Comparison of postfire mortality in endemic Corsican black pine (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus nigra</Emphasis> ssp. <Emphasis Type="Italic">laricio</Emphasis>) and its direct competitor (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus pinaster</Emphasis>)

• Introduction   

Laricio pine (Pinus nigra J.F. Arn. ssp. laricio (Poiret) Maire var Corsicana Hyl.) is a form of black pine endemic to Corsica, that may now be under threat due to current fire regimes and competition with maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton).     

A set of models for individual tree merchantable volume prediction for <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus pinaster</Emphasis> Aiton in central inland of Portugal

The study purpose selected among several candidate models for best individual tree, over bark, total volume model, volume ratio model to any top height limit and taper model for maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton) in the regions of Pinhal Interior Sul and Beira Interior Sul, Portugal. The data used in the study were collected from 144 felled trees, corresponding to 995 diameter/height measurements. To select among the best models, several statistics were computed during model fitting, and the independent validation procedure was used to evaluate model fitting, collinearity and prediction performance. A ranking index was used to support the final decision. The analysis of models studentized residuals distribution showed that some regression model assumptions, such as normality and homogeneity, were not met. To overcome this unideal situation, the models selected were then fitted again using robust regression and weighted regression techniques. The set of adjusted models will allow the prediction of individual tree, over bark, total volume and merchantable volume to any merchantable limit, for both species and region to support management decisions.     

Nondestructive estimation of wood chemical composition of sections of radial wood strips by diffuse reflectance near infrared spectroscopy

The use of calibrated near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy for predicting the chemical composition of Pinus taeda L. (loblolly pine) wood samples is investigated. Seventeen P. taeda radial strips, representing seven different sites were selected and NIR spectra were obtained from the radial longitudinal face of each strip. The spectra were obtained in 12.5 mm sections from pre-determined positions that represented juvenile wood (close to pith), transition wood (zone between juvenile and mature wood), and mature wood (close to bark). For these sections, cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin (acid soluble and insoluble), arabinan, galactan, glucan, mannan, and xylan contents were determined by standard analytical chemistry methods. Calibrations were developed for each chemical constituent using the NIR spectra, wood chemistry data and partial least squares (PLS) regression. Relationships were variable with the best results being obtained for cellulose, glucan, xylan, mannan, and lignin. Prediction errors were high and may be a consequence of the diverse origins of the samples in the test set. Further research with a larger number of samples is required to determine if prediction errors can be reduced.     

Generalized biomass equations for the main aboveground biomass components of maritime pine across contrasting environments

• Introduction   

In order to predict the biomass of aerial components of maritime pine stands (Pinus pinaster Ait.), generalized allometric equations were developed using data collected from the southern and northern margins of its geographical area.     

Prediction of mechanical properties of Chinese fir wood by near infrared spectroscopy

Mechanical properties and the visible and near infrared (NIR) (350–2500 nm) spectra obtained from longitudinal and transverse face of 155 small clear wood samples of Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) were measured, and 103 of them were used to establish calibration models. Calibrations were tested on an independent set (52 samples). Differences between calibrations developed by using the longitudinal and transverse face were small. The calibrations developed by using NIR spectra (350–2500 nm) collected from transverse face were slightly inferior to those developed by using NIR spectra collected from longitudinal face. When reducing the spectral range to between 780 and 1050 nm, the calibrations developed by using NIR spectra collected from longitudinal face were slightly inferior to those developed by using NIR spectra collected from transverse face, and reducing the spectral range causes no decrease in the quality of the models developed using NIR spectra collected from transverse face. Partial lease square (PLS) modeling and test showed that calibrations developed using the visible and NIR spectra from transverse and longitudinal faces and calibrations developed by using the reducing spectral range (780–1050 nm) from the transverse face were moderate, and have a RPD range from 1.51 to 1.90. It is concluded that NIR spectroscopy can be used as an initial screening. __________ Translated from Journal of Northwest Forestry University, 2007, 22(5): 149–154 [译自: 西北林学院学报]     

Impact of solar activity on the growth of pine trees: case study

In this work, we focus on the analysis of data for the ring width of two pine tree species: samples of six maritime pines (Pinus pinaster), grown in the north of Portugal, and one sample of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), grown in the south of Slovakia. A negative impact of solar activity (SA) was observed on the growth of these pine trees with particularly strong impact in the case of the maritime pines. The width of the annual rings was generally smaller in the years of maximum SA; furthermore, it was found that it is latewood width that is affected whereas earlywood width is not affected; as a corollary, the percentage of latewood also shows a significative negative correlation with SA.     

