Refine
Year of publication
Document Type
- Article (peer reviewed) (15)
- Report (8)
- Conference Proceeding (6)
- Contribution to a Periodical (2)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (31)
Keywords
- Forschung (7)
- Timber engineering (7)
- Laminated veneer (5)
- Temporary soil nailing (4)
- Holzfasern (3)
- Hybridverbund (3)
- Light (3)
- Nutrients (3)
- Thermoplast (3)
- Daphnia (2)
Institute
- Forschung und Entwicklung (31) (remove)
Forschungsbericht 2013
(2014)
Forschungsbericht 2012
(2013)
Forschungsbericht 2015
(2016)
Forschungsbericht 2014
(2015)
In many lakes, the most conspicuous seasonal events are the phytoplankton spring bloom and the subsequent clear-water phase, a period of low-phytoplankton biomass that is frequently caused by mesozooplankton (Daphnia) grazing. In Central European lakes, the timing of the clear-water phase is linked to large-scale climatic forcing, with warmer winters being followed by an earlier onset of the clear-water phase. Mild winters may favour an early build-up of Daphnia populations, both directly through increased surface temperatures and indirectly by reducing light limitation and enhancing algal production, all being a consequence of earlier thermal stratification. We conducted a field experiment to disentangle the separate impacts of stratification depth (affecting light supply) and temperature on the magnitude and timing of successional events in the plankton. We followed the dynamics of the phytoplankton spring bloom, the clear-water phase and the spring peak in Daphnia abundance in response to our experimental manipulations. Deeper mixing delayed the timing of all spring seasonal events and reduced the magnitudes of the phytoplankton bloom and the subsequent Daphnia peak. Colder temperatures retarded the timing of the clear-water phase and the subsequent Daphnia peak, whereas the timing of the phytoplankton peak was unrelated to temperature. Most effects of mixing depth (light) and temperature manipulations were independent, effects of mixing depth being more prevalent than effects of temperature. Because mixing depth governs both the light climate and the temperature regime in the mixed surface layer, we propose that climate-driven changes in the timing and depth of water column stratification may have far-reaching consequences for plankton dynamics and should receive increased attention.
Excessive amounts of nutrients and dissolved organic matter in freshwater bodies affect aquatic ecosystems. In this study, the spatial and temporal variability in nitrate (NO3−), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) was analyzed in the Selke (Germany) river continuum from three headwaters draining 1–3 km2 catchments to two downstream reaches representing spatially integrated signals from 184–456 km2 catchments. Three headwater catchments were selected as archetypes of the main landscape units (land use × lithology) present in the Selke catchment. Export regimes in headwater catchments were interpreted in terms of NO3−, DOC and SRP land-to-stream transfer processes. Headwater signals were subtracted from downstream signals, with the differences interpreted in terms of in-stream processes and contributions from point sources. The seasonal dynamics for NO3− were opposite those of DOC and SRP in all three headwater catchments, and spatial differences also showed NO3− contrasting with DOC and SRP. These dynamics were interpreted as the result of the interplay of hydrological and biogeochemical processes, for which riparian zones were hypothesized to play a determining role. In the two downstream reaches, NO3− was transported almost conservatively, whereas DOC was consumed and produced in the upper and lower river sections, respectively. The natural export regime of SRP in the three headwater catchments mimicked a point-source signal (high SRP during summer low flow), which may lead to overestimation of domestic contributions in the downstream reaches. Monitoring the river continuum from headwaters to downstream reaches proved effective to jointly investigate land-to-stream and in-stream transport, and transformation processes.
Laminated veneer lumber poles for temporary soil nailing ‐ investigation of material properties
(2016)
Within a current research project at Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences and Graz University of Technology the possibilities of using beech wood laminated veneer lumber poles as soil anchors for temporary soil nailing systems are investigated. Therefore tensile and bending properties of laminated veneers with high moisture and permanent cement contact concerning the influence of veneer bending rectangular to the fibre are determined. For investigation of material properties under different climate conditions tensile tests on small and faultless single beech wood veneers as well as tensile tests on 6 layered 3 mm samples and 9 layered 2 mm samples were carried out.
Therefore all samples were stored in extreme climate conditions like high moisture content and permanent cement contact. Six layered samples with 3mm thick veneers show a slightly higher strength and stiffness under dry conditions as well as at a moisture content of the samples above fibre saturation. A strength reduction factor concerning temporary geotechnical applications is suggested which considers the influence of long term loading, veneer bending, water saturation and
cement destruction on tensile properties of laminated veneer lumber poles.
