The quantification of the contribution of tropical forests to global carbon stocks and climate change mitigation requires availability of data and tools such as allometric equations. This study made available volume and biomass models for eighteen tree species in a semi-deciduous tropical forest in West Africa. Generic models were also developed for the forest ecosystem, and basic wood density determined for the tree species. Non-destructive sampling approach was carried out on five hundred and one sample trees to analyse stem volume and biomass. From the modelling of volume and biomass as functions of diameter at breast height (Dbh) and stem height, logarithmic models had better predictive capabilities. The model validation showed that in absence of data on height, models using Dbh only as variable was an alternative. The comparison of basic wood densities to data published in literature enabled to conclude that the non-destructive sampling was a good approach to determining reliable basic wood density. The comparative analysis of species-specific models in this study with selected generic models for tropical forests indicated low probability to identify effective generic models with good predictive ability for biomass. Given tree species richness of tropical forests, the study demonstrated the hypothesis that species-specific models are preferred to generic models, and concluded that further research should be oriented towards development of specific models to cover the full range of dominant tree species of African forests.
The objective of this study was to investigate basic density and its within-stem variation by studying 84 European aspen stems from 28 forest stands in Latvia. The studied forest stands covered all age classes from young stands to matured forests in representative growth conditions of European aspen. The densities of 2722 wood and 1022 bark specimens were measured from the sampled trees. Only the knot-free wood specimens without obvious wood defects were chosen for analyses. A map of basic density summarizing its radial and axial variations was constructed to show species-specific, within-stem variability and the relationships between density and tree and stand variables were examined. Stem wood and bark of the European aspen show different patterns of basic density variation along the tree stem. Wood density increases from pith to bark up to certain dimensions and shows a slight decrease afterwards. The weighted basic density of bark (446 ± 39.6 kg m–3) was higher than stem wood density (393 ± 30.4 kg m–3). Our results suggest that wood and bark density measurements obtained at breast height can be used for reliable estimation of the densities of whole-tree stem components, while tree parameters such as diameter at breast height (DBH), tree height and social status or stand parameters, including number of trees, basal area and age, are weak predictors in this context.
Initial fertilisation, when the fertilizer is supplied during the plantation, is applied to improve the competitive ability of the seedlings and hence to increase their growth and productivity; however, fertilization could also alter wood properties and timber quality. In this study, the dimensions and tree-ring parameters – width, proportion of latewood, maximum and mean density, mean earlywood and latewood density – of initially fertilized (by 14, 6 and 11 g of N, P and K per seedling, respectively) Norway spruce (Picea abies Karst.) growing in an experimental plantation in Kalsnava, Latvia (temperate climate region) were assessed. The fertilization significantly increased the dimensions of trees in long-term (ca. 17% increase of stemwood volume). The analysis of tree-ring width suggested that the duration of the effect was ca. 15 years. The maximum and latewood density were higher for the fertilized trees only in a few years. The mean and earlywood density of tree-rings were mainly similar for both treatments. Altogether, considering the one-time application of a limited amount of fertilizer, such treatment had notable and lasting effect on Norway spruce.
The purpose of the study was to determine the effects of the origin of seeds and the location of cultivation of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) on certain properties particularly important to the pulp industry. The research material consisted of six parallel trials of the same 12 provenances. Increment cores were taken of a total of 1,267 sample trees, 19 years old. The location of the trial site generally affected the properties to a larger extent than the origin of the seed. The effect of the variation of wood density and fibre yield on the cultivation values of the provenances was only a few percentages on average, however, at most the effect was nearly 10%. Eastern Finnish provenances adapted well to western Finnish conditions.
The PDF includes an abstract in Finnish and French.