Tree allometry and improved estimation of carbon stocks and balance in tropical forests.

Tropical forests hold large stores of carbon, yet uncertainty remains regarding their quantitative contribution to the global carbon cycle. One approach to quantifying carbon biomass stores consists in inferring changes from long-term forest inventory plots. Regression models are used to convert inventory data into an estimate of aboveground biomass (AGB). We provide a critical reassessment of the quality and the robustness of these models across tropical forest types, using a large dataset of 2,410 trees >or= 5 cm diameter, directly harvested in 27 study sites across the tropics. Proportional relationships between aboveground biomass and the product of wood density, trunk cross-sectional area, and total height are constructed. We also develop a regression model involving wood density and stem diameter only. Our models were tested for secondary and old-growth forests, for dry, moist and wet forests, for lowland and montane forests, and for mangrove forests. The most important predictors of AGB of a tree were, in decreasing order of importance, its trunk diameter, wood specific gravity, total height, and forest type (dry, moist, or wet). Overestimates prevailed, giving a bias of 0.5-6.5% when errors were averaged across all stands. Our regression models can be used reliably to predict aboveground tree biomass across a broad range of tropical forests. Because they are based on an unprecedented dataset, these models should improve the quality of tropical biomass estimates, and bring consensus about the contribution of the tropical forest biome and tropical deforestation to the global carbon cycle.

Tungsten fluorides: syntheses and electrochemical characterization in the FLINAK molten salt eutectic.

The following tungsten fluorides have been synthesized by simple addition reactions or by reduction with tungsten metal at elevated temperature: KWF7, K2WF8, MWF6 (M = K, Na, Rb, Cs), K2WF7, M3WF8 (M = K, Na, Rb), and K3WF6. The compounds were characterized by their Raman spectra and by cyclic voltammetry in the molten FLINAK eutectic melt (46.5, 11.5, and 42.0 mol % of LiF, NaF, and KF, respectively) at 475-800 degrees C. X-ray crystal structures are reported for two new compounds K2WF7 and K3WF6. The crystals of K2WF7 were orthorhombic, space group Pnma (No. 62) with a = 9.800(2) A, b = 5.7360(11) A, c = 11.723(2) A, and Z = 4. Crystals of K3WF6 were cubic, space group Fm3 (No. 225) with a = b = c = 8.9160(10) A, Z = 4. Electrodeposition of tungsten metal on Pt from FLINAK, prepared by the addition of WF6 gas and metallic tungsten to the melt, is suggested to result from reduction of an equilibrium mixture of WF8(3-) and WF6(3-).

Decomposition and carbon cycling of dead trees in tropical forests of the central Amazon.

Decomposition rate constants were measured for boles of 155 large dead trees (>10 cm diameter) in central Amazon forests. Mortality data from 21 ha of permanent inventory plots, monitored for 10-15 years, were used to select dead trees for sampling. Measured rate constants varied by over 1.5 orders of magnitude (0.015-0.67 year-1), averaging 0.19 year-1 with predicted error of 0.026 year. Wood density and bole diameter were significantly and inversely correlated with rate constants. A tree of average biomass was predicted to decompose at 0.17 year-1. Based on mortality data, an average of 7.0 trees ha-1 year-1 died producing 3.6 Mg ha-1 year-1 of coarse litter (>10 cm diameter). Mean coarse litter standing-stocks were predicted to be 21 Mg ha-1, with a mean residence time of 5.9 years, and a maximum mean carbon flux to the atmosphere of 1.8 Mg C ha-1 year-1. Total litter is estimated to be partitioned into 16% fine wood, 30% coarse wood, and 54% non-woody litter (e.g., leaves, fruits, flowers). Decomposition rate constants for coarse litter were compiled from 20 globally distributed studies. Rates were highly correlated with mean annual temperature, giving a respiration quotient (Q 10) of 2.4 (10°C-1).

Synthesis and electrochemistry of anthraquinone-oligodeoxynucleotide conjugates.

Electroactive oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) with specific base sequences have a potential application as electrical sensors for DNA molecules. To this end, a phosphoramidite that bears a 9, 10-anthraquinone (AQ) group tethered to the 2'-O of the uridine via a hexylamino linker, 2'-O-[6-[2-oxo(9, 10-anthraquinon-2-yl)amino]hexyl]-5'-O-(4,4'-dimethoxytrityl)uridi ne 3'-[2-(cyanoethyl)bis(1-methylethyl)phosphoramidite] (3), has been synthesized and used to prepare three ODNs with tethered AQs using standard phosphoramidite chemistry. The synthetic methodology thus allows the synthesis of ODNs with electroactive tags attached to given locations in the base sequence. Cyclic voltammetric behavior of these AQ-ODN conjugates was examined in aqueous buffer solutions at a hanging mercury drop electrode. At slow sweep rates, nearly reversible two-electron waves characteristic of an adsorbed anthraquinone/hydroquinone redox couple was observed for all of the AQ-ODN conjugates. Approximate Langmuirian isotherms were found for the AQ-ODNs with molecular footprints, calculated from the saturation coverages, that scaled with molecular size. The cyclic voltammetric response of the duplexes formed from the AQ-ODNs and their complementary ODN was complicated by the competitive adsorption of the individual ODNs and possibly the duplex species as well.

Determination of oxide in fluoride salts using an yttria-stabilized-zirconia oxygen pump.

An improved method over a previous technique has been developed to determine the ppm oxide concentration of fluoride salts. The oxide is released as oxygen gas by the reaction of the test salt with potassium bromotetrafluoride at 450 °C. The molecular oxygen released is then passed through a zirconia oxygen pump which selectively removes the oxygen. The current response is recorded as a chronoamperogram, from which the ppm oxide content of the salt can be obtained. Oxygen recovery from an yttrium oxide standard was better than 99%. The precision of analysis of FLINAK was better than 13% for samples containing 110-170 ppm oxide. The LOD was 12 µg of oxygen, and the analytical range was 120 ppm to >20% for a 0.1-g sample.

Chronoamperometry of surface-confined redox couples for irreversible two-step and three-step consecutive reaction mechanisms.

Chronoamperometry has been widely employed to determine kinetic rate constants for electron-transfer reactions of surface-confined redox couples. When the mechanism for the transformation is more complicated than a one-electron transfer, deviations can be expected from an exponential decay of the current transient. Theory is presented in this paper for irreversible, two-step and three-step consecutive reaction mechanisms in the form of analytical solutions of the corresponding differential equations. The theory should find application to surface electrode reactions with two-electron "n-values".

Electrochemical release of ethidium into and fluorescence detection of DNA-ethidium complexes in the diffusion layer at a carbon paste electrode.

The electrochemically controlled release of the ethidium cation from the surface of carbon paste composite electrode was demonstrated using laser-induced fluorescence detection. The electrode contained an ethidium tetracyanoquinodimethane salt. The following experimental parameters were varied in order to optimize the fluorescence intensity: carbon paste composition, electrode potential, voltage pulse time, and laser power. In the presence of calf thymus DNA the fluorescence signal from the diffusion layer was linearly dependent on the logarithm of the DNA concentration over the range from 0.1 to 10(4) ppb.