Wood-density variation of Norway spruce in relation to nutrient optimization and fibre dimensions

2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harri Mäkinen ◽  
Pekka Saranpää ◽  
Sune Linder

The effect of fertilization on wood density, fibre length, fibre diameter, lumen diameter, proportion of cell wall area, and cell wall thickness of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) were studied in a nutrient optimization experiment in northern Sweden. On the fertilized plots, all essential macronutrients and micronutrients were supplied in irrigation water every second day during the growing season. After 12 years' treatment, data were collected from 24 trees (40 years old) on the fertilized and control plots. Fertilization increased radial growth more than threefold, especially earlywood width, and decreased wood density by over 20% at 1.3 and 4 m height. The decrease in wood density was closely related to the proportion of latewood. The absolute wood density also decreased across the whole annual ring but proportionately more in latewood than in earlywood. A close relationship was found between the wood density and fibre properties, especially with the proportion of cell wall in a cross section of each annual ring, as well as with fibre and lumen width. The absolute cell wall thickness was clearly less related to wood density. However, rather large variations were found between individual trees in the relationship between wood density and fibre properties.

Holzforschung ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 449-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Mäkinen ◽  
P. Saranpää ◽  
S. Linder

Summary To study the effect of growth rate on fibre characteristics and their variations in Norway spruce, trees were sampled in a nutrient optimisation experiment in northern Sweden. Data was collected from 24 trees (40 years old) from fertilised and control plots after 12 years of annual nutrient application, as well as from older trees outside the experimental area. Fibre length, fibre diameter, cell wall thickness, lumen diameter and cell wall percentage were measured from every third annual ring at breast height and at a height of 4 m. Fibre properties, as well as their standard deviation, were closely related to ring number and distance from the pith. Intra-ring variation of fibre characteristics was high compared to their variation between trees. Fertilisation reduced fibre length and cell wall thickness, but increased fibre and lumen diameter in rings of the same age. The difference in fibre width, cell wall thickness and lumen diameter between fertilised and control trees was less apparent, but a greater difference in fibre length was found between the treatments with regard to distance from the pith. There was a similar effect of fertilisation on fibre properties in early- and latewood. The effect of enhanced growth rate was less pronounced at a height of 4 m (near the pith) than at breast height (in older rings). It was demonstrated that it is possible to model intra-tree variability of fibre characteristics using ring width and cambial age as independent variables. Models presented are, however, limited by the relatively young age of the sample trees used.


Wood Research ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 912-920
Author(s):  
MOHAMMAD DAHMARDEH GHALEHNO ◽  
BABAK NOSRATI SHESHKAL ◽  
FARHAD KOOL ◽  
MIHA HUMAR ◽  
MOHSEN BAHMANI

The goal of this research is to investigate some morphological (fibre length, fibre diameter, cell wall thickness, Runkel coefficient, flexibility coefficient, slenderness coefficient, rigidity coefficient, Luce's coefficient, solid coefficient), physical (dry wood density, volumetric shrinkage) and chemical (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, ash and acetone soluble extractives contents) composition of Konar (Ziziphus spina-christi) wood grown in Hormozgan province, Iran. For this purpose, three normal trees were selected randomly and a disk was cut from each one at breast height. Anatomical inspection revealed that the species was diffuse porous, with distinctive growth rings, simple preformation plate, with polygonal openings, and banded or diffuse-in aggregates parenchyma. The average values of wood dry density, fiber length, fiber diameter, cell wall thickness, Runkel coefficient, flexibility coefficient, felting coefficient, Luce’s coefficient, solid coefficient, rigidity coefficient were 0.926, 52.1, 77.85, 0.57, 163 ×103 μ3 and 0.48. Cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, acetone soluble, extractives, ashcontents were43.34, 19.98, 33.9, 6.42 and 2.78%, resp.


