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Wood colour variation in sapwood and heartwood of young trees of Tectona grandis and its relationship with plantation characteristics, site, and decay resistance

Les variations de couleur dans l’aubier et le duramen de jeunes arbres de Tectona grandis, en relation avec les caractéristiques des plantations, du site et de la durabilité

Annals of Forest Science volume 67, page 109 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

  • • Wood colour of Tectona grandis produced from fast-growth plantations is highly variable and the causes of this variation are relatively unknown.

  • • With the purpose of understanding the colour variation, different fast-growth plantations were sampled with different growth rates, tree ages, and sites.

  • • Wood colour was measured with a CIELab system, where three variables are estimated: coordinate L* for lightness, coordinate a* defines redness and coordinate b* defines yellowness.

  • • Results showed only a negative correlation between L* and a*. L* and a* were negatively and positively respectively correlated with pith distance in heartwood, but not for b*. No correlations were found between L* and b* in sapwood and plantation characteristics, while a* was positively correlated with age and height of tree and growth rate. In heartwood, tree age and diameter at breast height were correlated with all colour parameters, but tree height and plantation density were correlated with a* and b*. Cluster site had correlation with L*. Multiple correlation analysis showed that the heartwood is increasing darker (L*) and redder (a*) when the trees are older and bigger. Correlation coefficient shown that sapwood and heartwood with lighter colour (L*) is less resistance to fungal attack, but redness colour (a*) increasing decay resistance.

Résumé

  • • Il y a une grande variabilité de la couleur du bois de Tectona grandis produit à partir de plantations à croissance rapide et les causes de ces variations sont relativement inconnues.

  • • Pour comprendre l’origine des variations de couleur nous avons échantillonné dans des plantations à croissance rapide qui diffèrent entre elles en termes de vitesse de croissance, d’âge et de site.

  • • La couleur du bois a été mesurée avec le système CIELab qui permet la mesure de trois variables colorimétriques : la luminance L* allant du noir au blanc, a* et b* allant respectivement du vert au rouge et du bleu au jaune.

  • • Les résultats montrent une corrélation négative entre L* et a*. Dans le bois le cœur il y a une corrélation négative entre L* et la distance à la moelle et une corrélation positive entre a* et la distance à la moelle : aucune corrélation n’apparaît pour b*. Dans l’aubier, on ne trouve aucune corrélation entre L* et b* et les caractéristiques des plantations. Cependant a* est corrélé positivement avec l’âge, la hauteur et la vitesse de croissance des arbres. Dans le bois de cœur, l’âge et le diamètre à 1,3 m des arbres sont corrélés avec les trois coordonnées chromatiques mais la hauteur des arbres et la densité de plantation sont corrélées avec a* et b*. Il y a une corrélation entre le site et L*. On montre que le bois de cœur est d’autant plus sombre et rouge que les arbres sont plus vieux et plus gros. Les corrélations obtenues montrent que les bois d’aubier et de cœur qui sont les plus clairs résistent moins bien aux attaques fongiques et que les bois de tendance plus rougeâtre ont une meilleure résistance aux pourritures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Escuela de Ingeniería Forestal, Apartado, 159-7050, Cartago, Costa Rica

    Róger Moya & Alexander Berrocal

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  1. Róger Moya
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  2. Alexander Berrocal
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Correspondence to Róger Moya.

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Moya, R., Berrocal, A. Wood colour variation in sapwood and heartwood of young trees of Tectona grandis and its relationship with plantation characteristics, site, and decay resistance. Ann. For. Sci. 67, 109 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1051/forest/2009088

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/forest/2009088

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Annals of Forest Science

ISSN: 1297-966X