Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rdxmf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T15:11:25.220Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Weed Tunnel: Building an Experimental Wind Tunnel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Dirk V. Baker  and
K. Beck George
Dirk V. Baker*
Affiliation:
Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523
K. Beck George
Affiliation:
Department of Bioagricultural Sciences and Pest Management, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523
*
Department of Biology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO 63130; E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Dispersal is a key component of plant population and community dynamics and the spread of weeds. Although many species of economic concern disperse via tumbleweed mechanisms, our ability to estimate relevant dispersal parameters can be hindered by the lack of a controlled environment that can be provided by a wind tunnel. Established wind tunnels are typically closed-circuit, clean systems and are therefore unsuitable for biological or ecological research. We designed and constructed a wind tunnel to estimate dispersal parameters for diffuse knapweed. Our design was a tunnel that utilizes the Venturi effect to obtain maximum flow velocity while pulling, rather than pushing, air through the test section. Flow velocity was continuously variable from 0 to 8 m/s, and the tunnel was equipped with instrumentation for measuring the force exerted on plants by wind. Our modular design provided a way to effectively estimate key parameters that govern the dispersal of tumbleweeds, and was readily constructed and stored in research facilities.

Keywords

Diffuse knapweed, Centaurea diffusa (Lam.) CENDIDispersalinvasive speciestumbleweedweed ecologyweed seedwind tunnel design
Type
Notes
Information
Weed Technology , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , September 2008 , pp. 549 - 552
Copyright
Copyright © Weed Science Society of America 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Current address Department of Biology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO 63130

References

Literature Cited

Anonymous, , 2007a. The Wind Tunnel. http://sln.fi.edu/flights/first/tunnel1.html. Accessed: August, 2007.Google Scholar
Anonymous, , 2007b. The New AAE Wind Tunnel. http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/tt/research/aerodynamics/windtunnel/tunnel2.html. Accessed: August, 2007.Google Scholar
Baker, D. V. 2007. Dispersal of an invasive tumbleweed. Ph.D. dissertation. Fort Collins, CO Colorado State University. 180.Google Scholar
Baker, D. V., Beck, K. G., Bienkiewicz, B. J., and Bjostad, L. B. 2008. Forces necessary to initiate dispersal for three tumbleweeds. Invasive Plant Sci. Manag. 1:59–65.Google Scholar
Becker, D. A. 1978. Stem abscission in tumbleweeds of the Chenopodiaceae: Kochia . Am. J. Bot. 65:375–383.Google Scholar
Bradshaw, P. and Mehta, R. D. 2003. Wind Tunnel Design. http://navier.stanford.edu/bradshaw/tunnel/index.html. Accessed: August, 2007.Google Scholar
Heyligers, P. C. 1999. Dispersal of the exotic coastal dune plants Gladiolus gueinzii and Trachyandra divaricata in Australia. Cunninghamia. 6:315–329.Google Scholar
Levin, S. A., Muller-Landau, H. C., Nathan, R., and Chave, J. 2003. The ecology and evolution of seed dispersal: a theoretical perspective. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Evol. Syst. 34:575–604.Google Scholar
Nathan, R. and Muller-Landau, H. C. 2000. Spatial patterns of seed dispersal, their determinants and consequences for recruitment. Trends Ecol. Evol. 15:278–285.Google Scholar
Neuman, C. M. 2006. Wind tunnel design features. http://www.trentu.ca/academic/geography/featuresExpl.html. Accessed August, 2007.Google Scholar
Roché, C. T. and Wilson, L. M. 1999. Mediterranean Sage. Pages 261–270. in Sheley, R. L. and Petroff, J. K., editors. Biology and Management of Noxious Rangeland Weeds. Corvalis, OR Oregon State University Press.Google Scholar
Smits, A. J. and Lim, T. T. 2000. Flow Visualization: Techniques and Examples. London, UK Imperial College Press. 396.Google Scholar
Vogel, S. 1994. Life in Moving Fluids: The Physical Biology of Flow. 2nd ed. Princeton, NJ Princeton University Press. 467.Google Scholar