European Journal of Forest Research

, Volume 129, Issue 6, pp 1037–1045 | Cite as

Physical properties of thinning wood in maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.): case study

Original Paper
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Abstract

Forty young trees from a stand of maritime pine in the southern mountains of Galicia, Spain (42°21′N: 8°01′W) were felled to obtain the material required for studying density and shrinkage in clear and small wood specimens. The wood ranged from light to moderately heavy, and the dimensions remained reasonably stable with varying moisture content. The results were consistent with those obtained in previous studies of adult trees, except for axial shrinkage, which was very high and variable in this study. The between-tree variation in wood properties was high considering that the sampled trees came from the same stand. However, the relationships between density and height in the stem were similar in all trees. A general model for the prediction of volumetric shrinkage was developed, with oven-dry density and ring width as predictor variables. The model is feasible for estimation of wood quality in living trees. It is applicable to tree selection for thinning and for genetic improvement of stock.

Keywords

Maritime pine Pinus pinaster Thinning wood Volumetric shrinkage 

Résumé

Propriétés physiques du bois d’éclaircies de pin maritime (Pinus pinaster Ait.). Des pièces en bois, petites et sans défauts, provenant de 40 jeunes pins maritimes d′un peuplement des montagnes du Sud de la Galicie, Espagne (42°21′N, 8°01′W), ont été testées. Le bois analysé était léger à demi-lourd et de dimensions relativement stables face aux variations d′humidité. Leurs propriétés: densité et rétractibilité correspondent aux données citées pour les arbres adultes; toutefois, la rétractibilité axiale est très élevée et possède une très grande dispersion. La variation des propriétés entre arbres est très significative; même entre les arbres qui procédaient d′un même peuplement. Par ailleurs, les relations entre les variables densité et hauteur sur la grume sont très similaires pour toutes les grumes. Un modèle est proposé en vue d′estimer la rétractibilité volumétrique, à partir de la densité et de la largeur de cerne. Le modèle permet de déterminer la qualité du bois dans des arbres vivants en utilisant comme critère de sélection des sujets dans les éclaircies et dans l′amélioration génétique.

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Notes

Acknowledgments

We thank the Xunta de Galicia and the CICYT for supporting the project and Jorge Palacios Estremera for his comments on the manuscript.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 2010

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Departamento de Ingeniería Agroforestal, Escuela Politécnica SuperiorUniversidad de Santiago de CompostelaLugoSpain
  2. 2.Departamento de Biología de Organismos y Sistemas, Escuela Universitaria de Ingenierías TécnicasUniversidad de OviedoMieresSpain

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