Within and between-tree variation of wood density components in Pinus sylvestris at five sites in Portugal

Published Date
Original

First Online: 

17 November 2016

DOI: 10.1007/s00107-016-1130-2

Cite this article as: 

Fernandes, C., Gaspar, M.J., Pires, J. et al. Eur. J. Wood Prod. (2016). doi:10.1007/s00107-016-1130-2

Author

• C. Fernandes
• M. J. Gaspar
• J. Pires
• M. E. Silva
• A. Carvalho
• J. L. Brito
• J. L. LousadaEmail author

Abstract

Pinus sylvestris is widely distributed in Europe and Asia, and Portugal constitutes its westernmost limit. The reduction of the Portuguese forest area of resinous species has provoked strong constraints on wood industries supply. Therefore, an increase in Scots pine area might be important, namely by reforestations of higher altitude areas, where Pinus pinaster has great difficulties to vegetate and where the risk of pinewood nematode attack is smaller. However, large gaps remain in the knowledge of Pinus sylvestris wood characteristics growing in Portugal. To address this question, the radial wood density and growth were evaluated by X-ray microdensitometric technique, sampling 100 adult trees from five representative sites of P. sylvestris distribution area in Portugal. The results revealed that Portuguese Pinus sylvestris shows good radial growth and denser wood than those found in northern European regions. Among the Portuguese stands, sites at a lower altitude (Gerês and Marão) exhibited denser wood. Regarding density components, it was verified that the differences among sites were more significant in latewood, while the differences between trees/sites were most expressive in earlywood. These facts induce a higher genetic control in earlywood characteristics and a greater dependence of latewood components on environmental and climatic effects. Regarding growth components, Trees and Rings effects were more noticeable than Site effect. Concerning radial patterns, Portuguese Pinus sylvestris shows a downward trend in the first years after the pith, followed by an increase in latter rings for the density traits, while the radial variation of ring width is expressed by a tendency of decrease from the pith to the cambium. Compared to other European regions, Portuguese Pinus sylvestris reveals good wood quality features, namely higher density and ring width values. However, compared to Portuguese Pinus pinaster it shows a relatively lower density and identical or relatively lower radial growth. Scots pine could be a good solution for future reforestations of Portuguese mountainous areas, less favorable to other species.

