Effects of Early Pruning on Ring Specific Gravity in Young Loblolly Pine Trees

Authors

  • Harold E. Burkhart Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6232-7015
  • Ralph L. Amateis Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)

Keywords:

Pruning, wood density, juvenile wood, mature wood, Pinus taeda

Abstract

Juvenile wood is not well suited for use in many forest products. Understanding factors that affect the formation of juvenile and mature wood is important when managing commercially important conifer species. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the contribution of ring age, relative height in the stem, and crown position (within or not within the green crown) on ring specific gravity of loblolly pine trees pruned at young ages. A designed experiment consisting of five treatments, control; prune at age 3 yr, age 6 yr, or age 9 yr; and at ages 3,6, and 9 yr, was established at two locations in the Piedmont region of Virginia. Wood samples were acquired at three heights along the stem 15 yr after planting. Results showed that differences in ring specific gravity of the treated plots (Half of green crown removed at each scheduled pruning) were significantly higher than that of the control plots. All variables of ring age, relative height and ring position of within or not within the green crown, were statistically significant. The results suggest that cambial age, maturation, and proximity to green crown are important for controlling whole-ring specific gravity in loblolly pine trees. 

 

Author Biographies

Harold E. Burkhart, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)

Professor

Ralph L. Amateis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech)

Research Associate

References

REFERENCES

Abdel-Gadir A, Krahmer RL (1993) Estimating the age of demarcation of juvenile and mature wood in Douglas-fir. Wood Fiber Sci 25:242-249.

Amarasekara H, Denne MP (2002) Effects of crown size on wood characteristics of Corsican pine in relation to definitions of juvenile wood, crown formed wood and core wood. Forestry 75:51-61.

Amateis RL, Burkhart HE (2011) Growth of young loblolly pine trees following pruning. For Ecol Mgmt 262: 2338-2343.

Antony F, Jordan L, Daniels RF, Schimleck LR, Clark A III, Hall DB (2009) Effect of mid-rotation fertilization on growth and specific gravity of loblolly pine. Can J Res 39: 928-935.

Auty D, Achim A, Macdonald E, Cameron AD, Gardiner BA (2014) Models for predicting wood density variation in Scots pine. Forestry 87:449-558.

Bendtsen BA, Senft J (1986) Mechanical and anatomical properties in individual growth rings of plantation-grown eastern cottonwood and loblolly pine. Wood Fiber Sci 18: 23-38.

Burdon RD, Kibblewhite RP, Walker JCF, Megraw RA, Evans R, Cown DJ (2004) Juvenile versus mature wood: A new concept, orthogonal to corewood versus outerwood, with special reference to Pinus radiata and P. taeda. Forest Sci 50:399-415.

Clark A III, Saucier JR (1989) Influence of initial planting density, geographic location, and species on juvenile wood formation in southern pine. Forest Prod J 39(7/8):42-48.

Clark A III, Saucier JR (1991) Influence of planting density, intensive culture, geographic location, and species on juvenile wood formation in southern pine. Ga Forest Res Pap 85, Georgia Forestry Commission, Macon, GA. 13 pp.

Clark A III, Daniels RF, Jordan L (2006) Juvenile/mature wood transition in loblolly pine as defined by annual ring specific gravity, proportion of latewood, and microfibril angle. Wood Fiber Sci 38:292-299.

Cown DJ, Clement BC (1983) A wood densitometer using direct scanning with X-rays. Wood Sci Technol 17:91-99.

Cregg BM, Dougherty PM, Hennessey TC (1988) Growth and wood quality of young loblolly pine trees in relation to stand density and climatic factors. Can J Res 18:851-858.

Dahlen J, Auty D, Eberhardt TL (2018) Models for predicting specific gravity and ring width for loblolly pine from intensively managed plantations, and implications for wood utilization. Forests 9:292.

Gartner BL, Robbins JM, Newton M (2005) Effects of pruning on wood density and tracheid length in young Douglas-fir. Wood Fiber Sci 37:304-313.

Gartner BL, North EM, Johnson GR, Singleton R (2002) Effects of live crown on vertical patterns of wood densityand growth in Douglas-fir. Can J Res 32:439-447.