This paper investigates the long-term tensile properties of laminated veneer lumber (LVL) beech sections coated with cement and exposed to fungal decay. A set of LVL coupon (dog-bone) samples was stored in compost, tested in tension after 6 and 12 months and compared to reference samples stored at 20 °C and 65% relative humidity. Results showed that after 26 weeks of compost exposure, a fungus of the Ascomycota genus was identified in cement-coated samples using a molecular biology polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, which analyses the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the ribosomal DNA. However, no visual deterioration was noticed.
Still in cement-covered samples and after 12 months of exposure, a common white rot fungus was determined by DNA chip technology, but no fungal wood decay was visible in areas where the applied coating had a thickness of at least 5 mm. Decay in uncoated LVL samples was significant with the samples having an average residual strength equal to 7%. This compares to the tensile strength of coated samples, which only decreased by 65% relative to the reference samples. Strength and stiffness of coated samples did not differ significantly between 6 and 12 months of exposure. Preliminary investigations tend to show that the strength reduction in cement-coated samples is due to an alkaline degradation of the wood. The observed influence of the coating thickness on the visual fungal decay can probably be ascribed to the protection mechanism due to a physical fungal barrier with a high pH.
Within a current research-project the possibility of using laminated veneer lumber beech wood poles as temporary soil anchors in foundation engineering is investigated. Within this project adhesive properties of laminated veneer lumber beech wood poles are determined. For
use in temporary ground applications the influence of veneer bending, veneer thickness and intensive cement contact is concerned. As standard version two different adhesive systemsmelamine formaldehyde resin (MUF) and a 1-component polyurethane adhesive (PUR) were investigated and compared.
Melamine formaldehyde resin glued samples with 3 mm thick veneers and 1.0N/mm² press force show a higher tensile shear strength but also a higher adhesive failure percentage than polyurethane glued samples. In case of melamine formaldehyde resins the closed time has a great influence on bond line quality. A long closed time reveals a low penetration of adhesive in the cells and a low embedding on the wood surface. For curved structures best results were achieved with a bonding pressure of 1.0 N/mm². A significant difference in strength between the concerned MUF and PUR adhesive system was not recognized.
Circular hollow sections of beech-laminated veneer lumber (LVL) for the use as temporary geotechnical soil nailing systems are currently being developed. Due to their permanent subsoil cement embedment, investigations of the bond line quality of the timber sections are essential. This paper presents the bonding properties of flat and curved beech LVL after cyclic conditioning in a water–cement grout solution aimed at inducing short- and long-term alkaline attack of the timber. In total, 409 and 69 samples were tested in tensile shear tests after short-term and long-term conditioning, respectively.
Three different adhesive systems, a one-component polyurethane adhesive, a melamine–urea–formaldehyde adhesive and a melamine–urea–formaldehyde adhesive modified by means of (polyvinyl)-acetate adhesive were investigated and compared. Short-term conditioning by submersion in boiling cement suspension was found to be a reliable method for testing the bonding performance rather than long-term conditioning. In the case of tensile shear tests of samples subjected to long-term treatment, wood material strength was the decisive criterion. Generally, tensile shear test samples of all investigated adhesives achieved reliable bonding for a pressing force up to 1.0 MPa. No relationship was recognised between the determined bonding failure and the wood properties tensile shear strength, wood failure percentage, fracture pattern and bulk density of veneers adjacent to the bond line.
For the determination of the bond line integrity of curved veneer poles, it was necessary to test bonding quality in a combined test using curved and flat samples and to compare tensile shear strength with data determined on reference samples in the same veneer population without bond line.
Innovative circular, hollow, laminated veneer lumber (LVL) beech sections for use as temporary geotechnical soil reinforcement members are currently being developed. Appropriate surface gluing quality between the veneers is fundamental to this subsoil application of the permanently cement-embedded, engineered timber product. The circular cross-section geometry and the permanently high-alkaline environment of the structural member is not covered by presently standardized testing and conditioning methods for examining LVL surface bond line quality. The sample conditioning and tensile shear test method compliant with EN 302-1 (Adhesives for load-bearing timber structures—test methods—part 1: determination of longitudinal tensile shear strength, European Committee for Standardization, Brussels, 2013) was modified to determine bonding parameters for circular, hollow LVL sections. Bond line curvature, groove cutting depth and sample geometry were found to greatly influence stress distribution, percentage of wood failure and tensile shear strength.
