70 to 100 feet, making it too tall for typical residential landscapes. It is native to northern Mexico but grows well in Florida, being hardy down to about 20°F or USDA hardiness zone 9A. Mexican fan palms grow well in a wide range of soils in Florida, but do require good drainage. Though considered a desert palm, it is native to areas having permanent surface or subsurface water and thus is not as drought tolerant as might be expected. This 5-page fact sheet was written by Timothy K. Broschat, and published by the UF Department of Environmental Horticulture, February 2013. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st670


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (14) ◽  
pp. 6445
Author(s):  
David Ibarra ◽  
Raquel Martín-Sampedro ◽  
Bernd Wicklein ◽  
Úrsula Fillat ◽  
María E. Eugenio

Motivated by the negative impact of fossil fuel consumption on the environment, the need arises to produce materials and energy from renewable sources. Cellulose, the main biopolymer on Earth, plays a key role in this context, serving as a platform for the development of biofuels, chemicals and novel materials. Among the latter, micro- and nanocellulose have been receiving increasing attention in the last few years. Their many attractive properties, i.e., thermal stability, high mechanical resistance, barrier properties, lightweight, optical transparency and ease of chemical modification, allow their use in a wide range of applications, such as paper or polymer reinforcement, packaging, construction, membranes, bioplastics, bioengineering, optics and electronics. In view of the increasing demand for traditional wood pulp (e.g., obtained from eucalypt, birch, pine, spruce) for micro/nanocellulose production, dedicated crops and agricultural residues can be interesting as raw materials for this purpose. This work aims at achieving microfibrillated cellulose production from fast-growing poplar and olive tree pruning using physical pretreatment (PFI refining) before the microfibrillation stage. Both raw materials yielded microfibrillated cellulose with similar properties to that obtained from a commercial industrial eucalypt pulp, producing films with high mechanical properties and low wettability. According to these properties, different applications for cellulose microfibers suspensions and films are discussed.


Author(s):  
Raquel Pinto ◽  
André Cardoso ◽  
Sara Ribeiro ◽  
Carlos Brandão ◽  
João Gaspar ◽  
...  

Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) are a fast growing technology for sensor and actuator miniaturization finding more and more commercial opportunities by having an important role in the field of Internet of Things (IoT). On the same note, Fan-out Wafer Level Packaging (FOWLP), namely WLFO technology of NANIUM, which is based on Infineon/ Intel eWLB technology, is also finding further applications, not only due to its high performance, low cost, high flexibility, but also due to its versatility to allow the integration of different types of components in the same small form-factor package. Despite its great potential it is still off limits to the more sensitive components as micro-mechanical devices and some type of sensors, which are vulnerable to temperature and pressure. In the interest of increasing FOWLP versatility and enabling the integration of MEMS, new methods of assembling and processing are continuously searched for. Dielectrics currently used for redistribution layer construction need to be cured at temperatures above 200°C, making it one of the major boundary for low temperature processing. In addition, in order to accomplish a wide range of dielectric thicknesses in the same package it is often necessary to stack very different types of dielectrics with impact on bill of materials complexity and cost. In this work, done in cooperation with the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), we describe the implementation of commercially available SU-8 photoresist as a structural material in FOWLP, allowing lower processing temperature and reduced internal package stress, thus enabling the integration of components such as MEMS/MOEMS, magneto-resistive devices and micro-batteries. While SU-8 photoresist was first designed for the microelectronics industry, it is currently highly used in the fabrication of microfluidics as well as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and BIO-MEMS due to its high biocompatibility and wide range of available thicknesses in the same product family. Its good thermal and chemical resistance and also mechanical and rheological properties, make it suitable to be used as a structural material, and moreover it cures at 150°C, which is key for the applications targeted. Unprecedentedly, SU-8 photoresist is tested in this work as a structural dielectric for the redistribution layers on 300mm fan-out wafers. Main concerns during the evaluation of the new WLFO dielectric focused on processability quality; adhesion to multi-material substrate and metals (copper, aluminium, gold, ¦); between layers of very different thicknesses; and overall reliability. During preliminary runs, processability on 300 mm fan-out wafers was evaluated by testing different coating and soft bake conditions, exposure settings, post-exposure parameters, up to developing setup. The outputs are not only on process conditions and results but also on WLFO design rules. For the first time, a set of conditions has been defined that allows processing SU-8 on WLFO, with thickness values ranging from 1 um to 150 um. The introduction of SU-8 in WLFO is a breakthrough in this fast-growing advanced packaging technology platform as it opens vast opportunities for sensor integration in WLP technology.


