TAILIEUCHUNG - Evaluation of some wood quality measures of eight-year-old Melia azedarach trees
This study investigated the wood quality of 8-year-old Melia azedarach trees grown in Saudi Arabia. The wood quality of the trees was studied in terms of fibre length, specific gravity, and heartwood/sapwood area. The sampled trees were felled, their stem height and diameter were measured, and discs were cut from the stem base and breast height of each tree. | Research Article Turk J Agric For 35 (2011) 165-171 © TÜBİTAK doi: Evaluation of some wood quality measures of eight-year-old Melia azedarach trees Loutfy Ibrahim EL-JUHANY Prince Sultan Research Centre for Environment, Water and Desert, King Saud University, P. O. Box 2454, Riyadh 11451 - SAUDI ARABIA Received: Abstract: This study investigated the wood quality of 8-year-old Melia azedarach trees grown in Saudi Arabia. The wood quality of the trees was studied in terms of fibre length, specific gravity, and heartwood/sapwood area. The sampled trees were felled, their stem height and diameter were measured, and discs were cut from the stem base and breast height of each tree. Fibre length and specific gravity at breast height were determined, as well as the area and proportion of heartwood and sapwood at both base- and breast-height cross sections. The results showed that the fibre length of Melia azedarach wood varied between trees and ranged between and mm. It increased from pith to bark, ranging between and mm. Specific gravity did not vary among trees, but increased from pith to bark and ranged between and . The proportion of heartwood accounted for about 70% at the base, but decreased to at breast height. There was a significant variation in the proportion of sapwood between the base and breast height, as well as between trees. The area of sapwood in the breast-height cross section of Melia azedarach trees was cm2, compared with cm2 at the base; however, the proportion of sapwood was greater at breast height level. Key words: Melia azedarach L., fibre length, specific gravity, heartwood/sapwood ratio Introduction Fast-growing and high-yield tree species are being planted in different parts of the world to supply the growing demand for pulp and paper manufacturing and solid wood products (Espinoza 2004). In arid zones such as Saudi Arabia, the proper selection of planting .
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