Resistance of wood from black pine (Pinus nigra var. austriaca) against weathering

Abstract

At present tapped wood of black pines (Pinus nigra var. austriaca) is mainly combusted. The priority of material use over thermal recycling has led to some considerations regarding the utilization of tapped wood. The high content of extractives suggests a higher natural durability, and therefore, the suitability for outdoor applications. Tapped and not tapped wood boards from black pine (sapwood and heartwood) were subjected to weathering tests to find out its resistance against abiotic stress. Additionally tapped wood particles with a high content of resin were exposed to weathering and to composting. Weathering caused roughness to increase. Infrared spectral characteristics revealed the differences before and after tapping and weathering. Principal component analyses supported the grouping according to the chemical changes. In heartwood the lignin band at 1510 cm − 1 disappears and the typical resin band at 1688 cm − 1 decreases considerably. The lignin band of resinous parts is affected neither by weathering nor by composting. However, the resin band shows an intensity decrease and broadening due to weathering and disappears during composting.

Infrared spectral characterization of the molecular wood decay in terms of age

“…According to the loadings plot of the PLS regression (not shown), an additional region between 1690 and 1610 cm −1 was included for the Larix model. The band region is affected by the carbonyl-stretch vibration of resin acids (Tintner and Smidt 2018). As the root-mean-squared errors (RMSE) of the random forest models were always smaller than the ones of PLS regression, only the results of the random forest approach are presented here.…”

The effect of bedrock and species mixture on wood density and radial wood increment in pubescent oak and black pine

“…On the other hand, there are several currently dominant tree species in the Mediterranean that are projected partly to fill the gaps, such as Quercus ilex, Pinus pinaster, Pinus halepensis, Pinus nigra, Castanea sativa and Quercus pubescens (Buras and Menzel, 2019). While the ecological relevance of these species has been recognized in the Mediterranean regions, their expected increasing importance as a replacement of locally declining tree species in Central Europe has generated considerable interest in their wood properties in recent years, as can be observed for Q. pubescens and P. nigra (Todaro et al, 2015;Dias et al, 2018;Tintner and Smidt, 2018;Humar et al, 2020). In Slovenia, too, longterm monitoring of tree growth, wood properties and carbon-water fluxes at the ecosystem level has been continuously carried out in the drought-sensitive sub-Mediterranean region to better understand the effect of climate on future tree performance and woody biomass (Ferlan et al, 2011;Vodnik et al, 2019, e.g.…”

Reduced Temperature Sensitivity of Maximum Latewood Density Formation in High-Elevation Corsican Pines under Recent Warming

“…The drought-and frost-tolerant P. nigra [15,16] may reach ages up to 850 years [7], ranking these trees among the oldest in the Mediterranean Basin [17]. Particularly resistant to parasites and decomposition due to their high resin content [18], relict pine stems can remain for centuries on the rocky slopes (Figure 2b). The presence of these well-preserved trunks in the vicinity of old living stands offers the opportunity to develop multi-centennial tree-ring chronologies.…”