Anatomical comparison of branches and trunks of seven commercial wood species

Indonesia is a mega-biodiversity country that grows about 4000 timber producer tree species in tropical rain forest. The comprehensive information of wood properties and quality is important in managing the natural resources sustainably. However, stem in basic properties studies of wood from the natural forest is limited because of some difficulties in harvesting until the transportation process. Hence, study the wood branches becomes a solution, as sometimes wood core samples are not adequate. The question was whether the branch properties could represent the main stem properties? Wood anatomy is an important wood property that can predict the other properties, for instance, the physical and mechanical properties, that determine the effective use of this material. This paper aims to present the comparison of wood anatomical properties of branches and main stem of seven commercial wood species. Quantitative and qualitative anatomical structures were investigated according to the International Association of Wood Anatomist (IAWA) Committee. Result shows that the quantitative wood anatomy of four samples (Mimba, Leda, Jabon, and Bintangur) was statistically different, while only one parameter in Tusam, Mindi, and Khaya was different. Accordingly, it can be concluded that studying the wood properties could be carried out using branch effectively.