%0 Research note
%T Influence of silvicultural regime on wood structure characteristics and mechanical properties of clear wood in Pinus sylvestris
%A Eriksson, Daniel
%A Lindberg, Henrik
%A Bergsten, Urban
%D 2006
%J Silva Fennica
%V 40
%N 4
%R doi:10.14214/sf.325
%U https://silvafennica.fi/article/325
%X The objective of the study presented here was to evaluate the influence  of two contrasting silvicultural regimes on the structural  characteristics and mechanical properties of different wood tissue types  at different heights in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) trees, and  reasons for these differences. Wood samples were taken from two stands  (a dense 85-year-old stand established by direct seeding and a  56-year-old widely spaced stand established by planting, designated SDR  and PWR, respectively in the boreal zone of Sweden). The wood properties  associated with the examined silvicultural regimes differed, in terms  of both structural characteristics (with up to fivefold differences  between SDR and PWR) and mechanical properties (with up to almost  threefold differences between SDR and PWR). Differences between the  regimes were highest for stiffness, followed by strength and hardness  properties and lowest for relative stiffness after 1000 h of loading  (creep) (with higher parameter values for SDR than for PWR in each  case). The rankings could be explained by differences among the  mechanical properties in their sensitivity to maturation of wood  characteristics. In conclusion, silvicultural regimes have great  potential to regulate wood structural characteristics and mechanical  properties, apparently due to the influences of the green crown and  growth rate on the vascular cambium, the strength of which vary  throughout the rotation period. A silvicultural regime could therefore  be seen as a tool that can be used to select material qualities and to  make wood a more homogenous material for engineers.