Bothalia ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. E. Gibbs Russell ◽  
R. P. Ellis

Ehrharta Thunb. is a genus of Gondwanaland distribution with its centre of diversity in the winter rainfall Fynbos Biome of southern Africa. In recent subfamily treatments Ehrharta has proved difficult to place satisfactorily, and during the past five years it has been moved between Bambusoideae and Arundinoideae. However, most previous systematic studies using cryptic characters have covered only four taxa out of about 35. The present study includes all African taxa, and demarcates seven species groups on the basis of both spikelet morphology and leaf blade anatomy. Parallelism and/or convergence in vegetative macromorphology within and between the species groups is widespread, and is similar, in some cases, to adaptations found in other plant families in the Fynbos Biome. However, these macromorphological trends are not reflected in the leaf anatomy. Leaf anatomy is generally consistent with the spikelet morphology. Some anatomical differences between the species groups in Ehrharta appear to be as great as differences between taxa of much higher ranks elsewhere in the Poaceae. This wide range of variability may be related to an early divergence of Ehrharteae from other grasses, as suggested by the Gondwanaland distribution, and may explain the difficulty of placing this fascinating yet baffling genus in a subfamily.


Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solomon Mulugeta ◽  
Clifford Fedler ◽  
Mekonen Ayana

With climate change prevailing around the world, understanding the changes in long-term annual and seasonal rainfall at local scales is very important in planning for required adaptation measures. This is especially true for areas such as the Awash River basin where there is very high dependence on rain- fed agriculture characterized by frequent droughts and subsequent famines. The aim of the study is to analyze long-term trends of annual and seasonal rainfall in the Awash River Basin, Ethiopia. Monthly rainfall data extracted from Climatic Research Unit (CRU 4.01) dataset for 54 grid points representing the entire basin were aggregated to find the respective areal annual and seasonal rainfall time series for the entire basin and its seven sub-basins. The Mann-Kendall (MK) test and Sen Slope estimator were applied to the time series for detecting the trends and for estimating the rate of change, respectively. The Statistical software package R version 3.5.2 was used for data extraction, data analyses, and plotting. Geographic information system (GIS) package was also used for grid making, site selection, and mapping. The results showed that no significant trend (at α = 0.05) was identified in annual rainfall in all sub-basins and over the entire basin in the period (1902 to 2016). However, the results for seasonal rainfall are mixed across the study areas. The summer rainfall (June through September) showed significant decreasing trend (at α ≤ 0.1) over five of the seven sub-basins at a rate varying from 4 to 7.4 mm per decade but it showed no trend over the two sub-basins. The autumn rainfall (October through January) showed no significant trends over four of the seven sub-basins but showed increasing trends over three sub-basins at a rate varying from 2 to 5 mm per decade. The winter rainfall (February through May) showed no significant trends over four sub-basins but showed significant increasing trends (at α ≤ 0.1) over three sub-basins at a rate varying from 0.6 to 2.7 mm per decade. At the basin level, the summer rainfall showed a significant decreasing trend (at α = 0.05) while the autumn and winter rainfall showed no significant trends. In addition, shift in some amount of summer rainfall to winter and autumn season was noticed. It is evident that climate change has shown pronounced effects on the trends and patterns of seasonal rainfall. Thus, the study contribute to better understanding of climate change in the basin and the information from the study can be used in planning for adaptation measures against a changing climate.


1991 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
DM Orr ◽  
CJ Evenson

The basal area, yield and plant populations of Astrebla spp. were monitored under grazing and exclosure in Astrebla grasslands between 1975 and 1986. This study was undertaken to develop an understanding of how Astrebla spp. respond to grazing, particularly in relation to the high variability of rainfall. Basal area and yield of Astrebla spp. varied widely between years in response to summer rainfall, with few differences between exclosure and grazing. The failure of summer rainfall resulted in increased utilization of Astrebla spp. but this effect was partially offset in some years by the growth of forb species following winter rainfall. Grazing stimulated the recruitment of Astrebla spp. seedlings by increasing the density of inflorescences which, in turn, increased seed production. Survival of seedling cohorts depended on adequate summer rainfall and grazing tended to enhance cohort survival. There was a greater plant flux under grazing than under exclosure. It was concluded that rainfall is the major factor influencing the biomass and plant population dynamics of Astrebla spp. and that grazing up to about 30% utilization is not detrimental to Astrebla spp.


