Wood production potential of beech Fagus sylvatica L. from natural forests in West Central Greece

Abstract

Beech is an important tree species in natural and managed forests in Europe. Beech natural forests in Greece have a great ecological and economic importance and represent a very valuable species with respect to its potential of wood production and utilization. The aim of this work was to analyze the wood production potential of beech Fagus sylvatica L. natural forests on a quantitative and qualitative basis with respect to the forest site quality conditions. For this analysis, the wood production potential of 228 beech trees growing under different site qualities at the Aspropotamos forest district, Trikala, western-central Greece, was evaluated. For the quality grading of 787 produced beech logs, the EN 1316-1:1997 CEN standard was employed. The results showed that there is a very good potential of both quantitative and qualitative wood production in the natural beech forest as well as that the site quality has an influence on quantity and quality of wood production. It was recorded that beech trees grown under the better site quality, have attained the highest mean ring increment and produced the highest quantities of wood. Particularly, higher production and better quality of beech wood was produced in the better site quality, while in the inferior site quality the quantity of round wood produced was less and the quality was inferior

Keywords

• beech,wood production,quality of wood,site quality

References

1. Ayan, S., Acar, S., Yer, E. N., Bulut, A., 2012. The occurrence of heart rot on Abies nordmanniana subsp. bornmülleriana Mattf. trees in relation to altitude, Kastamonu Univ., Journal of Forestry Faculty, 12/3 Special Issue; 196-202.
2. Dafis S. 1969. Stathmological studies in beech forests. Scientific Annals of the School of Agriculture and Forestry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, 48 pp (In Greek with German summary)
3. EN 1316-1: 1997. Hardwood round timber – Qualitative classification Oak and beech – Part 1. Oak and beech. European Committee for Standardization, Brussels.
4. Farrelly N, Ni Dhubhain A, Nieuwenhuis M, Grant J. 2009. The distribution and productivity of Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) in Ireland in relation to site, soil and climatic factors. Irish Forestry 66(1&2): 51-73
5. Goncalves J.L.M., Stape J.L., Laclau J.P., Smethurst P, Gava J.L. 2004. Silvicultural effects on the productivity and wood quality of eucalypt plantations. Forest Ecol Manag 193/1: 45-61
6. Gutierrez-Oliva A., Baonza-Merino V., Fernandez-Golfin-Seco J.I., Conde-Garcia M., Hermoso-Prieto E. 2006. Effect of growth conditions on wood density of Spanish Pinus nigra. Wood Sci Technol 40(3): 190-204
7. Houllier F., Leban J., Colin F. 1995. Linking growth modelling to timber quality assessment for Norway spruce. Forest Ecol Manag 74(1): 91-102
8. Kellomäki S., Ikonen V.P., Peltola H., Kolström T. 1999. Modelling the structural growth of Scots pine with implications for wood quality. Ecol Model 122(1&2): 117–134

9. Kirdyanov A.V., Prokushkin A.S., Tabakova M. A. 2013. Tree-ring growth of Gmelin larch under contrasting local conditions in the north of Central Siberia. Dendrochronologia 31: 114-119
10. Liu S, Loup C, Gril J, Dumonceaud O, Thibaut A, Thibaut B. 2005. Studies on European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.). Part 1: Variations of wood colour parameters. Ann For Sci 62/7/: 625 – 632
11. Skovsgaard J.P., Vanclay J.K. 2008. Forest site productivity: A review of the evolution of dendrometric concepts for even-aged stands. Forestry 81(1):13-31
12. Spanos KA (2011) Beech forest genetic resources in Greece: their importance and conservation value. Adaptive strategy under climate change. In: Genetic resources of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) for sustainable forestry, INIA, Madrid, pp 93-113
13. Tombaziotis M, Voulgaridis E.V. 2006. The appearance of compression wood in hybrid fir trees (Abies borisii regis Matff.) and its impact on the quality of sawn timber. Proceedings of the 5th IUFRO Symposium, 3-6 September, Sliac-Sielnica, Slovakia, pp 155-162
14. Tsoumis G. 1961. Grading fir logs and lumber in the University Sawmill at Pertouli. Scientific Annals of the School of Agriculture and Forestry, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, pp 103-135 (In Greek with English summary)
15. Tsoumis G. 1991. Science and Technology of Wood: Structure, Properties, Utilization. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 494 pp.
16. Tsoumis G., Panagiotidis N. 1980. Effect of growth conditions on wood quality characteristics of black pine (Pinus nigra Arn.). Wood Sci Technol 14/4: 301-310
17. Voulgaridis E. 2002. Wood Quality (University Lectures), University Press, Thessaloniki, Greece, 128 pp (In Greek)