Wood properties of Carapa guianensis from floodplain and upland forests in Eastern Amazonia, Brazil

Abstract

The variable environmental conditions of the Amazon forest can affect the wood properties of the tree species distributed across its diverse phytophysiognomies. Carapa guianensis (Andiroba) occurs in upland and floodplain forests, and the wood and oil of its seeds have multiple uses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the wood properties of C. guianensis trees in upland and estuarine floodplain forests of the Amazon River. Eight trees were selected, with four being from the upland and four from the floodplain forests. The fiber length, fiber wall thickness, vessel diameter and frequency, microfibril angle, specific gravity and wood shrinkage were evaluated. The juvenile and mature wood zones were determined according to these variables. The fiber length, fiber wall thickness and specific gravity increased, and microfibril angle decreased, in the pith to bark direction. Only the fiber length variable was efficient for delimiting juvenile, transition and mature wood. The fiber length, wall thickness and specific gravity of wood were higher in upland forest trees. However, the environment did not alter the beginning of the formation and proportion of C. guianensis mature wood. This information is important for the log fit in cutting diagrams, aiming toward improving the production, classification and processing of pieces with specific quality indexes in order to direct them to appropriate wood uses.

The growth of three teak (Tectona grandis) clones and its effect on wood properties

“…This was probably due to beginning of cambial maturation. This trend of increasing specific gravity was also reported by Mohamad and Marsoem (2007) on Acacia auriculiformis wood and Firmino et al (2019) on Carapa guianensis wood. But the opposite results were obtained from the study of Kojima et al (2009) in Gmelina arborea species.…”

“…In addition, an increase in fiber length was also reported by Darmawan et al (2013) on the initial growth of Perhutani short rotation teak and loJayacal teak from community forests, as well as by Kojima et al (2009) on Gmelina arborea trees. This pattern was similar to the characteristics of juvenile wood which was characterized by short fibers (Gryc et al 2011) and experiences a progressive increase coincide with trees age until they reached a constant fiber length (Lachenbruch et al 2011, Firmino et al 2019. This showed that at the age of eight years, JUN teak trees still produced juvenile wood until they reach a constant fiber length.…”

“…The testing of wood specific gravity was carried out according to the British Standard 373 (Ozigi et al 2018) testing for small clear wood specimens, with modifications in sample dimensions to the width of the tree ring, while fiber length measuration was conducted according to the IAWA (Firmino et al 2019). The proportion of heartwood was determined by measuring the area of heartwood to the total area of cross-section of the stem on the dbh.…”

Spatial variation of eucalyptus fibres considering the structure of annual growth rings

“…In both clones, there was a tendency for the thickness of the fibre cell walls to increase in the pith-bark direction along the entire tree trunk. These results are considered to be the common variation pattern for fibre cell wall thickening according to Firmino et al (2019). However, according to Baldin et al (2017), it is not possible to define a general trend of radial fibre wall thickness variation since although there is an increase between heartwood and peripheral heartwood, there is a reduction in the thickness of the cell wall in the sapwood.…”

24‐Epibrassinolide alleviates drought effects in young Carapa guianensis plants, improving the hydraulic safety margin, gas exchange and antioxidant defence

“…It is found in upland forests and floodplains, reaching heights up to 40 m (Firmino et al . 2019). This tree has economic importance and multiple uses: the wood is highly valued for products such as furniture, construction, veneers, and plywood, as well as in medicinal applications.…”