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Effect of site silviculture and tree social status on internal checking variation in plantation-grown Eucalyptus nitens9.50 MB
Published VersionCC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Effect of site, silviculture and tree social status on internal checking variation in plantation-grown Eucalyptus nitens
Australian Forestry, Vol.87(2), pp.70-89
2024
Abstract
Internal checking is a wood-drying defect that affects many tree species, including eucalypts, and can adversely affect the recovery of high-quality timber. We studied the patterns of within- and between-tree variation in wood checking from three Eucalyptus nitens silvicultural trials and determined the predictability of wood checking from wood properties. We hypothesised that changed wind exposure and inter-tree competition due to thinning would increase wood checking. In total, 144 trees from two silvicultural treatments (thinned/unthinned) and three social status classes per site (dominant/subdominant/suppressed) were sampled. Regardless of site, social status and silvicultural treatment, longitudinal and radial variation within trees was the major source of variation in checking. Checking was concentrated longitudinally in bottom logs and radially in the middle of wedges, with a shift in checking towards the cambium in the thinned treatment. On average, dominant trees in the thinned treatment had higher levels of checking than dominant trees in unthinned treatments at all sites, but the opposite trend was found for suppressed trees. Wedge checking was poorly predicted using non-destructive traits assessed on standing trees. Our models accounted for at most 22% of the variation in wedge checking and the best predictors were the destructive measures of wedge collapse. With most checking occurring in lower logs, future studies should concentrate on reducing checking in bottom logs, which are typically pruned for clearwood products.
Details
- Title
- Effect of site, silviculture and tree social status on internal checking variation in plantation-grown Eucalyptus nitens
- Authors
- Manuel F Rocha-Sepulveda (Corresponding Author) - University of TasmaniaMario Vega - University of TasmaniaDean Williams - University of TasmaniaVilius Gendvilas - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Forest Research InstitutePeter A Harrison - University of TasmaniaRene E Vaillancourt - University of TasmaniaBrad M Potts - University of Tasmania
- Publication details
- Australian Forestry, Vol.87(2), pp.70-89
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis Australasia
- Date published
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.1080/00049158.2024.2341534
- ISSN
- 2325-6087; 0004-9158
- Copyright note
- © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
- Organisation Unit
- Forest Industries Research Centre; Forest Research Institute
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991024898702621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web Of Science research areas
- Forestry