Source: FOREST PRODUCTS LABORATORY submitted to NRP
WOOD QUALITY
Sponsoring Institution
Forest Service/USDA
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
USDA INHOUSE
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0197028
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Dec 18, 2003
Project End Date
Dec 18, 2008
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
FOREST PRODUCTS LABORATORY
ONE GIFFORD PINCHOT DRIVE
MADISON,WI 53726
Performing Department
FOREST PRODUCTS LAB, MADISON LAB HQ - MADISON, WI
Non Technical Summary
Widespread tropical deforestation can be curtailed by the more efficient utilization of the largely unknown tropical timber resource. To accomplish this goal economically, it is necessary to determine and describe the characteristics of the large proportion of species whose properties are currently unknown. A first step in this process is to establish simple predictors of wood properties. Wood anatomical characteristics are such predictors, but the exact relationships between anatomy and properties needs to be more firmly established for tropical species.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
50%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1230640106050%
1230650106050%
Knowledge Area
123 - Management and Sustainability of Forest Resources;

Subject Of Investigation
0650 - Wood and wood products; 0640 - Tropical forests;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems);
Goals / Objectives
We need to understand the relationships between wood anatomical characteristics and wood quality.
Project Methods
Wood anatomy is a critical domain of study that can yield important insights into wood quality. Although much is known about wood anatomy and its relationships with wood quality for temperate species, tropical species are much more poorly known. In order to conserve tropical timber resources, it is necessary to utilize a much wider number of species than at present. However, serious problems impeding the utilization of tropical timbers include the extreme diversity of species, lack of knowledge of their properties, and the lack of a system for quality-grading of sawn tropical lumber. Both anatomy and properties among tropical species are much more variable than would be predicted from species richness alone, and the equations relating mechanical and physical properties are based on temperate species only. This area of research will explore the relationships among wood anatomical, physical, and mechanical properties, and will quantify the differences between temperate and tropical populations. Species with similar properties can then be combined to produce quantities sufficient to permit economical exploitation. To the extent that previously unknown species can be utilized, the land area subject to harvesting can be reduced without reduction in the volume of timber extracted. A first step in identifying promising new species for exploitation is to assess the potential for easily-measured anatomical characters and physical properties (such as specific gravity and shrinkage) to serve as predictors of difficult-to-measure properties. Promising species can then be further investigated by more complex and expensive mechanical properties tests.

Progress 12/18/03 to 12/18/08

Outputs
We studied the various relationships between climate, anatomical characteristics of wood, and the physical/mechanical properties of wood. Accomplishments included the development of large databases of the anatomical, physical, and mechanical properties of temperate and tropical hardwoods and softwoods. This problem area was terminated as part of a reorganization of work units at the Forest Products Laboratory.

Impacts
Deforestation requires the more efficient use of new and existing species, some of which were previously uneconomical to harvest. Knowledge of the wood anatomy of this resource can be used to predict properties and optimal utilization.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period


Progress 10/01/05 to 09/30/06

Outputs
For silviculturalists interested in wood quality, study of the relationships among climate parameters, wood anatomical characters, and wood physical properties have practical value in site selection. Many trees that were considered too small, or of poor form, are now entering the marketplace. With large numbers of previously unknown tropical timbers entering the world market, predictors of wood mechanical and physical properties are valuable tools for assigning optimal uses to new timber species. Accomplishments include development of large databases of anatomical, physical, and mechanical data for temperate and tropical hardwoods and softwoods. Wood samples of western pines have been collected to test the effects of site conditions on wood anatomy and properties, and samples of wood from orange trees grown in varying environments have been collected and await anatomical and property analysis.

Impacts
Deforestation requires the more efficient use of new and existing species, some of which were previously uneconomical to harvest. Knowledge of the wood anatomy of this resource can be used to predict properties and optimal utilization.

