Wood Properties of Young Acacia mangium Trees Planted in Indonesia

Abstract

This study evaluated the wood properties of 5- and 7-year-old Acacia mangium trees planted in West Java, Indonesia. A plot (20 by 20 m) was selected in each stand. The stem diameter and stress-wave velocity (SWV) were measured for all trees (n = 24 and 18 for 5- and 7-y-old trees, respectively) in the plots. Core samples were taken from all trees in each plot using an increment borer to measure the basic density (BD) and compressive strength parallel to the grain (CS). The mean ± standard deviation stem diameter was 13.1 ± 3.0 and 21.9 ± 3.8 cm in 5- and 7-year-old trees, respectively. There was no significant correlation between stem diameter and SWV. The mean BD and CS for 5-year-old trees were 0.42 ± 0.02 g cm−3 and 30.0 ± 4.4 MPa, respectively, and for 7-year-old trees were 0.45 ± 0.02 g cm−3 and 32.8 ± 3.6 MPa, respectively. There was a positive correlation between BD and CS in 5- and 7-year-old trees (r = 0.790 and 0.583, respectively). The radial variation patterns for BD and CS were similar in 5- and 7-year-old trees: BD and CS gradually increased to about 6 cm from the pith, after which it was almost constant toward the bark. The results suggest that xylem maturation depends on the growth diameter in A. mangium.

Effects of radial growth rate on anatomical characteristics and wood properties of 10-year-old <i>Dysoxylum mollissimum</i> trees planted in Bengkulu, Indonesia

“…4). The results obtained in the present study were similar to those obtained in research on other tropical hardwood species (Ishiguri et al 2012b, Makino et al 2012, Istikowati et al 2014. Furthermore, as shown in Table 2, no significant differences in basic density were found among growth categories.…”

“…It has been reported that xylem maturation depends on the diameter growth in tropical fast-growing tree species, such as A. mangium, F. moluccana, and others (Honjo et al 2005, Kojima et al 2009a, Makino et al 2012, Nugroho et al 2012. On the other hand, xylem maturation depends on cambial age in some tropical species that are not considered to be fast-growing species, such as Shorea acuminatissima and Tectona grandis (Ishiguri et al 2012b.…”

“…In the case of softwood species grown in the temperate zone, tracheid length and microfibril angle which are closely related to the physical and mechanical properties of wood, become stable after the 15th to the 20th annual ring from the pith, suggesting that xylem maturation in temperate softwood species depends on cambial age (Watanabe et al 1963). Several researchers have investigated the xylem maturation process in tropical hardwood species (Honjo et al 2005, Kojima et al 2009a, Ishiguri et al 2012b, Nugroho et al 2012, Makino et al 2012). Researches have shown that the maturation process in some fast-growing species, such as Acacia mangium, A. auriculiformis, and Falcataria moluccana, depends on the diameter growth (Honjo et al 2005, Kojima et al 2009a, Makino et al 2012, Nugroho et al 2012.…”

“…For example, basic density TROPICS Vol. 25 (1) became stable after about 6 cm from the pith in A. mangium trees with different diameter sizes and ages (Makino et al 2012). However, xylem maturation of some tropical hardwood species, such as Shorea acuminatissima and Tectona grandis, depends on cambial age (Ishiguri et al 2012b.…”

“…Measurement of stress-wave velocity is one nondestructive method for evaluating the Young's modulus of wood (Nanami et al 1993, Ikeda and Arima 2000, Dickson et al 2003, Wang et al 2004). In addition, as a semidestructive method, some researchers have used core samples obtained with a core borer to investigate anatomical characteristics and wood properties, including wood strength (Lin et al 2007, Ishiguri et al 2012b, Makino et al 2012.…”