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Microstructure alignment of wood density profiles: an approach to equalize radial differences in growth rate

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Abstract

We studied intra-annual wood density profiles of Douglas-fir tree rings (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) in southwestern Germany. Growth rates are variable around the tree circumference. This leads to differences in wood formation, which can be observed in the shape of the density profiles of the same tree ring measured in different radial directions. Due to this spatial variation in density profiles, we need a reliable method to determine an average profile, which preserves the common characteristics of the data. To this end, we developed a multiple interval-based curve alignment (MICA) procedure. It identifies characteristic points within the profiles such as minima, maxima and inflection points. These reference points are shifted gradually against each other within a proportionally defined baseline interval. Using our progressive alignment approach, we are able to calculate an average profile that represents very well the characteristics of all measured curves of a specific tree ring. We applied the procedure to get year-specific average profiles using various trees. This results in representative mean density profiles that preserve the density variations common to all aligned profiles. Individual noise is reduced, thereby enabling the analysis of the impact of weather variations on wood density.

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Notes

  1. Using the lm function from the R stats package.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially supported by grants EXC 294 and DFG SP 437/15-1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Forest Growth, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Tennenbacher Str. 4, 79106, Freiburg, Germany

    Bela J. Bender & Heinrich Spiecker

  2. Chair for Bioinformatics, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Georges-Köhler-Allee 106, 79110, Freiburg, Germany

    Martin Mann & Rolf Backofen

  3. Institute for Theoretical Chemistry and Structural Biology, University of Vienna, Währingerstrasse 17/3, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Martin Mann

  4. Centre for Biological Signalling Studies (BIOSS), Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Albertstrasse 19, 79104, Freiburg, Germany

    Rolf Backofen

Authors
  1. Bela J. Bender
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  2. Martin Mann
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  3. Rolf Backofen
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  4. Heinrich Spiecker
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Rolf Backofen or Heinrich Spiecker.

Additional information

Communicated by S. Leavitt.

The authors Bela J. Bender and Martin Mann contributed equally to this work.

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Bender, B.J., Mann, M., Backofen, R. et al. Microstructure alignment of wood density profiles: an approach to equalize radial differences in growth rate. Trees 26, 1267–1274 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-012-0702-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-012-0702-y

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