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Thinning influences wood properties of plantation-grown Eucalyptus nitens at three sites in Tasmania
Citation
Gendvilas, V and Downes, GM and Neyland, M and Hunt, M and Harrison, PA and Jacobs, A and Williams, D and O-Reilly-Wapstra, J, Thinning influences wood properties of plantation-grown Eucalyptus nitens at three sites in Tasmania, Forests, 12, (10) Article 1304. ISSN 1999-4907 (2021) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2021 The Author(s) Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Abstract
Thinning of forestry plantations is a common silviculture practice to increase growth rates and to produce larger dimension logs. The wood properties, basic density and stiffness, are key indicators of the suitability of timber for particular purposes and ultimately determine timber value. The impact of thinning operations on wood properties is, therefore, of considerable interest to forest growers and timber producers. To date, studies examining the impact of thinning on wood properties have produced variable results and understanding the consistency of the effects of thinning treatments across various sites for important plantation species is limited. Two non-destructive assessment techniques, drilling resistance and acoustic wave velocity, were used to examine the impact of thinning on basic density and stiffness in 19–21-year-old plantation grown Eucalyptus nitens across three sites. Commercial thinning to 300 trees ha−1 decreased the stiffness of standing trees and this effect was consistent across the sites. Reduction in stiffness due to thinning ranged from 3.5% to 11.5%. There was no difference in wood properties between commercially and non-commercially thinned trees to 300 trees ha−1 and no difference in wood properties when thinned to 500 trees ha−1. Basic density was not affected by thinning. The site had significant effects on both basic density and stiffness, which were lowest at the highest precipitation and highest elevation site. The results indicate that wood properties are influenced both by silviculture and site environmental differences. This knowledge can be used for the better management of E. nitens resources for solid wood production.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | basic density, drilling resistance, Eucalyptus nitens, non-destructive wood testing, stiffness, thinning |
| Research Division: | Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences |
| Research Group: | Forestry sciences |
| Research Field: | Forestry management and environment |
| Objective Division: | Plant Production and Plant Primary Products |
| Objective Group: | Forestry |
| Objective Field: | Hardwood plantations |
| UTAS Author: | Gendvilas, V (Mr Vilius Gendvilas) |
| UTAS Author: | Neyland, M (Dr Mark Neyland) |
| UTAS Author: | Hunt, M (Professor Mark Hunt) |
| UTAS Author: | Harrison, PA (Dr Peter Harrison) |
| UTAS Author: | O-Reilly-Wapstra, J (Professor Julianne O'Reilly-Wapstra) |
| ID Code: | 147634 |
| Year Published: | 2021 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 2 |
| Deposited By: | Office of the School of Natural Sciences |
| Deposited On: | 2021-11-10 |
| Last Modified: | 2022-05-04 |
| Downloads: | 5 View Download Statistics |
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