2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 1156-1172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roderick D Ball ◽  
Mike S McConchie ◽  
Dave J Cown

Wood anatomical characteristics of twenty-nine 6-year-old Pinus radiata D. Don trees, selected to represent the extremes of intraring checking, were assessed with SilviScan. Derived ring-level summary variables were calculated from the SilviScan pith-to-bark wood property traces, based on ring means, standard deviations, and quantiles. Incidence of checking was assessed on discs that had been oven dried using a standardized method, and evidence for associations between wood characteristics and checking was evaluated at the tree and ring level using Bayesian statistical methods. Bayes factors of 39.1, 14.9, and 7.8 were obtained at the tree level, representing moderate to good evidence for associations between ring medians of wood density, tracheid radial diameter, and cell wall thickness, respectively. Increasing wood density, decreasing tracheid radial diameter, and increasing cell wall thickness were associated with reduced incidence of checking. These are parameters expected a priori to contribute to tracheid cells' resistance to collapse under drying stresses. A generalized linear model with radial diameter and cell wall thickness as independent variables had a concordance of 83% for predicting the checking status of trees.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Baison ◽  
Linghua Zhou ◽  
Nils Forsberg ◽  
Tommy Mörling ◽  
Thomas Grahn ◽  
...  

Abstract Through the use of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) mapping it is possible to establish the genetic basis of phenotypic trait variation. Our GWAS study presents the first such effort in Norway spruce (Picea abies (L). Karst.) for the traits related to wood tracheid characteristics. The study employed an exome capture genotyping approach that generated 178 101 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) from 40 018 probes within a population of 517 Norway spruce mother trees. We applied a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) based association mapping method using a functional multi-locus mapping approach, with a stability selection probability method as the hypothesis testing approach to determine significant Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs). The analysis has provided 30 significant associations, the majority of which show specific expression in wood-forming tissues or high ubiquitous expression, potentially controlling tracheids dimensions, their cell wall thickness and microfibril angle. Among the most promising candidates based on our results and prior information for other species are: Picea abies BIG GRAIN 2 (PabBG2) with a predicted function in auxin transport and sensitivity, and MA_373300g0010 encoding a protein similar to wall-associated receptor kinases, which were both associated with cell wall thickness. The results demonstrate feasibility of GWAS to identify novel candidate genes controlling industrially-relevant tracheid traits in Norway spruce.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 415
Author(s):  
Josefin A. Nilsson ◽  
Grace Jones ◽  
Charlotta Håkansson ◽  
Åsa Blom ◽  
Johan Bergh

This study investigates wood density and anatomy of juvenile silver birch stems in Sweden, grown in mixed conifer stands. Our aim is to investigate if fertilization provides increased growth, as well as an eventual reduction in stem wood density. Measurements of basic density, ring width, cell wall thickness, and vessels are analyzed for 20 birch trees. Bark to pith radial sections are analyzed using a light microscope and the freeware ImageJ to compare treatments and ages. The results show that trees with fertilizer treatment have wider growth rings and thinner cell wall thickness compared to unfertilized trees. The fertilized trees also have a lower cambium age at the same height and the same diameter, and a slightly lower stem mean density (420 kg m−3) than the unfertilized stems (460 kg m−3). Fertilizer is a significant determinant of density and cell wall thickness in nonlinear models. The fertilized trees have increased growth and reached a fixed diameter earlier. The age difference between the trees likely explains some of the differences in cell wall thickness. This study supports the use of fertilizer as a silvicultural option for increasing the growth rate of silver birch for a relatively small reduction of wood density.


Holzforschung ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinmei Xu ◽  
Jianxiong Lu ◽  
Fucheng Bao ◽  
Robert Evans ◽  
Geoffrey M. Downes

Abstract Dimensions of dated tree rings are an important tool of dendroclimatology. However, the relationships between climatic variables and cell diameter and cell wall thickness are not yet clearly elaborated. In the present article, year-to-year cell characteristics, ring width, and wood density of Picea crassifolia trees growing in northwestern China have been measured with high resolution by means of the instrument SilviScan-3. The response function analysis showed that climate explained 51% of the variation of cell radial diameter chronology, 48% of wood density, 40% of cell wall thickness, and 37% of ring width. Cell wall thickness and wood density responded significantly and positively to temperature, and the response to precipitation was negative, while the opposite was true for cell radial diameter and ring width. Cell wall thickness and wood density were pronounced (statistically significant) to temperature in September and precipitation in May and August. Cell radial diameter responded significantly to temperature in June and July, and precipitation, in August. For ring width, the temperature in July was important. Accordingly, cell characteristics are sensitive to climate, and the findings could be useful in the field of dendroclimatology.