Short-term alkaline treatment of test samples did not significantly influence the bonding performance, wood failure percentage, tensile shear strength and fracture patterns. To improve tensile shear strength, adhesives with different material rigidities were used and compared. An orthotropic, elastic numerical analysis revealed a greater influence of adherent elasticity than adhesive elasticity on the stress distribution within the bond line. With regard to determining the bond line integrity of curved veneer poles, a sample geometry compliant with EN 302-1 (2013) was developed and numerically evaluated.
Innovative beech laminated veneer lumber (LVL) circular hollow sections for the use as temporary geotechnical soil nailing systems are currently being developed. Due to the permanent subsoil cement embedment, combined with high water saturation and permanent loading, the timber sections will lose strength and stiffness over time to a degree currently unknown. This paper presents the tensile and bending material properties of flat and curved beech LVL under various periods of immersion in a water–cement grout solution aiming at inducing both water saturation and long-term alkaline attack of the timber.
In total, 824 and 279 samples were tested in tension and bending, respectively. Results show that samples manufactured from 3 mm thick veneers result in tensile strength and stiffness 17% and 24% higher, respectively, than samples manufactured from 2 mm thick veneers. A reduction in the initial bending and tensile strength of up to 70% was found after 90 days of water saturation and cement contact. Taking into account a duration of load factor for permanent loading of two years, it is recommended to reduce the short-term tensile and bending strength of beech circular hollow sections to be used as geotechnical anchors by 80%.
Durch Integrieren der Variothermie können Organobleche wirtschaftlich und technisch verbessert zu Hybridbauteilen verarbeitet werden. Somit steigert sich der Wettbewerbsvorteil gegenüber konventionellen Werkstoffen weiter. An einer Technische Hochschule wird seit mehr als zehn Jahren intensiv an der Thematik der Verbindungstechnologien sowie den Haftungsmechanismen zwischen endlosfaserverstärkten Thermoplasten, den sogenannten Organoblechen, und angespritzten Funktionsstrukturen geforscht. Im Fokus stehen prozesstechnische Einflüsse, die die Verbundhaftung der Hybridleichtbaustrukturen erhöhen.
In riverine ecosystems primary production is principally possible in two habitats: in the benthic layer by sessile algae and in the surface water by planktonic algae being transported downstream. The relevance of these two habitats generally changes along the rivers' continuum. However, analyses of the interaction of algae in these two habitats and their controlling factors in riverine ecosystems are, so far, very rare. We use a simplified advection-diffusion model system combined with ecological process kinetics to analyse the interaction of benthic and planktonic algae and nutrients along idealised streams and rivers at regional to large scales. Because many of the underlying processes affecting algal dynamics are influenced by depth, we focus particularly on the impact of river depth on this interaction. At constant environmental conditions all state variables approach stable spatial equilibria along the river, independent of the boundary conditions at the upstream end. Because our model is very robust against changes of turbulent diffusion and stream velocity, these spatial equilibria can be analysed by a simplified ordinary differential equation (ode) version of our model. This model variant reveals that at shallower river depths, phytoplankton can exist only when it is subsidised by detaching benthic algae, and in turn, at deeper river depths, benthic algae can exist only in low biomasses which are subsidised by sinking planktonic algae. We generalise the spatial dynamics of the model system using different conditions at the upstream end of the model, which mimic various natural or anthropogenic factors (pristine source, dam, inflow of a waste water treatment plant, and dilution from e.g. a tributary) and analyse how these scenarios influence different aspects of the longitudinal spatial dynamics of the full spatial model: the relation of spatial equilibrium to spatial maximum, the distance to the spatial maximum, and the response length. Generally, our results imply that shallow systems recover within significantly shorter distances from spatially distinct disturbances when compared to deep systems, independent of the type of disturbance.
In shallow aquatic systems, benthic and pelagic primary producers typically compete for light and nutrients along opposing vertical supply axes: pelagic algae shade the benthic habitat; conversely, benthic algae intercept the nutrient flux from the sediment to the pelagic habitat. We present a general framework for analyzing such spatially asymmetric resource competition across habitat boundaries using a mechanistic, dynamical model. We visualize the mechanisms determining the outcome of these cross‐habitat interactions using zero‐net‐growth isoclines, resource supply points, and resource consumption vectors. In extensive invasion analyses, we characterize the abiotic and competitive persistence boundaries of pelagic and benthic primary producers, which are set by environmental factors determining nutrient and light supply and are modified by resource use by the competitor in the respective other habitat.
