Earticle

Nanocellulose, which can exist as either cellulose nanocrystals or cellulose nanofibrils, has been used as a biomaterial for drug delivery owing to its non-immunogenicity, biocompatibility, high specific area, good mechanical properties, and variability for chemical modification. Various water-soluble drugs can be bound to and released from nanocelluloses through electrostatic interactions. The high specific surface area of nanocellulose allows for high specific drug loading. Additionally, a broad spectrum of drugs can bind to nanocellulose after facile chemical modifications of its surface. Controlled release can be achieved for various pharmaceuticals when the nanocellulose surface is chemically modified or physically formulated in an adequate manner. This review summarizes the potential applications of nanocelluloses in drug delivery according to published studies on drug delivery systems.

Exotic conifer trees have been extensively planted in southern China because of their high apparent growth and yield. These fast-growing plantations are expected to persist as a considerable potential for temporary and long-term carbon sink to offset greenhouse gas emissions. However, information on the carbon storage across different age ranges in exotic pine plantations is often lacking. We first estimated the ecosystem carbon storage across different age ranges of exotic pine plantations in China by quantifying above- and below-ground ecosystem carbon pools. The carbon storage of each tree component of exotic pine (Pinus elliottii) increased significantly with increasing age in Duchang and Yiyang areas. The stem carbon storage except ＜10 years in Ji’an areas was the largest component among all other components, which accounts for about 50% of the total carbon storage followed by roots (∼28%), branches (∼18%), and foliage (∼9%). The mean total tree carbon storage of slash pine plantations for ＜10, 10-20 and 20-30 years across three study areas was 3.69, 13.91 and 20.57 Mg ha-1, respectively. The carbon stocks in understory and forest floor were age-independent. Total tree and soil were two dominant carbon pools in slash pine plantations at all age sequences. The carbon contribution of aboveground ecosystem increased with increasing age, while that of belowground ecosystem declined. The mean total ecosystem carbon storage of slash pine plantations for ＜10, 10-20 and 20-30 years across China was 30.26, 98.66 and 98.89 Mg ha-1, respectively. Although subtropical climate in China was suitable for slash pine growth, the mean total carbon stocks in slash pine plantations at all age sequences from China were lower than that values reported in American slash pine plantations.

Madhupur National Park (MNP) is one of the last remaining patches of old-growth natural Sal forest left in Bangladesh where the forest is tropical moist deciduous type. A study was revealed to assess the tree species diversity and composition in this area. For determining tree species the study was conducted through extensive random quadrat survey methods with 20 m×20 m sized plots. Results of the study indicated that there were 139 tree species belonging to 100 genera and 40 families. The quadrat survey assessed the basal area, stem density, diversity indices and importance value index of the tree species having ≥5 cm D.B.H (Diameter at Brest Height). The basal area and stem density of the tree species were 20.689±1.08 m2/ha and 1412.93±64.27 stem ha-1 while, diversity indices, i.e. Shannon-Wiener’s diversity, Simpson’s evenness, Margalef’s species richness and Pielou’s dominance indices indicated poor diversity in comparison to that of other PAs (Protected Areas) in South-Eastern region of Bangladesh. The structural composition based on height and D.B.H through reverse- J shaped curve indicated higher regeneration and recruitment but removal of trees of large growth classes. Sal (Shorea robusta) was the most dominant tree species that accounts 75% of the total tree individuals in the natural forest patches. However, some associates of Sal, i.e. Bhutum (Hymenodictyon orixensis), Gadila (Careya arborea), and Kusum (Schleichera oleosa) etc. were seemed to be rare in MNP.

This study determined the economic impact of environment-friendly cultivation and the optimal cultivation area of Omija (Korean for Schisandra chinensis Baillon) for full-time farmers by analyzing the management performance of existing Omija cultivators. The study divided the target income into urban household income and Omija farm income, and estimate the optimal cultivation area by substituting the target profit from the cost-volume-profit analysis model. The optimum cultivation area was 1.4 ha for general cultivation, 1.08 ha for organic cultivation, and 1.18 ha for pesticide-free farming cultivation considering the average urban household income as the target, and 0.81 ha for general cultivation, 0.63 ha for organic cultivation, and 0.69 ha for pesticide-free farming, considering the average 2012 farm household income as the target. Therefore, the study reached conclusion that it is necessary to secure the price of Omija farm and stable support for income increase. Therefore, the support plan for income stabilization of Omija farm should be considered. Especially, the central government should provide various policies and financial support to help the optimal cultivation area of Omija Farm.