Rapid prediction of wood crystallinity in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus elliotii</Emphasis> plantation wood by near-infrared spectroscopy

Crystallinity is an important property of woody materials; it responds to tree growth traits, structure, and chemical composition, and has a significant effect on Young’s modulus, dimensional stability, density, and hardness, etc. The ability of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy coupled with multivariate analysis to rapidly predict the crystallinity of slash pine (Pinus elliotii) plantation wood was investigated. The results showed that the NIR data could be correlated with the X-ray diffraction (XRD)-determined crystallinity of slash pine wood by use of partial least squares (PLS) regression, producing excellent coefficients of determination, r ², and root mean square error of calibration, RMSEC. The use of either reduced spectral ranges or the selection of certain wavelengths consistent with known chemical absorptions did not have any detrimental effect on the quality of PLS models allowing the use of inexpensive, small, and portable spectrometers. These studies show that NIR spectroscopy can be used to rapidly predict the crystallinity of slash pine wood.     

A common near infrared—based partial least squares regression model for the prediction of wood density of Pinus pinaster and Larix?×?eurolepis

Wood density is defined as the ratio of mass to volume and therefore in principle it should be possible to calculate a unique partial least squares regression (PLS-R) model for several species. PLS-R models for wood density based on X-ray microdensity data were calculated for each species Pinus pinaster and Larix × eurolepis and for both species together. After cross-validation and test set validation the data sets were combined and final models were calculated. The common model gave a residual prediction deviation (RPD) of 3.1, a range error ratio (RER) of 11.7, and a SEP/SEC of 1.06. The single models for Pinus pinaster and Larix?×?eurolepis gave RPD’s of 3.5 and 3.2, RER’s of 13 and 11, and a SEP/SEC of 1.2. To the best knowledge of the authors all obtained PLS-R models are the first ones that fulfil the requirements according to AACC Method 39-00 (AACC in AACC Method, 39-00:15, 1999) to be used at least for screening (RPD?≥?2.5). Although this method and the defined limits were developed for the analysis of grains they can be used as a rough rule of thumb until limits for wood are available. The improvement of the PLS-R models, compared to published results, might be due to three facts (1) the higher number of scans collected for a single spectrum, (2) that the samples were better represented by the NIR spectra and X-ray microdensity values, and (3) that the sites for the measurement of NIR spectra and X-ray microdensity were coincided as strictly as possibly.     

近红外光谱法测定毛竹综纤维素的含量研究

研究了用近红外光谱(NIR)结合多变量统计分析技术对毛竹综纤维素含量的快速测定。用常规实验室方法测定了54个竹材样品的综纤维素含量,用近红外光谱仪采集相应样品的光谱,对原始光谱进行二阶导数和25点平滑预处理后,从54个竹材样品中挑选41个代表性的样品建模,选择1011~1675nm和1930~2488nm波段区间,用偏最小二乘法(PLS1)和完全交互验证方式建立毛竹综纤维素含量的预测模型。结果表明,毛竹综纤维素含量和近红外光谱之间存在非常好的相关性,预测模型的相关系数(RP)为0.95,预测模型的标准偏差(SEP)为0.76%。     

Chitosan as a biocontrol agent against the pinewood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus)

The pine wilt disease (PWD) is caused by Bursaphelenchus xylophilus and poses great environmental and economic challenges. Thus, the development of sustainable techniques for the control of this epidemic disease is of major importance. This work aimed at evaluating if the application of different molecular weight (MW) chitosans as a soil amendment could be used to control the PWD in maritime pine (Pinus pinaster, very susceptible to the disease) and stone pine (Pinus pinea, less susceptible). At the end of the experimental period (24 days after inoculation), P. pinaster and P. pinea untreated plants presented ca. 3825 ± 100 and 70 ± 47 nematodes, respectively. In P. pinaster, the high‐MW chitosan prompted the most drastic results, inducing a 21.9‐fold reduction in nematodes numbers, whereas in P. pinea, the most effective was the low MW chitosan, which reduced nematodes numbers up to 7‐fold, compared with untreated plants. P. pinea seems to be highly resistant to the disease, presenting nematode numbers up to 54.6‐fold lower than P. pinaster and less severe chlorophyll loss (ca. 2‐fold).     

基于偏最小二乘法的近红外光谱定量分析模型测定八角茴香中莽草酸含量

采用偏最小二乘法(PLS)建立测定八角茴香中莽草酸含量的近红外(NIR)光谱定量分析模型.应用多种光谱预处理方法分别对八角茴香固体粉末样品的NIR光谱进行预处理,并采用预处理后的光谱建立定量分析模型,每个模型均经过选择最有效的光谱区域和最适主因子数进行优化.经过比较各个模型的内部交互验证均方根误差(RMSECV)和交互验证预测值与真实值间的相关系数(RV),外部预测均方根误差(RMSEP),选取最优的模型,结果表明定量分析模型稳健性好和测定精度高,在中药有效成分定量分析方面有很好的应用前景.     