References 

1. Aleinikovas M, Grigaliûnas J (2006) Differences of Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) wood physical and mechanical properties from different forest site types in Lithuania. Balt For 12(1):9–13Google Scholar
2. Alteyrac J, Cloutier A, Zhang SY (2006) Characterization of juvenile wood to mature wood transition age in black spruce (Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P.) at different stand densities and sampling heights. Wood Sci Technol 40(2):124–138CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3. Auty D, Achim A, Macdonald E, Cameron AD, Gardiner BA (2014) Models for predicting wood density variation in Scots pine. Forestry 87(3):449–458Google Scholar
4. Boden DI (1982) The relationship between timber density of the three major pine species in the Natal Midlands and various site and tree parameters. Annu Rep Wattle Res Inst Univ Natal, Pietermaritzburg, pp 120–126Google Scholar
5. Bouriaud O, Leban JM, Bert D, Deleuze C (2005) Intra-Annual variations in climate influence growth and wood density of Norway spruce. Tree Physiol 25(6):651–660CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
6. Bryan J, Pearson FGO (1955) The quality of Sitka spruce grown in Britain. Emp For Rev 34:144–149Google Scholar
7. Chave J, Muller-Landau HC, Baker TR, Easdale TA, Steege HT, Webb CO (2006) Regional and phylogenetic variation of wood density across 2456 neotropical tree species. Ecol Appl 16:2356–2367CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
8. Cipriano J, Carvalho A, Fernandes C, Gaspar MJ, Pires J, Bento J, Roxo L, Louzada J, Lima-Brito J (2013) Evaluation of genetic diversity of Portuguese Pinus sylvestris L. populations based on molecular data and inferences about the future use of this germplasm. J Genet 92:e41-e48. doi:10.1007/s12041-013-0241-3. Online only. [http://www.ias.ac.in/jgenet/OnlineResources/92/e41.pdf]
9. Cown DJ (1974) Wood density of radiata pine: its variation and manipulation. N Z J For 19:84–92Google Scholar
10. Cown DJ, McConchie DL,Young GD (1991) Radiata pine-wood properties survey (revised edition). New Zealand Forest Service, FRI Bulletin No 50
11. Decoux V, Varcin E, Leban JM (2004) Relationships between the intra-ring wood density assessed by X-ray densitometry and optical anatomical measurements in conifers. Consequences for the cell wall apparent density determination. Ann For Sci 61(3):51–262CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12. Elliott GK (1970) Wood density in Conifers. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Technical Communication No 8, England
13. Ferrand JC (1982) Réflexions sur la densité du bois. 2ère Partie: Calcul de la densitéet de son hétérogénéité. Holzforschung 36:153–157CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14. Fonseca FMA, Lousada JL (2000) Variação na madeira de Pinus pinaster Ait. O comprimento e as dimensões transversais das fibras. A densidade, o crescimento e a qualidade físico-mecânica da madeira. [Wood variation of Pinus pinaster Ait. Length and transversal dimensions of fibers. Density, growth and physical-mechanical wood quality]. Technical-Scientific Series, Applied Sciences No. 35, UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal, pp 242
15. Forrest I, Burg K, Klumpp R (2000) Genetic Markers: Tools for identifying and characterising Scots pine populations. For Syst 9(3):67–88Google Scholar
16. Fries A, Ericsson T (2006) Estimating genetic parameters for wood density of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). Silvae Genet 55(2):84–91Google Scholar
17. Gaspar MJ, Louzada JL, Silva ME, Aguiar A, Almeida MH (2008a) Age trends in genetic parameters of wood density components in 46 half-sibling families of Pinus pinaster. Can J For Res 38(6):1470–1477CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18. Gaspar MJ, Louzada JL, Aguiar A, Almeida MH (2008b) Genetic correlations between wood quality traits of Pinus pinaster Ait. Ann For Sci 65(7):703CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19. Gaspar MJ, Lousada JL, Rodrigues JC, Aguiar A, Almeida MH (2009) Does selecting for improved growth affect wood quality of Pinus pinaster in Portugal? For Ecol Manag 258(2):115–121CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20. Gindl W, Grabner M, Wimmer R (2001) Effects of altitude on tracheid differentiation and lignification of Norway spruce. Can J Bot 79(7):815–821Google Scholar
21. Gryc V, Vavrcik H, Horn K (2011) Density of juvenile and mature wood of selected coniferous species. J For Sci 57(3):123–130Google Scholar
22. Guller B, Isik K, Cetinay S (2012) Variations in the radial growth and wood density components in relation to cambial age in 30-year-old Pinus brutia ten, at two test sites. Trees 26(3):975–986CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23. Hannrup B, Wilhelmsson L, Danell O (1998) Time trends for genetic parameters of wood density and growth traits in Pinus sylvestris L. Silvae Genet 47(4):214–219Google Scholar
24. Hannrup B, Danell Ö, Ekberg I, Moëll M (2001) Relationships between wood density and tracheid dimensions in Pinus sylvestris L. Wood Fiber Sci 33(2):173–181Google Scholar
25. Hannrup B, Cahalan C, Chantre G, Grabner M, Karlsson B, Le Bayon I, Lloyd Jones G (2004) Genetic Parameters of growth and wood quality traits in Picea abies. Scand J For Res 19(1):14–29CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26. Hill SA, Waterhouse JS, Field EM, Switsur VR, Aprees T (1995) Rapid recycling of triose phosphates in Oak stem tissue. Plant Cell Environ 18:931–936CrossRefGoogle Scholar
