Moisture content in radiata pine wood: Implications for wood quality and water-stress response

This thesis studied the influence of moisture content on the dynamic estimation of stiffness in wood of Pinus radiata D. Don. This is an important non-destructive measure for estimation of stiffness in standing trees, logs and lumber. Moisture content affects both acoustic velocity and density in the fundamental equation of dynamic MOE (DMOE = V?, where V = acoustic velocity and ? = density). Investigation included measurements with boards in the laboratory considering moisture contents below and above FSP as well as temperatures below and above 0°C. This also included field measurements of trees in contrasting climate sites and over different seasons including a long drought. Methods for measuring green density and moisture content and the patterns of variation of these parameters were also investigated. A secondary component of this thesis explored the wood quality and some mechanisms of tree response to water stress in two contrasting sites in terms or rainfall and water deficits in a region of Australia. The large increases in DMOE for frozen wood above the FSP (4.5 to 6 GPa) will limit the use of DMOE for grading logs in regions with freezing winters. Results from the experiment remeasuring young trees and the upper range of moisture content and temperatures above 0°C from the experiment with boards showed small to moderate variation in DMOE (0.1 to 1 GPa) which calls for further investigation on analytical procedures for adjustment of DMOE. Such procedures should consider that variations in acoustic velocity and density with changes in moisture content are not proportional and that there are counteracting effects between the two parameters. It remains to be investigated whether the typical variation (under normal climate conditions) in sapwood green density observed in our experiments has some implications for the use of DMOE. On the other hand, it is anticipated that the large differences along the stem and among stands in whole-section green density may bias DMOE measurements in logs for resource assessment. This also needs to be investigated. A comparison between acoustic velocity alone and DMOE for resource assessment under different scenarios is recommended.

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