This study was performed to construct tree species classification map according to three information types (spectral information, texture information, and spectral and texture information) by altitude (30 m, 60 m, 90 m) using the unmanned aerial vehicle images and the object-based classification method, and to evaluate the concordance rate through field survey data. The object-based, optimal weighted values by altitude were 176 for 30 m images, 111 for 60 m images, and 108 for 90 m images in the case of Scale while 0.4/0.6, 0.5/0.5, in the case of the shape/color and compactness/smoothness respectively regardless of the altitude. The overall accuracy according to the type of information by altitude, the information on spectral and texture information was about 88% in the case of 30 m and the spectral information was about 98% and about 86% in the case of 60 m and 90 m respectively showing the highest rates. The concordance rate with the field survey data per tree species was the highest with about 92% in the case of Pinus densiflora at 30 m, about 100% in the case of Prunus sargentii Rehder tree at 60 m, and about 89% in the case of Robinia pseudoacacia L. at 90 m.

Plants are consumed by a myriad of organisms that compete for resources. Direct interactions among multiple plant-feeding organisms in a single host can range for each species from positive to negative. Wood-boring beetle faces a number of biotic and abiotic constraints that interfere with the good prospects from the tree. Biotic factors, including arthropod pests and diseases, and abiotic factors, such as drought and water-logging, are the major constraints affecting the species. The present study aimed to provide basic data for analyzing forest health, identify the kinds of wood-boring beetles in the central part of Korea. Our second goal was to analyze the species composition and diversity of regional communities and to examine. A total of 10,461 individual wood-boring beetles belonging to 8 families and 50 species attracted to trap trees in the pine forests were recorded during the study period on study sites. The results of the analysis of collected species showed that the community structure on all study sites was similar. Seasonal occurrences of dominant wood-boring beetles (5 species) from each study site showed the highest number of all species, except for Siphalinus gigas in May, followed by a gradual decline, and the largest number of Siphalinus gigas appeared in June. The similarity index of species composition was relatively high, ranging from 0.75 to 0.90 for each study site.

A tree-length harvesting system using the HAM300, which is mounted on a farm tractor prototype machine, have been recently introduced in South Korea for thinning old (＞30 years) forests. However, no research has previously been conducted on the characteristics of residual stand damage associated with cable yarding systems on thinning treatment stands in South Korea. Therefore, there were assessed on the degree and quantity of residual stand damage caused by felling and yarding process to broaden the knowledge of residual stand damage on semi-mechanized skyline thinning operations. This study investigated scar size, direction, area, shape type and their distribution on the residual stand damage caused by felling and yarding operations. Damage to residual trees was generated for 7.4% and 6.9% of residual trees in felling and yarding operations, respectively. Damaged direction of scars was located in front-side (38.9%) and up-side (34.7%) for felling operations while the highest scar damage was found on down-side (44.6%) for yarding operations. Scar heights of felling damage were higher than those of yarding damage. In yarding operation, the most of the scars was located within l0m from the center of the skyline corridor. These results should be useful information for forest managers and landowners to reduce residual stand damages and retain valuable timber volume from thinning treatments.

The objective of this research was to assess the amount of carbon stock of coarse woody debris (CWD) in Bombo-Lumene Reserve. Data on lying CWD was collected on 35 circular sampling plots using Line Intersect Sampling (LIS) method. A total of 230 samples CWD (≥10 cm diameter) were inventoried. The mean carbon stocks of CWD was 29.48 Mg C ha -1 , ranging from 4.32 to 73.54 Mg C ha -1 . The CWD carbon stocks displayed a wide range of variation in decay states. The allocation of CWD among the decay class of all the CWD samples reveals that the most important classes were class 1 and class 3 with 323.66 and 321.96 Mg C ha -1 , followed by class 4 with 264.56 and the last one was class 2 with 121.72 Mg C ha -1 . The results suggested that the dead wood component is important in carbon sequestration and should be taken into consideration for quantification of carbon stocks not only in Bombo- Lumene Reserve, but in all forest ecosystems in the Democratic Republic of Congo.