The proportion of heartwood in conifer (Pinus sylvestris L., Picea abies [L.] H. Karst.) trunks and its influence on trunk wood moisture
2013
Millers, M., Latvian University of Agriculture, Jelgava (Latvia). Faculty of Forestry
As the tree age increases, the formation of heartwood takes place in the central part of the tree. Since there is a large difference in the moisture content between sapwood and heartwood in conifers, the proportion of heartwood expressed in percentage is one of the most important factors influencing the average moisture of trunk wood. The aim of the research was to find out the changes in parameters of heartwood proportion and the changes in average trunk wood moisture parameters, depending on the age of the tree. To evaluate and compare the heartwood proportion in pine and spruce trunk and its moisture, sample plots were established throughout the territory of Latvia in 2011. These sample plots were established in stands of different ages (37-143 years). The total number of sample plots was 61-29 for pines with 246 sample trees and 32 sample plots for spruces with 270 sample trees. With the increase in the tree age from 60 to 140 years, the heartwood proportion increases and the average moisture content of trunk wood decreases. With an increase of the heartwood proportion in pine from 18% to 39%, the average moisture of trunk wood decreases from 108% to 86%, but with an increase of the heartwood proportion in spruce from 30% to 49%, the average moisture content of trunk wood decreases from 107% to 81%.
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