Development of chemometric models based on near infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis for predicting the treatment level of furfurylated Scots pine

The use of furfuryl alcohol (FA) as a wood modification agent has been known for decades. An independent and reliable analytical method to determine the level of furfurylation is not available. This article reports the use of near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) to make partial least square prediction models for determining the furfurylation level (the percentage of FA polymer formed within the wood structure). A total of 115 individual samples of furfurylated Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) originating from 115 production batches were used for modelling. As much as 81 samples were randomly selected for the calibration set and 34 samples for the validation set. Both NIR and TGA gave good predictions when validated by a separate test set. The r ² for NIR and TGA are 0.93 and 0.94, respectively, and the root mean square errors of predictions are 1.025 and 0.958, respectively. However, the number of principal components for the NIR and TGA models is two and six, respectively. The NIR method is preferred because only two principal components are used and sampling is fast.     

Stem taper functions for maritime pine (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus pinaster</Emphasis> Ait.) in Galicia (Northwestern Spain)

A total of 31 taper functions from 3 different groups of models (single, segmented and variable-form taper functions) were fitted to diameter-height data from 203 Pinus pinaster trees sampled across even-aged stands in Galicia (northwestern Spain). Most of the taper functions analyzed showed problems of multicollinearity as indicated by the condition number. A second-order autoregressive CAR(2) error process was incorporated into the models to minimize the effect of autocorrelation inherent in the longitudinal data used, and to provide valid tests of significance for model parameter estimates. In general, variable-form taper functions provided the most accurate predictions. The flexibility and predictive performance of the variable-form model developed by Kozak (For Chron 80(4):507–515, 2004) indicated its usefulness for estimating diameter at a specific height, merchantable volume, and total volume of Maritime pine in the study area.     

Nondestructive determination of paper properties of Populus × euramericana with near infrared spectroscopy

Five Populus x euramericana wood samples representing three different sites were selected and nearinfrared （NIR） spectra were obtained. For these sections, basis weight, brightness and three mechanical properties （tensile index, tearing index and bursting index） were determined by standard analytical methods. Calibrations were developed for each paper property using the NIR spectra, data on paper properties, using partial least squares （PLS） regression. The results show that the coefficients of correlation of calibration and validation for basis weight were 0.8824 and 0.8299, respectively; the standard error of calibration （SEC） and prediction （SEP） were 1.150 and 1.170, respectively. In testing for brightness, the correlation coefficient of calibration was 0.9621 and for validation 0.9612, while the SEC and SEP were 0.997 and 1.300, respectively; paper brightness and NIR spectroscopy were highly correlated. NIR spectroscopy can be used to predict tensile, tearing and bursting indices of paper samples rapidly. We found that the paper properties fitted by NIR and GB methods were highly correlated. The coefficients of correlation of calibration and validation for basis weight exceeded 0.8000, while the SEC and SEP were very small. These results reveal that the five paper properties of Populus x euramericana and those predicted by the NIR model were highly correlated. We conclude that the NIR models can be used for the prediction of paper properties.     

Genetic variation in susceptibility to pine wilt disease of maritime pine (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus pinaster</Emphasis> Aiton) half-sib families

Key message

This paper presents a greenhouse study for assessing the genetic variation in maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton) in response to pinewood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner et Buhren) Nickle), which is a causal agent of pine wilt disease. Fifteen out of 96 half-sib families were selected as less susceptible. This experiment is an important first step for creating a resistance breeding program.

Context

Pine wilt disease is caused by the pinewood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus (Steiner et Buhren) Nickle), a quarantine pest, and is a concern to maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) in Portugal due to its economic, environmental, and social impacts. This disease is regarded as a major threat to European forests.

Aims

This paper aimed to evaluate the genetic variation in maritime pine families that were inoculated with pinewood nematode, identify the most resistant families, and establish the guidelines for a resistance improvement program.

Methods

Two-year-old half-sib progenies obtained from 96 plus trees were inoculated. The plants were monitored for survival on four different dates. The statistical analysis followed the mixed model theory.

Results

Genetic variability of the susceptibility to pine wilt disease was observed. At 157 days after inoculation, the 15 highest genetic ranking families out of 96 were selected, having a predicted survival mean of 15.6% instead of 11.0% on average for the all 96 families.

Conclusion

This study allows for the implementation of an improvement program to help control pine wilt disease.

