Product suitability of wood...determined by density gradients across growth rings

Abstract

The suitability of wood for various uses can be determined by synthesizing single growth-ring density curves from accumulated means of wood density classes. Wood density gradients across growth rings were measured in large increment cores from 46-year-old ponderosa pines (Pinus ponderosa Laws.) by using X-rays. Of the 48 trees analyzed, 36 had been thinned 10 years earlier, then fertilized; six had been thinned only; and six were unthinned. Wood density distribution curves for growth rings in all trees were combined to produce a single representative curve for each group of trees. Relative tree values were determined by applying density quality factors to tree volumes.

Citation

Echols, Robert M. 1972. Product suitability of wood...determined by density gradients across growth rings. Res. Note PSW-RN-273. Berkeley, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 6 p