Quantifying and modelling the effects of environmental factors on wood properties of Eucalyptus grandis in South Africa

Abstract

This research aimed to quantify and model the effects of specific environmental variables on the wood quality of Eucalyptus grandis in the warm temperate (WT) and sub-tropical (ST) forestry regions in South Africa using nondestructive, rapid screening techniques. Furthermore, because this species lacks distinct annual boundaries that correspond to seasonal climatic changes, the change in wood properties with age usually cannot be studied with reasonable accuracy. For this reason, a study was carried out to examine the linkage between radial variation patterns in wood density and annual radial growth, in order to determine to what degree of accuracy annual ring boundaries could be detected through this method.