Vertical variations in wood basic density for two softwood species

European Journal of Forest Research - Studies on wood basic density (BD) vertical variations become essential to predict more accurately the within-stem distributions of biomass and wood quality in...     

Crown plasticity reduces inter-tree competition in a mixed broadleaved forest

The objective of the study was to analyse to which extent horizontal crown plasticity reduces inter-tree competition at stand scale, and how it relates to species growth strategy. Two components of crown plasticity defined at the individual tree level (crown shape distortion, CSD and crown displacement relative to stem, CRD) were analysed and their relative importance in the reduction of competition was quantified. Inter-tree competition at stand scale was estimated using spatial pattern analysis and crown overlap estimation. Measurements were performed in a mixed broadleaved stand of Western Europe. Crown plasticity was shown to regularise the spatial distribution of crowns in comparison with the corresponding stems and to reduce inter-tree competition by optimising space occupation. A significant reduction in crown overlap was observed, mainly due to CRD and secondarily to CSD. At the species level, CSD and CRD were positively correlated. In addition, both were negatively correlated with species shade-tolerance scores. In particular, three European temperate tree species showed contrasting responses, which were related to their known specific ecological strategies. Fagus sylvatica, known to be a highly shade-tolerant species, showed large crowns, low CSD and CRD, indicating a low plasticity and suggesting a strong competitive ability. At the opposite, Quercus sp., known to be clearly less shade-tolerant, exhibited a reduced growth, associated with high CSD and CRD, indicating high crown plasticity and probably a lower competitive ability. For this species, plasticity could be described as passive. Last, Carpinus betulus, known to have a relatively good shade-tolerance, showed a contrasting behaviour with high CSD and CRD and a strong presence in the stand, suggesting high crown plasticity and a good competitive ability. In that case, plasticity was described as rather adaptive.     

Measuring wood density by means of X-ray computer tomography

? Wood density is a characteristic of major interest. Usually, it is used as an indicator of wood quality; however, in the context of global change, it is increasingly used for biomass and carbon storage estimations. X-ray computer tomography is a method which enables quick estimates of wood density after applying a calibration procedure.

? A review of the literature is presented in this article. Most of the previous studies have been performed in the 80’s or at the beginning of the 90’s.

? In this study, the relationship between wood density and Hounsfield numbers was investigated using a recent medical scanner. A linear relationship was fitted using a calibration data set which consisted in tropical wood samples representing a large range of densities ranging between 133 and 1319 kg m^?3, and then validated using an independent data set (mainly temperate tree species). The fitted relationships were very strong (R ² > 0.999), whichever the tested scanner settings, with slight but significant effects of the current voltage and reconstruction filters. The RMSE values computed from the validation data set ranged between 5.4 and 7.7 kg m^?3 for densities ranging between 364 and 821 kg m^?3.

? In conclusion, this method of calibration enables the use of a medical scanner to obtain maps of wood density, in a fast and non destructive way, and with a very good accuracy. Very interesting perspectives are opened regarding biomass distribution within trees.

     

Patterns of within-stem variations in wood specific gravity and water content for five temperate tree species

? Key message

Intensive measurements of basic specific gravity and relative water content of lumens show that within-stem variations strongly depend on species and cannot be summarised through the typical patterns reported in the literature; breast height measurements are not always representative of the whole stem.

? Context

Knowledge of the distribution of wood properties within the tree is essential for understanding tree physiology as well as for biomass estimations and for assessing the quality of wood products.

? Aims

The radial and vertical variations of basic specific gravity (BSG) and relative water content of lumens (RWC _L ) were studied for five species: Quercus petraea/robur, Fagus sylvatica, Acer pseudoplatanus, Abies alba and Pseudotsuga menziesii. The observations were compared with typical patterns of variations reported in the literature.

? Methods

Wood discs were sampled regularly along tree stems and X-rayed in their fresh and oven-dry states.

? Results

At breast height, BSG was found to clearly increase radially (pith to bark) for two species and to decrease for one species. For F. sylvatica and A. alba, the radial variations of BSG were rather U-shaped, with in particular inner wood areas showing respectively lower and higher BSG than the corresponding mature wood. RWC _L increased generally from inner to outer area but wet sapwood was clearly distinguishable only for the coniferous species. Vertical variations of BSG and RWC _L were strongly dependant on the species with usually non-linear patterns.

? Conclusion

The observed variations of BSG were only partially in agreement with the reported typical radial patterns. Despite the vertical variations, the mean BSG of a cross-section at breast height appeared to be a good estimator of the mean BSG of the whole stem (although the difference was statistically significant for coniferous species), whereas breast height measurement of RWC _L was not representative of the whole stem.