We note several qualitative differences between cross‐habitat and “classical” within‐habitat resource competition. First, coexistence of cross‐habitat competitors is facilitated by, but does not require niche differentiation with respect to, the utilization of resources. Because each species has a competitive edge for the resource that is supplied from “its” side of the system, a competitor that is inferior in utilizing both resources can sometimes coexist with, or even exclude, a superior competitor. Second, increasing the external supply of one resource (the nutrient) may initially favor both competitors, until a breakpoint is reached where the benthic producer goes abruptly extinct. Finally, whether a given pair of cross‐habitat competitors coexist or shows alternative states may depend on the environment. Specifically, benthic and pelagic algae may coexist at low nutrient and light supply but produce alternative states at high nutrient and light supply. Alternative states are, in turn, promoted by any algal trait combination that increases the spatial asymmetry in resource consumption, i.e., leads to a higher nutrient consumption in the benthic habitat and/or a higher light consumption in the pelagic habitat.
In a first empirical application, we show that predictions from our model give a good fit to published data on benthic and pelagic primary production in temperate and arctic lakes spanning a broad range of nutrient environments.
Physical determinants of phytoplankton production, algal stoichiometry, and vertical nutrient fluxes
(2010)
Most phytoplankters face opposing vertical gradients in light versus nutrient supplies but have limited capacities for vertical habitat choice. We therefore explored a dynamical model of negatively buoyant algae inhabiting a one-dimensional water column to ask how water column depth and turbulence constrain total (areal) phytoplankton biomass. We show that the population persistence boundaries in water column depth-turbulence space are set by sinking losses and light limitation but that nutrients are most limiting to total biomass in water columns that are neither too shallow or too weakly mixed (where sinking losses prevail) nor too deep and turbulent (where light limitation prevails). In shallow waters, the most strongly limiting process is nutrient influx to the bottom of the water column (e.g., from sediments). In deep waters, the most strongly limiting process is turbulent upward transport of nutrients to the photic zone. Consequently, the highest total biomasses are attained in turbulent waters at intermediate water column depths and in deep waters at intermediate turbulences. These patterns are insensitive to the assumption of fixed versus flexible algal carbon-to-nutrient stoichiometry, and they arise irrespective of whether the water column is a surface layer above a deep water compartment or has direct contact with sediments.
Transient dynamics of pelagic producer-grazer systems in a gradient of nutrients and mixing depths
(2008)
Phytoplankton–grazer dynamics are often characterized by long transients relative to the length of the growing season. Using a phytoplankton–grazer model parameterized for Daphnia pulex with either flexible or fixed algal carbon : nutrient stoichiometry, we explored how nutrient and light supply (the latter by varying depth of the mixed water column) affect the transient dynamics of the system starting from low densities. The system goes through an initial oscillation across nearly the entire light–nutrient supply space. With flexible (but not with fixed) algal stoichiometry, duration of the initial algal peak, timing and duration of the subsequent grazer peak, and timing of the algal minimum are consistently accelerated by nutrient enrichment but decelerated by light enrichment (decreasing mixing depth) over the range of intermediate to shallow mixing depths. These contrasting effects of nutrient vs. light enrichment are consequences of their opposing influences on food quality (algal nutrient content): algal productivity and food quality are positively related along a nutrient gradient but inversely related along a light gradient. Light enrichment therefore slows down grazer growth relative to algal growth, decelerating oscillatory dynamics; nutrient enrichment has opposite effects. We manipulated nutrient supply and mixing depth in a field enclosure experiment. The experimental results were qualitatively much more consistent with the flexible than with the fixed stoichiometry model. Nutrient enrichment increased Daphnia peak biomass, decreased algal minimum biomass, decreased the seston C:P ratio, and accelerated transient oscillatory dynamics. Light enrichment (decreasing mixing depth) produced the opposite patterns, except that Daphnia peak biomass increased monotonously with light enrichment, too. Thus, while the model predicts the possibility of the “paradox of energy enrichment” (a decrease in grazer biomass with light enrichment) at high light and low nutrient supply, this phenomenon did not occur in our experiment.