Pacific Southwest Research Station

Pacific Southwest
Research Station
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Albany, CA 94710-0011
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Publications and Products

Research Note

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

Author: Echols, Robert M.

Date: 1972

Source: Res. Note PSW-RN-273. Berkeley, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station. 6 p

Station ID: RN-PSW-273

Description: 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.

Keywords: Pinus ponderosa; wood density; fertilizer response; thinning effects; growth rate; utilization potential

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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.