27. Hylen G (1999) Age trends in genetic parameters of wood density in young Norway spruce. Can J For Res 29:135–143CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28. ICNF (2013) Sexto Inventário Florestal Nacional (FN6)—Áreas dos usos do solo e das espécies florestais de Portugal continental em 1995, 2005 e 2010. Resultados preliminares. Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas. [Sixth National forest inventory—Areas of land use and forest species of continental Portugal in 1995, 2005 and 2010. Preliminary results]. Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests. Lisbon, 34 pp
29. Jyske T, Makinen H, Saranpaa P (2008) Wood density within Norway spruce stems. Silva Fenn 42(3):439CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30. Karlman L, Mörling T, Martinsson O (2005) Wood density, annual ring width and latewood content in larch and Scots pine. Eurasian J For Res 8(2):91–96Google Scholar
31. Kilpeläinen A, Peltola H, Ryyppö A, Sauvala K, Laitinen K, Kellomäki S (2003) Wood properties of Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) grown at elevated temperature and carbon dioxide concentration. Tree Physiol 23(13):889–897CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
32. Knapic S, Louzada J, Leal S, Pereira H (2007) Radial variation of wood density components and ring width in cork oak trees. Ann For Sci 64(2):211–218CrossRefGoogle Scholar
33. Koga S, Zhang SY (2004) Inter-tree and intra-tree variations in ring width and wood density components in Balsam fir (Abies balsamea). Wood Sci Technol 38(2):149–162CrossRefGoogle Scholar
34. Koubaa A, Zhang SYT, Makni S (2002) Defining the transition from earlywood to latewood in black spruce based on intra-ring wood density profiles from X-ray densitometry. Ann For Sci 59(5–6):511–518CrossRefGoogle Scholar
35. Labra M, Grassi F, Sgorbati S, Ferrari C (2006) Distribution of genetic variability in southern populations of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) from the Alps to the Apennines. Flora Morphol Distrib Funct Ecol Plants 201(6):468–476CrossRefGoogle Scholar
36. Le Provost G, Paiva J, Pot D, Brach J, Plomion C (2003) Seasonal variation in transcript accumulation in wood forming tissues of maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait) with emphasis on a cell wall glycine rich protein”. Planta 217:820–830CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
37. Lebourgeois F (2000) Climatic signals in earlywood, latewood and total ring width of Corsican pine from western France. Ann For Sci 57:155–164CrossRefGoogle Scholar
38. Loureiro A (2003) Apontamentos de Silvicultura Especial. Séries didáticas, Ciências aplicadas, UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal. [Notes on Special Silviculture]. Didactics Series, Applied Sciences, no 2, UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal
39. Lousada JL (2000) Variação fenotípica e genética em características estruturais na madeira de Pinus pinaster Ait. O comprimento das fibras e a densidade até aos 80 anos de idade das árvores. Parâmetros genéticos na evolução juvenil—adulto das componentes da densidade da madeira. [Phenotypic and genetic variation in structural features in Pinus pinaster Ait wood. The fiber length and density to 80 years of tree’s age. Genetic parameters in juvenile-mature evolution of wood density components. Didactic, Applied Sciences Series, No. 143, UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal]
40. Louzada JL (1991) Variação nas Componentes da Densidade na Madeira de Pinus pinasterAit. [Variation in wood density components of Pinus pinaster Ait.] Technical-Scientific series, Applied Sciences, no 12, UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal
41. Louzada JLPC (2003) Genetic correlations between wood density components in Pinus pinaster Ait. Ann For Sci 60(3):285–294CrossRefGoogle Scholar
42. Louzada JLPC, Fonseca FMA (1991) Influência do crescimento em diâmetro (DAP) e da qualidade do local na variação do comprimento das fibras em Pseudotsuga menziesii(Franco). [Influence of Growth in diameter (BHD) and Site Quality on density variation in Pseudotsuga menziesii (Franco)]. Technical-Scientific series, Applied Science No. 10, UTAD, Vila Real, Portugal, 28 pp
43. Louzada JL, Fonseca MA (2002) The heritability of wood density components in Pinus pinaster Ait and implications for tree breeding. Ann For Sci 59:867–873CrossRefGoogle Scholar
44. Martinez-Meier A, Sanchez L, Pastorino M, Gallo L, Rozenberg P (2008) What is hot in tree rings? The wood density of surviving douglas-firs to the 2003 drought and heat wave. For Ecol Manag 256(4):837–843CrossRefGoogle Scholar
45. Megraw RA (1985) Wood quality factors in loblolly pine. The influence of tree age, position in tree, and cultural practice on wood specific gravity, fiber length and fibril angle. Tappi Press, NorcrossGoogle Scholar
46. Mutz R, Guilley E, Sauter UH, Nepveu G (2004) Modelling juvenile-mature wood transition in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) using nonlinear mixed-effects models. Ann For Sci 61(8):831–841CrossRefGoogle Scholar
47. Panshin AJ, De Zeeuw C (1980) Textbook of wood technology, 4th edn. McGraw-Hill, New YorkGoogle Scholar
48. Paraskevopoulou AH (1991) Variation of wood structure and properties of Cupressus sempervirens var. horizontalis in natural population in Greece. IAWA J 12(2):195–204CrossRefGoogle Scholar