     

Influence of steam heating on the properties of pine (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus pinaster</Emphasis>) and eucalypt (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Eucalyptus globulus</Emphasis>) wood

Heat treatment of Pinus pinaster and Eucalyptus globulus woods, two important species in Portugal, was performed in the absence of air by steaming, inside an autoclave, for 2–12 h at 190–210°C. Mass losses increased with treatment time and temperature reaching 7.3% for pine and 14.5% for eucalypt wood. The wood behaviour with moisture was improved. The equilibrium moisture content decreased by 46% for pine and 61% for eucalypt, the dimensional stability increased (maximum anti-shrinking efficiency in the radial direction of 57 and 90% for pine and eucalypt, respectively) and the surface wettability was lowered. In relation to mechanical properties, the modulus of elasticity was little affected (maximum decrease of 5% for pine and 15% for eucalypt) but the bending strength was reduced (by 40% at 8% mass loss for pine and 50% at 9% mass loss for eucalypt wood). The variation of properties was related to treatment intensity and mass loss but significant improvements could already be obtained for a 3–4% mass loss without impairing the mechanical resistance. The response of eucalypt was higher than that of pinewood. Heat treatment of eucalypt wood shows an interesting potential to improve the wood quality for solid timber products.     

Effects of foliar nutrients and environmental factors on site productivity in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus pinaster</Emphasis> Ait. stands in Asturias (NW Spain)

• Background   

The effects of foliar nutrients and environmental variables on site productivity in Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) stands in Asturias (NW Spain) were studied.     

Pine wilt disease: detection of the pinewood nematode (Bursaphelenchus xylophilus) as a tool for a pine breeding programme

The pinewood nematode (PWN), Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, is a serious quarantine pest first detected in Portugal and Europe in 1999. It is the causal agent of pine wilt disease (PWD). A resistance breeding programme has been initiated to contribute to control the evolution of the disease. Five hundred and four adult maritime pine, Pinus pinaster, trees were phenotypically selected as candidate trees for this programme from an area affected by PWD. To identify tolerance to the nematode, the selected trees were monitored monthly. Over the course of 1 year, 57 candidate trees died and were tested for the presence/absence of the PWN. As accuracy of detection is of major importance, an ITS‐PCR‐based method applied directly to wood from adult maritime pine trees was tested and compared with a standard morphological identification method. The results showed that the use of PCR to detect the pathogen provided more rapid and accurate results in comparison with the standard morphological identification. Thus, this method is suitable to be used in the survey of the breeding population for resistance/tolerance to PWD.     

Non-destructive estimation of Pinus taeda L tracheid morphological characteristics for samples from a wide range of sites in Georgia

Tracheid coarseness, specific surface, wall thickness, perimeter, and radial and tangential diameter from 119 radial strips of Pinus taeda L. (loblolly pine) trees grown on 14 sites in three physiographic regions of Georgia (USA) were measured by SilviScan. NIR spectra were also collected in 10 mm increments from the radial longitudinal surface of each strip and split into calibration (9 sites, 729 spectra) and prediction sets (6 sites, 225 spectra). NIR spectra (untreated and mathematically treated first and second derivative and multiplicative scatter correction) were correlated with tracheid properties to develop calibrations for the estimation of these properties. Strong correlations were obtained for properties related to density, the strongest R ² being 0.80 (coarseness), 0.78 (specific surface) and 0.84 (wall thickness). When applied to the test set, good relationships were obtained for the density-related properties (R _p ² ranged from 0.68 to 0.86), but the accuracy of predictions varied depending on math treatment. The addition of a small number of cores from the prediction set (one core per new site) to the calibration set improved the accuracy of predictions and, importantly, minimized the differences obtained with the various math treatments. These results suggest that density related properties can be estimated by NIR with sufficient accuracy to be used in operational settings.     

Vermicompost enhances germination of the maritime pine (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinus pinaster</Emphasis> Ait.)

We investigated the effect of vermicompost on the germination and early development of six different progenies of the maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.). We compared the effects of incorporating solid vermicompost into the potting media to those of vermicompost water extract. The incorporation of vermicompost in the growing media of maritime pine increased germination by 16%, and particularly, addition of vermicompost water extract produced the best results. Plants germinated with vermicompost showed higher N content as compared to control plants, and this could have determined the faster maturation of the treated seedlings. Since the best effects on pine germination were observed after application of vermicompost water extract, other mechanisms, rather than the physical amelioration of the substrate, such as the presence of water soluble nutrients and organic compounds (i.e. humic acids and plant growth regulating substances) in the vermicompost, might be involved in the promotion of germination. We also report variation in the response of the different pine progenies to vermicompost application thereby confirming the necessity of taking into account genetic variability in order to study the potential of vermicompost and other biologically-active organic materials as a potting amendments.