(1)Tannins have shown antifungal effects and have been considered a potential natural compound for wood preservation. Extracts produced from softwood bark contain both tannins and non-tannin compounds, which may reduce the effectiveness of tannin used as a wood preservative. The purpose of this research is to study the environmental impact of hot water extraction, identify the hot spots within the tannin cradle-to-gate life cycle and give suggestions to optimize its environmental profile. Different extraction and postextraction scenarios of tannin production are compared using the life-cycle assessment method. Experiments were designed to study the tannin yield under different extraction scenarios; the post-extraction scenario analysis was based on literature review. The results show that the extract drying process is the primary contributor to the environmental impact of tannin production. Both preliminary cold water extraction and ultrafiltration after extraction are beneficial as they have fewer non-tannin compounds in the final products; however, preliminary cold water extraction had a considerably lower environmental performance. Successive extractions using fresh water at each cycle increased the total tannin yield, but increased the environmental burden. Using only evaporation to obtain a desired tannin concentration is not environmentally efficient. This paper provides a quantified environmental analysis for the development of tannin-treated wood products and discusses the different tannin extraction scenarios from an environmental point of view.

demonstrate the utilisation of tEF in tLCA, and 3) explores the possibility of discriminating tEF over European countries for agricultural sector through open-access data.

Purpose This work aims to facilitate the territorial LCA applications through a case study on land use for livestock production in Wallonia (South region in Belgium), emphasizing the role of GIS and constructing inventory mainly with open-access data at the subnational level. Methods We first established a coherent fodder-livestock interaction (e.g., how much grassland was used for cattle) according to feed requirement and local production. Then we collected data mainly from public data sources to estimate the inventory for a unit head of each animal category and unit area of each fodder crop type at the subnational level. Using the fodderlivestock interaction and collected data, we calculated the territorial emission factors for animal land use, which aggregates the life cycle emissions from unit area of land use containing fodder crops and livestock that these fodder crops feed. We also distinguished the in-and off-territory impacts. Results and discussionBy comparing with local confidential data and life cycle inventory databases, the results calculated with open-access data show a certain level of consistency. Therefore, these open-access data are proved to help conduct the initial territorial assessment to identify the hotspots of farming practices at the subnational level even in the absence of complete information. In addition, by applying the territorial emission factors for animal land use, the case study emphasizes the role of the geographic information system in the territorial LCA. Conclusions This work contributes to operationalizing the territorial LCA study on the animal-related territory, facilitating the development of more uniform methods to establish life cycle inventory across different countries in Europe for the agricultural sector. We also pointed out the potentials for future work.

Drought area expansion has a great impact on the growth and development of plants. To contribute to the water management of strawberry, this work aims to study the chronological relationship between the electrical signals and representative physiological parameters of strawberry seedlings under drought stress. This study analyzed the characteristic variables of the electrical signals; physiological parameters under drought; and control treatments. Moreover, we compared the chronological sequence of the appearance of significant differences between drought and control treatment in terms of their physiological parameters and electrical signals. The results showed that with the increase of drought treatment, the time domain parameters (peak-to-peak value, standard deviation) and frequency domain parameters (spectral of central gravity, power spectrum entropy) of the drought-treated electrical signals showed significant differences from the control on Day 2 and Day 6, respectively (p < 0.05). The root vitality of the drought treatment was significantly different from the control on Day 4 (p < 0.05); the Fv/Fm and the SPAD were significantly different (p < 0.05) on Day 7. Electrical signals first start to show a significant difference between drought and control treatment, followed by physiological parameters. Therefore, the electrical signal can be used as an early indicator of drought stress conditions. This will provide a scientific basis for the actual water management of strawberry seedlings. It also provides a methodological and theoretical basis for other studies analyzing the relationship between plant physiological parameters and electrical signals under other stress conditions.

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