49. Peltola H, Gort J, Pulkkinen P, Zubizarreta Gerendiain A, Karppinen J, Ikonen V (2009) Differences in growth and wood density traits in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) genetic entries grown at different spacing and aites. Silva Fenn 43(3):339–354CrossRefGoogle Scholar
50. Persson A (1972) Studies on the basic density in mother trees and progenies of pine. Studia Forestalia Suecica 96:1–37Google Scholar
51. Plomion C, Leprovost G, Stokes A (2001) Wood formation in trees. Plant Physiol 127(4):1513–1523CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentralGoogle Scholar
52. Pyhäjärvi T, Salmela MJ, Savolainen O (2008) Colonization routes of Pinus sylvestrisinferred from distribution of mitochondrial DNA variation. Tree Genet Genomes 4(2):247–254CrossRefGoogle Scholar
53. Rey-Prieto A, Riesco-Muñoz G (2012) Influencia del azulado (mancha azul) en la densidad y estabilidad dimensional de la madera de Pinus sylvestris. [Influence of blue stain on density and dimensional stability of Pinus sylvestris timber]. Maderas. Ciencia Y Tecnología 14(1):115–125CrossRefGoogle Scholar
54. Riesco Muñoz G, Soilán Cañas MA, Roíguez Soalleiro R (2008) Physical properties of wood in thinned Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris L.) from plantations in northern Spain. Ann For Sci 65(5):507CrossRefGoogle Scholar
55. Robledo-Arnuncio JJ, Collada C, Alía R, Gi L (2005) Genetic structure of montane isolates of Pinus sylvestris L. in a mediterranean refugial area: Genetic structure of Scots pine montane isolates. J Biogeogr 32(4):595–605CrossRefGoogle Scholar
56. Rossi S, Cairo E, Krause C, Deslauriers A (2015) Growth and basic wood properties of black spruce along an alti-latitudinal gradient in Quebec, Canada. Ann For Sci 72(1):77–87CrossRefGoogle Scholar
57. Roxo L, Bento J. Duro MR, Loureiro A (2014) [Presence and adaptation of Scots pine in Portugal in Scots pine in Portugal: The extreme southwest or just the end? Considerations and developments on the scope of the project]. In: Lima-Brito J, Lousada J, Bento J (eds) SPCF, Vila Real, 47 pp
58. Rozenberg P, Franc A, Bastien C, Cahalan C (2001) Improving models of wood density by including genetic effect: a case study in douglas-fir. Ann For Sci 58:385–394CrossRefGoogle Scholar
59. Rozenberg P, Schüte G, Ivkovich M, Bastien C, Bastien JC (2004) Clonal variation of indirect cambium reaction to within-growing season temperature changes in douglas-fir. Forestry 77(4):257–268Google Scholar
60. Rydval M, Druckenbrod D, Anchukaitis KJ, Wilson R (2016) Detection and removal of disturbance trends in tree-ring series for dendroclimatology. Can J For Res 46(3):387–401CrossRefGoogle Scholar
61. Sinclair WT, Morman JD, Ennos RA (1999) The Postglacial History of Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in Western Europe: evidence from Mitochondrial DNA Variation. Mol Ecol 8(1):83–88CrossRefGoogle Scholar
62. Steffenrem A (2008) Genetic Variation in Structural Wood Quality Traits in Norway Spruce and Implications for Tree Breeding. PhD thesis, Norwegian University of Life Sciences
63. Tomczak A, Jelonek T, Jakubowski M (2011) Wood density of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) trees broken by wind. Ann. WULS-SGGW. For Wood Technol 76:144–148Google Scholar
64. van der Maaten-Theunissen M, van der Boden S, Maaten E (2013) Wood density variations of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) under contrasting climate conditions in southwestern Germany. Ann For Res 56:91–103Google Scholar
65. Verkasalo E, Leban JM (2002) MOE and MOR in static bending of small clear specimens of Scots pine, Norway spruce and European fir from Finland and France and their prediction for the comparison of wood quality. Paperi Ja Puu 84(5):332–340. http://prodinra.inra.fr/record/12654Google Scholar
66. Wilhelmsson L, Arlinger J, Spaêngberg K, Lundqvist S, Grahn T, Hedenberg O, Olsson L (2002) Models for predicting wood properties in stems of Picea abies and Pinus sylvestris in Sweden. Scand J For Res 17:330–350CrossRefGoogle Scholar
67. Zamudio F, Baettyg R, Vergara A, Guerra F, Rozenberg P (2002) Genetic trends in wood density and radial growth with cambial age in a radiata pine progeny test. Ann For Sci 59:541–549CrossRefGoogle Scholar
68. Zhang SY (1997) Variations and correlations of various ring width and ring density features in European oak: implications in dendroclimatology. Wood Sci Technol 31:63–72CrossRefGoogle Scholar
69. Zhang SY, Jiang ZH (1998) Variability of selected wood characteristics in 40 half-sib families of Black spruce (Picea mariana). Wood Sci Technol 32(1):71–82CrossRefGoogle Scholar
70. Zhang SY, Morgenstern EK (1995) Genetic-variation and inheritance of wood density in black spruce (Picea mariana) and its relationship with growth—implications for tree breeding. Wood Sci Technol 30:63–75CrossRefGoogle Scholar
71. Zobel BJ, Jett JB (1995) Genetics of Wood Production. Springer Series in Wood Science. In: Timell TE (ed) Springer, 337 pp
72. Zobel BJ, Sprague JR (1998) Juvenile wood in forest trees. Springer, BerlinCrossRefGoogle Scholar
73. Zobel BJ, Van Buijtenen JP (1989) Wood variation–its causes and control. In: Timell TE (ed) Springer Series in Wood Science. Springer, Berlin, pp 363Google Scholar

For further details log on website :
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00107-010-0458-2