Publications

  • Hunter, R.D.; Panyushkina, I.P.; Leavitt, S.W.; Wiedenhoeft, A.C.; Zawiskie, J. 2006. A multiproxy environmental investigation of Holocene wood from a submerged conifer forest in Lake Huron, U.S.A. Quaternary Review 66(1): 67-77. www.sciencedirect.com
  • Leavitt, S.W.; Panyushkina, I.P.; Lange, T.; Wiedenhoeft, A.C.; Cheng, L.; Hunter, R.D.; Hughes, J.; Pranschke, F.; Schneider, A. F.; Moran, J.; Stieglitz, R. 2006. Climate in the Great Lakes region between 14,000 and 4,000 years ago from isotopic composition of conifer wood. Radiocarbon 48(2): 205-217.
  • Miller, Regis B.; Wiemann, Michael. 2006. Separation of Dalbergia nigra from Dalbergia spruceana. Res. Pap. FPL-RP-632. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory. 5 p.


Progress 10/01/04 to 09/30/05

Outputs
For silviculturalists interested in wood quality, study of the relationships among climate parameters, wood anatomical characters, and wood physical properties has practical value in site selection. Many trees that were considered too small, or of poor form, are now entering the marketplace. With large numbers of previously unknown tropical timbers entering the world market, predictors of wood mechanical and physical properties are valuable tools for assigning optimal uses to new timber species. Accomplishments include development of large databases of anatomical, physical, and mechanical data for temperate and tropical hardwoods and softwoods. Wood samples of western pines have been collected to test the effects of site conditions on wood anatomy and properties, and samples of wood from orange trees grown in varying environments have been collected and await anatomical and property analysis.

Impacts
Deforestation requires the more efficient use of new and existing species, some of which were previously uneconomical to harvest. Knowledge of the wood anatomy of this resource can be used to predict properties and optimal utilization.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period


Progress 10/01/03 to 09/29/04

Outputs
For silviculturalists interested in wood quality, study of the relationships among climate parameters, wood anatomical characters, and wood physical properties has practical value in site selection. Ecologists are interested in the effects of climate change on vegetation characteristics, and paleontologists are interested in wood anatomy as a means to reconstruct paleoclimate from fossil assemblages. Temperature and rainfall affect wood anatomy and physical properties. Models have been proposed to relate these climate measures to wood physiognomy, mean wood specific gravity, and wood specific gravity variability, but these models have not been extensively tested. Particularly lacking are studies relating tropical climates to tropical hardwood anatomy and properties. An objective of this problem area is to validate existing climate anatomy models, to determine links among climate parameters and anatomical characters, and to discover the interrelationships among climate variables, anatomical characters, and physical properties. Wood mechanical properties can be predicted from specific gravity values. However, the models developed for these predictions were based on measurements from temperate species, and their predictive value is not established for tropical woods. This problem area will develop and compare predictive equations for temperate and tropical hardwoods and softwoods, and determine the precision of the equations. Juvenile wood lowers wood mechanical properties and stability. Although much is known about its effects on softwoods, much less is known about its effect on hardwood properties. Some evidence suggests that juvenile wood in hardwoods does not form a distinct core, as it does in softwoods. This makes its delineation more difficult, but it may also have a less deleterious effect on properties and yield. The distribution of juvenile wood among hardwood species and within stems, how species and site characteristics interact to affect quantity and properties of juvenile wood, and the extent to which it has been reported as a utilization problem, are therefore important research objectives.

Impacts
Tropical deforestation can be curtailed by efficient utilization of the unknown tropical timbers. To accomplish this goal economically, it is necessary to determine and describe the characteristics of species whose properties are currently unknown. A first step is to establish simple predictors of wood properties. Wood anatomical characteristics are such predictors, but exact relationships between anatomy and properties need to be established for tropical species.

Publications

  • Wiemann, Michael C.; Schuler, Thomas M.; Baumgras, John E. 2004. Effects of uneven-aged and diameter-limit management on West Virginia tree and wood quality. Res. Pap. FPL-RP-621. Madison, WI: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboraotry. 16 p.
  • Wiedenbeck, Jan; Wiemann, Michael, Alderman, Delton; Baumgras, John; Luppold, William. 2004. Defining hardwood veneer log quality attributes. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-313. Princeton, WV: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station. 36 p.
  • Dawson-Andoh, Benjamin E.; Wiemann, Michael; Matuana, Laurent; Baumgras, John. 2004. Infrared and colorimetric characterization of discolored kiln-dried hard maple lumber. Forest Products Journal 54(1): 53-57.


