No abstract

Tropical species are highly valued timber sources showing a large diversity of wood characteristics. Since there are major concerns regarding the sustainability of these tropical species in many tropical regions, knowledge of the variability in wood properties is therefore a valuable tool to design targeted exploitation and to enlarge the wood resources base, namely by identifying alternatives for CITES-listed species. In this study, 98 tropical wood species belonging to 73 genera from India, Mozambique, and East Timor were investigated regarding wood anatomy and physical properties. Numerical taxonomy, by means of cluster analysis and principal component analysis grouped species with anatomical and physical similarities from different geographical origins. In addition to wood density, ray and vessel characteristics as well as wood moisture and wood shrinkage properties explained the main variability of these species. The contribution of wood color patterns was highlighted as consistently separating the Mozambique woods. A distinct geographical pattern was not observed, reinforcing that species from India, Mozambique, and East Timor show similar anatomical and physical wood properties, which could be useful to increase timber trade diversity. The multivariate analysis showed that species from Mozambique, such as Morus mesozygia, and Millettia stuhlmannii and Swartzia madagascariensis, could be alternatives for the CITES-listed species Cedrela odorata and Dalbergia melanoxylon, respectively.