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Heartwood and sapwood development within maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) stems

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Abstract

Heartwood and sapwood development in maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) is reported based on 35 trees randomly sampled in four sites in Portugal. It was possible to model the number of heartwood rings with cambial age. The heartwood initiation age was estimated to be 13 years and the rate of sapwood transformation into heartwood was 0.5 and 0.7 rings year−1 for ages below and above 55 years, respectively. Reconstruction of heartwood volume inside the tree stem was made by visual identification by image analysis in longitudinal boards along the sawn surfaces. This volume was integrated into the 3D models of logs and stems developed for this species representing the external shape and internal knots. Heartwood either follows the stem profile or shows a maximum value at 3.8 m in height, on average, while sapwood width is greater at the stem base and after 3 m remains almost constant up the stem. Up to 50% of tree height heartwood represents 17% of stem volume, in 83-year-old trees and 12–13% in 42 to 55-year-old trees. Tree variables such as stem diameter, DBH and tree total height were found to correlate significantly with the heartwood content.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support was provided for the first author by a scholarship from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal) and by a Marie Curie Research Training Grant within the EU 4th RTD Framework programme. Part of the work was carried out under the research programme PAMAF 8185, financed by INIA (Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária, Portugal). Thanks are due to the Portuguese National Forest Service (Direcção Regional Agrária da Beira Litoral) and to SONAE Indústria and AJI Serração, who supplied the trees. Thanks for Marta Margarido and Sofia Knapic Ferreira for helping in the measurements. Special thanks are due to Tiecheng Song from VTT for all the necessary adaptations in the reconstruction programme.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. VTT Building and Transport, P.O. Box 1806, 02044, VTT, Finland

    Isabel Pinto & Arto Usenius

  2. Centro de Estudos Florestais, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, 1349–017, Lisbon, Portugal

    Helena Pereira

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  1. Isabel Pinto
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  2. Helena Pereira
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  3. Arto Usenius
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Correspondence to Isabel Pinto.

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Pinto, I., Pereira, H. & Usenius, A. Heartwood and sapwood development within maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) stems. Trees 18, 284–294 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-003-0305-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-003-0305-8

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