Progress 10/01/02 to 09/30/03

Outputs
For silviculturalists interested in wood quality, study of the relationships among climate parameters, wood anatomical characters, and wood physical properties has practical value in site selection. Ecologists are interested in the effects of climate change on vegetation characteristics, and paleontologists are interested in wood anatomy as a means to reconstruct paleoclimate from fossil assemblages. Temperature and rainfall affect wood anatomy and physical properties. Models have been proposed to relate these climate measures to wood physiognomy, mean wood specific gravity, and wood specific gravity variability, but these models have not been extensively tested. Particularly lacking are studies relating tropical climates to tropical hardwood anatomy and properties. An objective of this problem area is to validate existing climate anatomy models, to determine links among climate parameters and anatomical characters, and to discover the interrelationships among climate variables, anatomical characters, and physical properties. Juvenile wood lowers wood mechanical properties and stability. Although much is known about its effects on softwoods, much less is known about its effect on hardwood properties. Some evidence suggests that juvenile wood in hardwoods does not form a distinct core, as it does in softwoods. This makes its delineation more difficult, but it may also have a less deleterious effect on properties and yield. The distribution of juvenile wood among hardwood species and within stems, how species and site characteristics interact to affect quantity and properties of juvenile wood, and the extent to which it has been reported as a utilization problem, are therefore important research objectives.

Impacts
Tropical deforestation can be curtailed by efficient utilization of the unknown tropical timbers. To accomplish this goal economically, it is necessary to determine and describe the characteristics of species whose properties are currently unknown. A first step is to establish simple predictors of wood properties. Wood anatomical characteristics are such predictors, but exact relationships between anatomy and properties need to be established for tropical species.

Publications

  • Wiemann, Michael C.; Schuler, Thomas M.; Baumgras, John E. 2003. Effects of silvicultural practices on tree growth, quality, and sapwood thickness [Abstract]. In: Biographies and Abstracts, Forest Products Society 57th annual meeting; 2003 June 22-25; Bellevue, Washington. Madison, WI: Forest Products Society: 9.
  • Wiemann, Mike C.; Wheeler, Elisabeth A., Manchester, Steven; Dilcher, David. 2003. Temperature from wood anatomy [Abstract]. IAWA Journal: 24(3): 334.


Progress 10/01/01 to 09/30/02

Outputs
Today our National Forests contain a large amount of small diameter material of questionable quality that cannot easily be substituted for high quality, previously harvested, wood materials. Predicting wood quality from this small diameter timber is of immense value to the wood products industry and the Forest Service. One of the best anatomical characteristics to predict wood quality is the cellulose microfibril angle. Traditional microscopic methods of measuring microfibril angle are complicated, tedious, slow and, at times, impossible to use without severely altering the wood structure. However, using modern x-ray diffraction instrumentation coupled with specific software on a desktop computer, a fast, reliable, and efficient method to measure microfibril angle has shown promise in the past few years. During this FY a new staff member has transferred into the project from the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, Forestry Sciences Laboratory, Princeton, West Virginia. He will be working in this problem area and the wood quality work that he is finishing in Princeton will be reported here.

Impacts
Tropical deforestation can be curtailed by efficient utilization of the unknown tropical timbers. To accomplish this goal economically, it is necessary to determine and describe the characteristics of species whose properties are currently unknown. A first step is to establish simple predictors of wood properties. Wood anatomical characteristics are such predictors, but exact relationships between anatomy and properties need to be established for tropical species.

Publications

  • Wiemann, Michael C.; Williamson, G.Bruce. 2002. Geographic variation in wood specific gravity [Abstract]. In: Botany 2002; 2002 August 2-7; Madison, WI. Paper No. 707, p. 180.
  • Wiemann, Michael C.; Williamson, G. Bruce. 2002. Geographic variation in wood specific gravity: Effects of latitude, temperature, and precipitation [Abstract-Poster]. In: Biographies & Abstracts, Forest Products Society 56th annual meeting; 2002 June 23-26; Madison, WI. Madison, WI: Forest Products Society: 30.
  • Wiemann, Michael C.; Wiedenbeck, Janice K.; Baumgras, John; Alderman, Delton. 2002. Extreme wood quality: Hardwood appearance-grade veneer quality characteristics [Abstract-Poster]. In: Biographies & Abstracts, Forest Products Society 56th annual meeting; 2002 June 23-26; Madison, WI. Madison, WI: Forest Products Society: 30-31.