Estimating relative error in growth ring analyses of second-growth coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens)

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (9) ◽  
pp. 2216-2222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen M Waring ◽  
Kevin L O'Hara

Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don) Endl.) grows in the coastal zone of north-central California and southern Oregon in pure and mixed-species forests. Redwood has long been recognized to exhibit unusual patterns within the annual growth rings typical of temperate forest trees, including partial and missing rings and ring-width anomalies. However, these patterns have not been quantified beyond a few suppressed trees. This study quantified the variation in ring counts occurring in 22 second-growth redwood trees from different canopy classes. Ring counts from cross sections taken at sample points along each tree bole revealed missing or incomplete rings in all sample trees and 70% of the cross sections. Ring counts along multiple radii were used to calculate probability of obtaining a maximum ring count along one radius. This probability was lowest at the tree base (0.25) and breast height (0.30) and highest near the top of the tree (0.90). Because of the high amount of variation present in ring counts at breast height, care should be taken when drawing conclusions regarding stand ages from increment cores. Increment cores should be taken from the longest axis of the tree and coring at tree base can be abandoned as cores are not likely to have higher ring counts than breast height cores.

IAWA Journal ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shinya Koga ◽  
Kazuyuki Oda ◽  
Juichi Tsutsumi ◽  
Takaaki Fujimoto

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of thinning on the annual ring structure and the cross-sectional dimensions of tracheids in plantation-grown Japanese larch (Larix leptolepis). Annual ring width, earlywood width and latewood width increased significantly after thinning. The width of the band of nonflat latewood tracheids in the annual ring increased more than that of flat latewood tracheids. Thinning did not significantly affect latewood percentage. The average radial diameter of both earlywood and latewood tracheids increased after thinning. After thinning, average wall thickness of earlywood tracheids increased, while that of latewood tracheids decreased. Cell wall percentage in earlywood was not influenced significantly by thinning, but latewood cell wall percentage decreased. The changes of the average radial tracheid diameter, the average wall thickness of tracheids and cell wall percentage from earlywood to latewood within a growth ring became more gradual after thinning. However, thinning did not affect significantly the cell wall percentage of the whole growth ring. This study suggests that thinning has little effect on wood density of the whole growth ring in Japanese larch.


Holzforschung ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 654-661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shusheng Pang ◽  
Alfred Herritsch

Abstract Anisotropic shrinkage (tangential and longitudinal), equilibrium moisture content (EMC) and fibre saturation point (FSP) were measured for separated earlywood (EW) and latewood (LW) of a 0.75-m-long log of 20-year old Pinus radiata that was cut at breast height from a selected tree in the forest of Central North Island, New Zealand. The experimental results have shown that at 12% moisture content (MC), tangential shrinkage was 3.23% for EW and 3.90% for LW, with an overall average of 3.56%. Longitudinal shrinkage was 0.23% for EW and 0.21% for LW with an overall average of 0.22%. Shrinkage for the oven dry (OD) state showed similar trends to those at 12% MC in terms of the differences between EW and LW. The tangential and longitudinal shrinkage varied significantly along the radius from pith to bark. The EW tangential shrinkage increased from pith to the seventh growth ring and then remained relatively constant until the last ring adjacent to the bark. The LW tangential shrinkage also increased from the pith outwards until the seventh growth ring, but beyond that was more variable than the EW shrinkage. Both EW and LW showed similar longitudinal shrinkage, with the highest values in the second growth ring, from which the shrinkage decreased exponentially towards the bark. LW had a slightly higher EMC than EW at a relative humidity (RH) below 80%, but the trend was reversed for RH above 80%. The EMC differences between EW and LW were less than 0.6%. The overall average FSP for Pinus radiata was 29.1%, with actual values varying from 25% to 32.8%. The earlywood FSP (28.9%) was slightly lower than that of the latewood (29.4%).


2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (8) ◽  
pp. 2019-2029 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Li ◽  
Harry X Wu

A total of 1097 cross-sectional wood disks from breast height were sampled from two rotation-aged (27 and 31 years from planting) genetic trials of radiata pine (Pinus radiata D. Don) in Australia to estimate the genetic correlation between early and rotation-aged growth and wood quality traits and the efficiency of early selection. Annual growth-ring width and density, diameter at breast height (DBH), and area-weighted density (AD) from 30 open-pollinated families were measured using X-ray densitometry. Genotype × site interactions were not significant for density and growth traits. Ring density increased steadily from the pith to cambial age 14, and then density had little change in the following years. For AD, the family and individual heritability estimates were about 0.60 and 0.30 after the first 2 years. For DBH, family and individual narrow-sense heritability estimates increased steadily after the first 4 years, and family heritability increased to 0.7 at a cambial age of 11 and had little change thereafter. Individual heritability estimate increased to 0.4 at cambial age 14 and was similar for the later ages. Beyond a cambial age of 5 years, there were strong negative genetic correlations of around –0.80 between AD and DBH. Age–age genetic correlations for AD were high and reached 0.80 and above after cambial age 3. Age–age genetic correlations for DBH were similar to AD, except the first two years. The most efficient early selection year was between ages 4 and 6 years after planting for AD, and between ages 8 and 11 years for DBH.