2013 ◽  
Vol 89 (01) ◽  
pp. 79-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
XueQin Wan ◽  
Fan Zhang

There are abundant genetic resources of Populus in southwest China, which play an important role in scientific research and practical application. These resources are unfamiliar to the rest of the world and their value has not been widely appreciated; hence the purpose of this paper is to present the resources to the world, and to encourage more attention to be paid to them. There are 28 species, 20 varieties, and about 10 natural hybrids of Populus in the region. Of the 28 species, 25 are endemic to China, and 18 of them are indigenous to southwest China. So the region is regarded as one of the natural distribution and variation centres for Populus in China. The species fall into three floristic types: China–Japan, China–Himalayas, and ancient tropical; and show an obvious zonation in horizontal and vertical distribution with excellent adaptability to a wide range of environments. At present, only a few species are generally recognized, and to some extent grown and utilized, while most of them are still in natural conditions but face severe threat. It is therefore urgent to recognize, conserve and utilize these significant poplar resources.


2018 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 848-860 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Tyler Faith ◽  
Brian M. Chase ◽  
D. Margaret Avery

AbstractThe southern Cape of South Africa is important to understanding regional climate because it straddles the transition between the winter and summer rainfall zones. We examine late Quaternary changes in rainfall seasonality and aridity through analysis of micromammal assemblages from three sites: Boomplaas Cave and Nelson Bay Cave in the aseasonal rainfall zone and Byneskranskop 1 in the winter rainfall zone. Our interpretation is based on analysis of 123 modern micromammal assemblages accumulated by barn owls (Tyto alba), which empirically links species composition to climate. The Pleistocene record (∼65 to 12 ka) from Boomplaas Cave, together with the last glacial maximum (LGM) samples from Nelson Bay Cave, indicates enhanced winter rainfall, especially during the LGM. Boomplaas Cave documents progressive aridification from the LGM to the earliest Holocene, followed by a return to moderately humid conditions through the Holocene. Byneskranskop 1 indicates a dominance of winter rains over the last 17 ka and a shift from an arid middle Holocene to a humid later Holocene. Agreement between the micromammal record and other local and regional proxies reinforces the potential of southern African micromammal assemblages as paleoclimate indicators.


Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1250
Author(s):  
Esther Asensio ◽  
Daniel Vitales ◽  
Iván Pérez ◽  
Laia Peralba ◽  
Juan Viruel ◽  
...  

Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) is a medicinal plant traditionally employed for the treatment of urinary tract infections due to high contents of arbutin (hydroquinone β-D-glucoside), which is now mainly used as a natural skin-whitening agent in cosmetics. Bearberry has also been proposed as a natural antioxidant additive due to the high contents of phenolic compounds in leaves. We studied the variation on phenolic compounds in 42 wild populations of bearberry, aiming to elucidate if intrinsic biological, climatic, and/or geographic factors affect phenolic contents across its natural distribution in the Iberian Peninsula. Bearberry leaves were collected during autumn over a three-year period (2014–2016) in populations across a latitude and altitude gradient. Methanolic extracts showed a wide range of variation in total phenols content, and different phenolic profiles regarding arbutin (levels of this major constituent varied from 87 to 232 mg/g dr wt), but also catechin and myricetin contents, which were affected by geographic and climatic factors. Moderate levels of variation on genome size—assessed by flow cytometry—and on two plastid DNA regions were also detected among populations. Genetic and cytogenetic differentiation of populations was weakly but significantly associated to phytochemical diversity. Elite bearberry genotypes with higher antioxidant capacity were subsequently identified.


1986 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penelope B. Edwards

AbstractThe biology and development of immature stages of summer (SR) and winter rainfall (WR) strains of Onitis caffer Boheman were studied in South Africa in a summer rainfall area (Pretoria). A pair of adult beetles buried up to 650 ml of dung from one dung pad, and females laid an average of 1 egg for every 62 ml of dung buried. Broods were buried at an average depth of 50 cm in watered soil and 24 cm in unwatered soil. Eggs laid in June (winter) hatched 10 weeks later. The third instar was reached by late October. WR larvae suffered higher mortality (82%) with the onset of summer rains than did SR larvae (53%). By the following June, 6% of surviving WR individuals had emerged as adults, 12% were adults in faecal shells and 82% were diapausing third-instar larvae. Of the SR individuals, 67% emerged by June and 33% were diapausing third-instar larvae. In a second experiment, two groups of broods of the SR strain of O. caffer of different ages were set out in the field in June. One group, equivalent to broods produced early in the season (March), entered diapause as third-instar larvae, and adults emerged the following autumn. The second group represented broods produced later in the season (May); the majority did not diapause, but adults also emerged the following autumn. A field population of SR adults of O. caffer was sampled for two years. Adults were first recorded at the end of February (late summer), and newly-emerged specimens were caught up until the end of April. Maximum numbers were recorded in late March to early April (autumn), and activity ceased in June-July (winter).


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