Visualizing Chemistry in the Forest

Chemical imaging has broad applications in forestry. Reconstruction of large x-ray and infrared data sets provides 3-dimensional images of leaves, stems, and wood for the study of defense chemicals in trees, fungal degradation of wood, and cell wall deconstruction for conversion of lignocellulose to biofuels, nanocellulose, bioplastics, and petroleum-alternative chemical feedstock for industry.