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Owczarek ◽  
Magdalena Opała

AbstractGreater warmth and precipitation over the past several decades in the High Arctic, as recorded in meteorological data, have caused shrub expansion and affected growth ring widths. The main aim of the study was to develop a tree-ring chronology of polar willow (Salix polarisWahlenb.) from southwest Spitsbergen, attempt to explain its extreme pointer years (extremely low value of growth-ring widths) and to demonstrate the dendrochronological potential of this species. This plant is a deciduous, prostrate, creeping dwarf shrub that produces anatomically distinct annual growth rings with the consistent ring width variation. After using serial sectioning we developed rigorously cross-dated ring width chronology covering the period 1951–2011. Since the beginning of the 1980s an increase of the mean and maximum growth ring width has been observed which is consistent with the increase of both temperature and precipitation in the Arctic reported from meteorological sources. Nine negative extreme years were distinguished and explained by complex hydroclimatic drivers, which highlight the importance of availability of moisture from snowpack and spring precipitation. An additional negative factor present in the years with very low dwarf shrubs growth is rapid thawing and fast freezing during winter as well as low sunshine duration. Our results contradict the prior assumption that inter-annual tree growth variability of dwarf shrubs from polar regions is controlled simply by temperature.


2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 1250-1255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petru Tudor Stancioiu ◽  
Kevin L O'Hara

Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens (D. Don) Endl.) trees in different canopy strata and crown positions were sampled to develop relationships between sapwood cross-sectional area and projected leaf area. Sampling occurred during the summers of 2000 and 2001 and covered tree heights ranging from 7.7 to 45.2 m and diameters at breast height ranging from 9.4 to 92.7 cm. Foliage morphology varied greatly and was stratified into five types based on needle type (sun or shade) and twig color. A strong linear relationship existed between projected leaf area and sapwood area at breast height or sapwood at the base of the live crown despite the variability in foliage morphology. Ratios of leaf area to sapwood were 0.40 m2/cm2 at breast height and 0.57 m2/cm2 at crown base. Measurements of sapwood at the base of the live crown improved leaf area predictions because of sapwood taper below the crown base. A sapwood taper model was also developed.


1986 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 1041-1049 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. C. Yang ◽  
C. A. Benson ◽  
J. K. Wong

The distribution and vertical variation of juvenile wood was studied in an 81-year-old dominant tree and an 83-year-old suppressed tree of Larixlaricina (Du Roi) K. Koch. Two criteria, growth ring width and tracheid length, were used to demarcate the boundary of juvenile wood. The width of juvenile wood, expressed in centimetres and the number of growth rings, decreased noticeably from the base to the top of the tree. The volume of juvenile wood decreased in a similar pattern. These decreasing trends had a strong negative correlation with the year of formation of cambial initials at a given tree level. The length of these cambial initials decreased with increasing age of formation of the cambial initials. In the juvenile wood zone, there was a positive linear regression between the growth ring number (age) and the tracheid length. The slopes of these regression lines at various tree levels increased as the age of the year of formation of the cambial initials increased. At a given tree level, the length of tracheids increased from the pith to a more uniform length near the bark. However, the number of years needed to attain a more uniform tracheid length decreased from the base to the top of the tree. These relationships suggest that the formation of juvenile wood is related to the year of formation of the cambial initials. Consequently, the juvenile wood is conical in shape, tapering towards the tree top.


IAWA Journal ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilona Peszlen

Anatomieal properties of three Euramerican hybrid poplar [Populus × euramericana (Dode) Guinier] clones, the Italian 'I-214' and the Hungarian 'Kopecky' and 'Koltay', were investigated. Six trees from each clone were sampled from plantations (aged 15 and 10 years) at two sites in Hungary. Disks were removed at breast height from each tree to study the effect of age on variation of anatomical properties. Along the eastern radius, vesscl and fibre parameters were measured for each growth ring using an image analyser.


1981 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 715-718 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M. Kellogg ◽  
Francis J. Barber

Stem eccentricity in second-growth western hemlock (Tsugaheterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) from southern coastal British Columbia appears to be the rule rather than the exception. Although the difference was small, the average eccentricity ratios (ratios of minimum diameter inside bark (DIB) to maximum DIB) for two Lower Mainland sites were significantly larger than those of two Vancouver Island sites. The average eccentricity ratio of all 87 trees studied was 0.929, with a standard deviation of 0.0231. The angular rotation of the major axis of the stem cross section varied greatly, and was positively related to the average stem eccentricity ratio within 5-m log lengths for each stem. Average eccentricity of the whole stem was relatively independent of diameter at breast height (DBH), age, stem height, and eccentricity at breast height. It does not appear that a practical field technique could be devised for the rapid estimation of average stem eccentricity in western hemlock.


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