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Publications

NIBIOs employees contribute to several hundred scientific articles and research reports every year. You can browse or search in our collection which contains references and links to these publications as well as other research and dissemination activities. The collection is continously updated with new and historical material.

1999

Abstract

In pine, heart- and sapwood can in some respect be considered two different timber species, with divergent wood properties. The knowledge of their occurrence has thus been a task for wood scientists ever since the fundamental work of Pilz (1907) a century ago. Close to 1800 observations from all over Scandinavia are analysed. Conclusion is that the physiological conversion from sap- to heartwood in the living tree is under the sole control of time, i.e. years past since activity in the apical. Other factors (height in tree, tree or stand characteristics) seem to be without influence The prediction of heartwood amount in individual trees in a stand of known age is thus attainable. Accordingly, the estimation of age in a log cross-cut, and thus of mean annual ring width, is also feasible, once diameter and heartwood ratio is known. Experiments using IR photography indicate the potential of using such equipment in heartwood detection.