Abstract
Density is a fundamental softwood quality trait. The aim of this paper is to identify a spatial model for wood density variation in spruce stems, with the main focus on basic density. Six thousand 20-mm-wide cubes systematically sampled from 85 trees in western Norway were analysed. The overall radial density pattern was the J shape with local maximum in the pith and increasing density outwards from a minimum at some distance from the pith. The minimum appeared closer to the pith further up in the tree. The stochastic nature of the six tree-wise parameters defining density gradients from pith to surface and from base to top was analysed and described. The results provide information needed to simulate density variation inside stems and between stems in a population. Considering the fundamental influence of density on a range of wood traits, such simulation should be of great significance for scientific and industrial analyses.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by The Research Council of Norway and by The Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute. The authors wish to thank the forest owners for giving free access to all sampled trees, to the district forest officers in Hordaland and Sogn og Fjordane for invaluable assistance, to Torbjørn Okstad for organising the sampling and to all colleagues who helped in the field and in the laboratory, in particular Ivar Fæste, Bjørn Slette, Arnstein Orlund and Kari Hollung. The English text was revised by Nicholas Clarke.
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Gjerdrum, P., Eikenes, B. A model for spatial wood density gradients in Norway spruce stems and stochastic between-stem dissimilarities for basic and dry density. Wood Sci Technol 48, 71–84 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00226-013-0586-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00226-013-0586-z