WOOD RESEARCH Volume 68, Number 2, 2023
Karol Tomczak, Przemysław Mania, and Arkadiusz Tomczak

Quality of beech, birch and oak wood from stands growing on post-agricultural lands

This study assessed the quality of birch, beech, and oak for timber production on former agricultural land. All sample plots for the selected species had the same forest habitat type. All measured trees had already reached the age of felling. Thus, beech was over 120 years old, birch was over 70 years old, and oak was over 140 years old. On each plot, the same morphological features were measured for all trees: diameter at breast height, tree height, height of the first dead branch, height of the first live branch, and crown base. Based on collected data the length and percentage of the trunk suitable for industrial purposes were calculated. In general birch and beech trees from former agricultural land were higher, but had thinner trunks, when in oak reverse observation were noticed. Tree trunks from former agricultural lands have app. 7% shorter knots-free trunk section. The bigger different between forest and former agricultural land was noticed in case of the oak – 14%, then beech – 5% and birch – 1%. Considering the morphological characteristics of the trees and quality indicators, we showed that all species could be used for the afforestation of former agricultural lands to produce high-quality wood for future industrial purposes. However, it should be noticed, that in general calculated standing volume was lower on former agricultural land.

WOOD RESEARCH Volume 62, Number 5, 2017
Diaz-Maroto I.J., Vila-Lameiro P., and Tahir S.

Assessment of anatomical characteristics of wood – bark, sapwood and heartwood – in hardwoods species of Galician oaks by image processing: Relationship with age

Our work on the physical properties of wood in hardwood species, Quercus robur L., Q. petraea (Matts) Liebl., and Q. pyrenaica Willd., for study its use in cooperage, began with the proportion appraisal of bark, sapwood, and heartwood, and its relationship with age, to know and assess the variation thereof in the Galician oaks. To properly perform our study, it was necessary to fell several Quercus trees within the study area (Galicia, NW Spain). In total, 45 trees were selected in 15 different stands located in the Galician provinces of Lugo and Ourense, from which we obtained 45 slices of wood at 60 cm height on the tree trunk. There are many anatomical differences between hardwood and softwood species; however wood parts of a tree system are common to both. The analysis of different proportions of bark, sapwood, and heartwood made it possible to reveal: i) the rapid growth of Quercus pyrenaica gives rise to the formation of large proportion of heartwood in a few years; ii) Quercus petraea has the largest proportion of heartwood, but the studied trees are older and their growth is slower than the other species; iii) Quercus robur has an intermediate growth between the other two species. Therefore, our aim was to carry out a complete description of these parts of the wood, later, in upcoming work estimate their physical properties for use in cooperage industry.

WOOD RESEARCH Volume 63, Number 5, 2018
Miguel Ángel Cárdenas-Gutiérrez, Fabiola Eugenia Pedraza-Bucio, Pablo López-Albarrán, José G. Rutiaga-Quiñones, Fermin Correa-Méndez, Artemio Carrillo-Parra, and Rafael Herrera-Bucio

Chemical components of the branches of six hardwood species

The biomass generated from tree pruning or derived from the forest exploitations could be susceptible to chemical use and studies on chemical composition in tree branches are scarce. Therefore, in this investigation the biomass of the branches of six hardwood species (Alnus acuminata, A. jorullensis, Quercus candicans, Q. laurina, Q. rugosa and Symplocos citrea), derived from the forest use by the indigenous community of Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro from Michoacan State, Mexico, were used. The chemical composition in wood and bark was determined and the tannin content was evaluated by two methods of extraction: aqueous extraction and ethanolic extraction. In general, the results obtained varied as follows: pH (4.25-5.19), ash (0.08-10.23%), total extractives (6.9-49.5%), solubility to soda (25.36-70.9%), Runkel lignin (17.64-47.33 %), holocellulose (32.74-86.51%), alpha-cellulose (30.58-61.20%), tannins (0.26-10.67% by aqueous extraction, 0.23-12.21% by ethanolic extraction). No heavy metals were detected in the ash. The bark of Quercus candicans and Q. laurina, could be used for the extraction of tannins.