Gorman TM, Kretschmann DE, Green DW, Wiemann MC (2018) Effect of site characteristics on juvenile wood transition in lodgepole pine in the inland northwest. Wood Fiber Sci 50:180-192.

Greenwood MS (1995) Juvenility and maturation in conifers: Current concepts. Tree Physiol 15:433-438.

Hayatgheibi H, Forsberg NEG, Lundqvist S-O, Morling T, Mellerowicz EJ, Karlsson B, Wu HX, Garcıa-Gil MR (2018) Genetic control of transition from juvenile to mature wood with respect to microfibril angle in Norway spruce (Picea abies) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta). Can J Res 48:1358-1365.

Jacquin P, Longuetaud F, Leban JM, Mothe F (2017) X-ray micro-densitometry of wood: A review of existing principles and devices. Dendrochronologia 42:42-50.

Jordan L, He R, Hall DB, Clark A III, Daniels RF (2007) Variation in loblolly pine ring microfibril angle in the southeastern United States. Wood Fiber Sci 39:352-363.

Koubaa A, Isabel N, Zhang SY, Beaulieu J, Bousquet J (2005) Transition from juvenile to mature wood in black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.). Wood Fiber Sci 37: 445-455.

Kucera B (1994) A hypothesis relating current annual height increment to juvenile wood formation in Norway spruce. Wood Fiber Sci 26:152-167.

Larocque GR, Marshall PL (1995) Wood relative density development in red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) stands as affected by different initial spacings. Forest Sci 41: 709-728.

Larson PR, Kretschmann DE, Clark A III, Isebrands JG (2001) Formation and properties of juvenile wood in southern pines: A synopsis. Gen Tech Rep FPL-GTR-129. USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, WI. 42 pp.

Mansfield SD, Parish R, Goudie JW, Kang K-Y, Ott P (2007) The effects of crown ratio on the transition from juvenile to mature wood production in lodgepole pine in western Canada. Can J Res 37:1450-1459.

Max TA, Burkhart HE (1976) Segmented polynomial regression applied to taper equations. Forest Sci 22:283-289.

Megraw RA (1985) Wood quality factors in loblolly pine. Tappi Press, Atlanta, GA. 88 pp.

Mirabile KV, Zink-Sharp A (2017) Fundamental bonding properties of Douglas-fir and southern yellow pine wood. Forest Prod J 67:435-447.

Mora CR, Allen HL, Daniels RF, Clark A III (2007) Modeling corewood-outerwood transition in loblolly pine using wood specific gravity. Can J Res 37:999-1011.

Morling T (2002) Evaluation of annual ring width and ring density development following fertilisation and thinning of Scots pine. Ann Sci 59:29-40.

Mutz R, Guilley E, Sauter UH, Nepveu G (2004) Modelling juvenile-mature wood transition in Scots pine (Pinus syvestris L.) using nonlinear mixed-effects models. Ann Sci 61:831-841.

Systems QM Inc. (QMS) (1999) QMS tree ring analyzer users guide. QMS, Knoxville, TN. 55 pp.

Sauter UH, Mutz R, Munro BD (1999) Determining juvenile mature wood transition in Scots pine using latewood density. Wood Fiber Sci 31:416-425.

Schneider R, Zhang SY, Swift DE, Begin J, Lussier J-M (2008) Predicting selected wood properties of jack pine following commercial thinning. Can J Res 38:2030-2043.

Tasissa G, Burkhart HE (1998a) Modeling thinning effect on ring specific gravity of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.). Forest Sci 44:212-223.

Tasissa G, Burkhart HE (1998b) Juvenile-mature wood demarcation in loblolly pine trees. Wood Fiber Sci 30:119-127.

Trincado G, Burkhart HE (2009) A framework for modeling the dynamics of first-order branches and spatial distribution of knots in loblolly pine trees. Can J Res 39:566-579.

Zobel BJ, Sprague JR (1998) Juvenile wood in forest trees. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany. 300 pp.

Zobel BJ, van Buijtenen JP (1989) Wood variation its causes and control. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany. 363 pp

Published

2020-04-24

Issue

Section

Research Contributions