2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 703-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Lenz ◽  
Alain Cloutier ◽  
John MacKay ◽  
Jean Beaulieu

We investigated the genetic control of wood properties as a function of cambial age to enable improvement of juvenile wood attributes in white spruce ( Picea glauca (Moench) Voss). Increment cores were taken from 375 trees randomly selected from 25 open-pollinated families in a provenance–progeny trial repeated on three sites. High-resolution pith-to-bark profiles were obtained for microfibril angle (MFA), modulus of elasticity (MOE), wood density, tracheid diameter and cell wall thickness, fibre coarseness, and specific fibre surface with the SilviScan technology. Heritability estimates indicated that genetic control of cell anatomy traits and wood density increased with cambial age, whereas the genetic control of MFA and MOE remained relatively low across growth rings. Wood density, radial cell diameter, cell wall thickness, and specific fibre surface were highly heritable, indicating that significant genetic gains could be expected in tree improvement programs, although cambial age at selection may strongly influence the magnitude of realized gains. In contrast, growth-related properties, such as ring width, core length, and tree height, gave weak or nonsignificant heritability estimates. Adverse correlations between mechanical strength and properties related to paper quality suggest that breeding strategies must incorporate both types of traits to improve white spruce wood quality for different end uses.


2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (No. 3) ◽  
pp. 113-124
Author(s):  
Noorollah Nazari ◽  
Mohsen Bahmani ◽  
Saleh Kahyani ◽  
Miha Humar

This study investigated the influence of site conditions on the physical and morphological properties of hawthorn (Crataegus azarolus L.) wood grown in Zagros forests of Iran. Hawthorn is a valuable woody species in Iran’s Zagros forests with data deficiency in its wood properties. To our best knowledge, there is no study on the properties of hawthorn wood. Twenty-seven mature trees were randomly chosen and sampled at three altitude levels (1 800–2 000, 2 000–2 200, and 2 200–2 400 m) in the Bazoft region of Chaharmahal Va Bakhtiari, Iran. Dry wood density, volumetric shrinkage, fibre length, fibre diameter, cell wall thickness were then determined. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to evaluate significant differences between the mean values of studied wood properties at different altitude levels and slope classes. Moreover, the relationships between the above-mentioned properties and some site conditions (temperature, precipitation, altitude, and slope) as well as growth parameters of trees (tree height, DBH, age, crown dimensions, volume, etc.) were studied by principal component analysis (PCA). The results indicated that trees growing at the second altitude level had the highest oven-dry density values, and those at the third altitude level had the lowest ones. Results also indicated a significant effect of altitude levels on fibre length, fibre diameter, and cell wall thickness. In contrast, a significant difference was found between the mean values of fibre diameter at different slope classes. PCA indicated that altitude, precipitation, and temperature are the most important environmental site variables affecting the wood characteristics.


2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Puentes Rodriguez ◽  
A. Zubizarreta Gerendiain ◽  
A. Pappinen ◽  
H. Peltola ◽  
P. Pulkkinen

In forest breeding, growth has been used as the main selection trait in Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.), whereas wood properties or resistance to pathogens have been taken as secondary traits. We aimed to investigate, in laboratory conditions, the rate of wood decay caused by Heterobasidion parviporum (Fr.) Niemelä & Korhonen (strains 5 and 7) in 20 Norway spruce clones. We also studied if, on average, growth, wood density, and fibre properties differed in the most and least decayed clones as well as from pith to bark. After 6 months of incubation, strain 7 effected significantly higher wood decay than strain 5 (mean 16.9% and 1.7%, respectively). The difference between the five most decayed and five least decayed clones by strain 7 was also statistically significant (P < 0.05). Moreover, regardless of clone or strain, the wood decay was highest near the pith and lowest near the bark, which is the opposite for wood density and fibre length and width. However, neither wood density nor fibre properties explained, statistically, the differences in average wood decay and decay from pith to bark. On the other hand, we could identify clones that simultaneously provided high wood quantity and relatively high wood density and low decay rate.


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