Sinuous stem growth in a Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) plantation: growth patterns and wood-quality effects

2000 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 761-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Spicer ◽  
B L Gartner ◽  
R L Darbyshire

Stem sinuosity is thought to negatively impact wood quality, but no studies have characterized its vertical and radial effects on wood properties. Here we study wood quality along the entire stem in 25-year-old plantation-grown Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) trees (32 trees total) that had been scored for sinuosity at age 12. We also study compression wood formation in the radial direction for one internode that had been scored for sinuosity at age 12 and subsequently produced 13 more annual rings. Trees with highly sinuous leaders at age 12 were more likely to be sinuous in other years, and developed more slope of grain defect (approximately 15% log volume) than less sinuous trees, but did not differ in the size of the pith-containing core. Leaders originally scored as highly sinuous developed more compression wood than control trees but only near the pith. Internode length did not differ among sinuosity classes. The size of the pith deviations (radial distance from centreline) remained constant up the stem despite a decline in internode length. However, the frequency of pith deviations was highest at 10-15 years, when internode length reached a peak. The relationship between temporal patterns of growth rate, sinuosity, and tree biomechanics deserves further attention.

2001 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 847-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mi Kwon ◽  
Diana L. Bedgar ◽  
William Piastuch ◽  
Laurence B. Davin ◽  
Norman G. Lewis

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 1536-1546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas K. Ukrainetz ◽  
Kyu-Young Kang ◽  
Sally N. Aitken ◽  
Michael Stoehr ◽  
Shawn D. Mansfield

Genetic control and relationships among coastal Douglas-fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii) growth and wood quality traits were assessed by estimating heritability and phenotypic and genetic correlations using 600 trees representing 15 full-sib families sampled from four progeny test sites. Heritability estimates ranged from 0.23 to 0.30 for growth traits, 0.19 for fibre coarseness, from 0.21 to 0.54 for wood density, from 0.16 to 0.97 for cell wall carbohydrates, and 0.79 and 0.91 for lignin content at two sites, Squamish River and Gold River, respectively. Glucose content, indicative of cell wall cellulose composition, and lignin were shown to be under strong genetic control, whereas fibre coarseness was shown to be under weak genetic control. Phenotypic correlations revealed that larger trees generally have longer fibres with higher fibre coarseness, lower density, lower carbohydrate content, a greater proportion of cell wall lignin, and higher microfibril angle. Genetic correlations and correlated response to selection suggest that breeding for height growth would result in a reduction in wood quality, whereas breeding for improved earlywood density in Douglas-fir would result in negligible reductions in volume and appears to be an ideal target for selecting for improved wood quality (density) while maintaining growth in the sample population.


IAWA Journal ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Starbuck ◽  
John E. Phelps

A study was conducted to determine if exogenously applied indole-3-acetic acid would stimulate symmetric or asymmetric compression wood formation in stems of rooted cuttings of Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco. Dormant two-year-old rooted cuttings were decapitated one cm below the terminal bud and treated with IAA in lanolin emulsion. Plants treated with IAA at 1 or 10 mg/g concentrations produced up to 25 rows of new xylem cells during the three week treatment period, while control plants produced essentially none. Compression wood formation was greater on the upper (originally adaxial) than on the lower side of the stem. The results support the hypothesis that basal curvature of rooted Douglas-fir cuttings is the result of a system developing a transverse gradient in auxin content in the stem leading to asymmetric compression wood formation.


1966 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. G. Smith ◽  
L. Heger ◽  
J. Hejjas

Widths of earlywood and latewood in each annual ring, measured on an average radius on a disk taken halfway between each branch whorl, were analyzed to define their variation in 18 Douglas-fir trees (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco). Distribution of ring width and percentage latewood also was investigated in these trees which had from 20 to 50 whorls above stump height. Multiple regression and correlation analyses showed that number of rings from pith, and its reciprocal, square, or logarithm accounted for most of the variation in radial growth. Number of rings from pith influenced thickness of both earlywood and latewood much more than the climatic differences reflected by variations in annual height growth and in widths of earlywood and latewood formed at breast height in the same calendar year. Since earlywood and latewood are distributed differently and controlled by different factors, they should be studied separately within annual rings. The statistical methods used in this study provide a simple, efficient, and comprehensive basis for thoroughly describing growth patterns, and for objectively analyzing factors that govern growth.


1983 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
David K. Yamaguchi

Distinctive patterns of growth rings in increment cores from old-growth Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) stands identify A.D. 1800 as a more precise date for the eruption of tephra layer T by Mount St. Helens, Washington. Layer T was previously inferred to date to about A.D. 1802. Growth patterns also establish A.D. 1480 as the date of eruption of the earlier layer Wn, previously estimated as dating to about A.D. 1500. The timing of radial tree growth places a small limitation on the seasonal resolution of these new tree-ring dates.


2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Lachenbruch ◽  
Fernando Droppelmann ◽  
Claudio Balocchi ◽  
Miguel Peredo ◽  
Erika Perez

The crooked stems of some individuals of radiata pine ( Pinus radiata D. Don) can hinder volume recovery and wood quality. To infer causes of crookedness and to learn how lean angle affects compression wood (CW) formation we studied 5-year-old trees in southern Chile. Eight initially straight and eight initially crooked trees were tethered initially to angles of 15° or 30° or were left untethered for 131 days (48 trees total). There were no significant differences between straight and crooked trees in the extent of CW in pretreatment wood or in the relationship between stem angle and CW extent. Crooked trees, however, righted themselves more quickly than did straight trees at angles <15°, a result that supports the overcompensation hypothesis for the development of crooked stems. Stem angle had a complex effect on CW extent. In 2- to 3-year-old wood there was no meaningful effect of angle on CW extent. One-year-old wood produced less CW at stem angles <10° than at stem angles >10°, but above or below that threshold, there was no meaningful effect of angle on CW extent. The intertree differences in CW extent, as well as the correlation of leader CW extent with bole CW in the best individuals, suggests that CW assays could be used for early screening for wood quality.


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