Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Emmanuel Adelusi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Wood and Paper Technology, Federal College of Forestry, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria Author-Name: Olayiwola Ajala Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Wood and Paper Technology, Federal College of Forestry, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria Author-Name: Reuben Afolabi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Basic Science and General Studies, Federal College of Forestry, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria Author-Name: Kayode Olaoye Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Wood and Paper Technology, Federal College of Forestry, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria Title: Strength and dimensional stability of cement-bonded wood waste-sand bricks Abstract: Conservation of trees which belong to renewable natural resources in developing countries through judicious utilization in building industry has been seriously left unattended to over the years. The utilization of this unprocessed wealth materials which could serve as one of the alternative constituents in construction materials is now a global concern. Therefore, the needs to investigate the strength and water sorption property of wood waste as a partial replacing material in brick production for building construction arise. Sawdust, sand and cement were mixed together at three different mixing ratios of 1 : 1 : 1, 1 : 1 : 2 and 1 : 1 : 3. The brick samples were replicated three times and subjected to water absorption, density and compressive strength tests. The results show that the effect of the equal volume of sand and sawdust with a subsequent increase in the cement portion at each mixing ratio level gave compact bricks without sudden fracture, reduced unit weight of bricks and subsequent lower water sorption properties of the bricks. The bricks show potentials to be used for wall partitioning. The introduction of sawdust also serves as partial sand replacement in concrete brick making. Keywords: wood waste, bricks, mixing ratios, compressive strength, water sorption response, building industries Journal: Journal of Forest Science Pages: 545-552 Volume: 67 Issue: 12 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/98/2021-JFS File-URL: http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/98/2021-JFS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/jfs-202112-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:67:y:2021:i:12:id:98-2021-JFS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: José Antônio Aleixo da Silva Author-Name: Rinaldo Luiz Caraciolo Ferreira Author-Workplace-Name: Departamento de Ciência Florestal, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil Title: Influences of determined and estimated dendrometric variables on the precision of volumetric modelling Abstract: The use of independent variables in volumetric modelling is an important step in fitting models to represent tree or stand characteristics. The DBH measured at 1.3 m from the ground level and total tree height (Ht) are the most commonly used independent variables when modelling individual tree volumes. This work aimed to analyze the importance of independent variables in fitting and selecting volumetric equations. A total of 750 trees from an experiment with three Eucalyptus spp. clones planted in five spacings in the semi-arid region of Pernambuco were used. Four statistical procedures were applied to compare the equations: Adjusted Fit Index (AFI), Akaike information criterion (AIC), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE), and a completely random design having the real tree volume as control and the fit equations as treatments. The error measuring heights in the field (EH) was also analyzed. Four heights were evaluated: Ht, height estimated in the field (He) and heights adjusted (Ha) from hypsometric relationships using the DBH [Ha (a)] and D1.7 [Ha (b)], which was the diameter most correlated with the volume. The result indicates that all 18 fitted models provided high precision volumetric equations which do not differ at the 5% significance level. Keywords: estimated height, adjusted height, hypsometric relationships, tree volume Journal: Journal of Forest Science Pages: 553-561 Volume: 67 Issue: 12 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/105/2021-JFS File-URL: http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/105/2021-JFS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/jfs-202112-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:67:y:2021:i:12:id:105-2021-JFS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Ali Bagheri-Kordeshami Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran Author-Name: Jahangir Khajehali Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Plant Protection, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran Author-Name: Farshid Nourbakhsh Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran Author-Name: Masoud M. Ardestani Author-Workplace-Name: Institute for Environmental Studies, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Soil Biology and SoWa Research Infrastructure, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic Title: Responses of soil-inhabiting mesostigmatid mites to deforestation and disturbance in oak (Quercus brontii) forests of southwestern Iran Abstract: The impacts of deforestation on edaphic mesostigmatid mites were investigated in oak forests of Lordegan, southwestern Iran, from April to October. A total of twenty-one species belonging to eighteen genera and ten families were collected and identified. The Shannon-Wiener, Simpson, Jaccard's and Margalef biodiversity indices were used for data analyses. Among the collected species, Antennoseius bacatus with 29% and Sessilunchus hungaricus with 16% relative abundance were the most abundant and dominant species in human-disturbed and natural forests, respectively. The estimated values were higher in natural oak forest than in disturbed and cultivated habitat. Significant differences were observed in soil nitrogen content and soil organic carbon between the two habitats, but not in pH values. Significant effects of sampling time and habitat were found on all four indices, but the effect of their interactions on these indices was not significant. It can be concluded that the changes in soil quality that resulted from deforestation may have a major role in reducing the soil mite density and related diversity indices in disturbed forests. Keywords: biodiversity, ecosystem changes, edaphic mites, land use, soil properties, Zagros woodlands Journal: Journal of Forest Science Pages: 562-569 Volume: 67 Issue: 12 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/54/2021-JFS File-URL: http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/54/2021-JFS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/jfs-202112-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:67:y:2021:i:12:id:54-2021-JFS Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Salah Eddine Younsi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Badji Mokhtar University of Annaba, Annaba, Algeria Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Environmental Sciences and Agricultural Sciences, Faculty of Nature and Life Sciences, Med Seddik Ben Yahia University of Jijel, Jijel, Algeria Author-Name: Yasmine Adjami Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Badji Mokhtar University of Annaba, Annaba, Algeria Author-Name: Rym Ghanem Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Badji Mokhtar University of Annaba, Annaba, Algeria Author-Name: Billel Bouchaib Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Badji Mokhtar University of Annaba, Annaba, Algeria Author-Name: Mohamed Laid Ouakid Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Badji Mokhtar University of Annaba, Annaba, Algeria Title: Impact of different factors degrading cork oak stands in the Mediterranean region: A case study from Algeria Abstract: In recent years, the cork oak forests that characterise the Mediterranean region have been exposed to various factors that result in their degradation. These cork oak trees, due to increasingly accentuated anthropogenic activity, undergo withering at different scales.The objective of the study is to assess the impact of various factors that degrade cork oak forests in the Mediterranean region located in northeastern Algeria, and this was achieved by prospecting 22 sampling locations. This allowed the creation of a database containing 745 trees that were observed and 27 measured variables. Different readings were then taken into consideration based on measurements and sometimes on ratings. The impact of several biotic and abiotic factors, which affect and damage the health of cork oak, was identified. These factors include in particular the infestations by xylomycetophagous insects such as Platypus cylindrus and Xyleborus sp., which can potentially infest the cork oak trees that we observed one year after bark harvesting. On the other hand, the stationary descriptors such as altitude, slope, exposure, etc., are important for the dendrometric and exploitation characteristics, but their unfavourable values do not necessarily lead to tree mortality; for example, medium to low slopes, associated with average altitudes of 600 m a.s.l., may ensure the healthiest trees like in our case study. Finally, we were able to find that certain decline factors may affect a particular category of trees, either because they are older, taller or have a large girth, or because they are subject to inadequate debarking. Keywords: Algeria, Quercus suber L., dieback factors, phytosanitary constraints, insect pests Journal: Journal of Forest Science Pages: 570-581 Volume: 67 Issue: 12 Year: 2021 DOI: 10.17221/77/2021-JFS File-URL: http://jfs.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/77/2021-JFS.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/jfs-202112-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnljfs:v:67:y:2021:i:12:id:77-2021-JFS