COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON WOOD QUALITY PARAMETERS OF EXOTIC AND NATIVE SPECIES OF Shorea ROXB. ex C.F. GAERTN. Thesis SEEMA BHATT (F D)

Transcription

1 COMPARATIVE STUDIES ON WOOD QUALITY PARAMETERS OF EXOTIC AND NATIVE SPECIES OF Shorea ROXB. ex C.F. GAERTN. Thesis by SEEMA BHATT (F D) Submitted to Dr. YASHWANT SINGH PARMAR UNIVERSITY OF HORTICULTURE & FORESTRY SOLAN (NAUNI) HP INDIA in Partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (FORESTRY) WOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF FOREST PRODUCTS 2016

2 Dr. Bhupender Dutt (Associate Professor) Department of Forest Products College of Forestry Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni-Solan (HP) CERTIFICATE - I This is to certify that the thesis entitled Comparative studies on wood quality parameters of exotic and native species of Shorea Roxb. ex C.F. Gaertn., submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (FORESTRY) in the discipline of Wood Science and Technology to Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan (HP) is a record of bonafide research work carried out by Ms. Seema Bhatt (F D) daughter of Shri Shridhar Bhatt under my guidance and supervision. No part of this thesis has been submitted for any other degree or diploma. acknowledged. The assistance and help received during the course of investigations have been fully Dr. Bhupender Dutt Chairman Advisory Committee Place: Nauni, Solan Dated:

3 CERTIFICATE-II This is to certify that the thesis titled, Comparative studies on wood quality parameters of exotic and native species of Shorea Roxb. ex C.F. Gaertn., submitted by Ms. Seema Bhatt (F D) daughter of Shri Shridhar Bhatt to Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, (Nauni), Solan (H.P.) India in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (FORESTRY) in the discipline of Wood Science and Technology has been approved by the Student s Advisory Committee after an oral examination of the same in collaboration with the External Examiner. Dr. Bhupender Dutt Chairman Advisory Committee External Examiner Dean s Nominee Advisory committee Dr. K. R. Sharma (Professor and Head) Dept. of Forest Products Dr. S.S. Sharma (Professor) Dept. of Basic Science Dr. Ravinder Sharma (Professor) Dept. of Agriculture Economics Dr. R.K. Gupta (Professor) Dept. of Basic Science Professor and Head Department of Forest Products Dean College of Forestry

4 CERTIFICATE-III This is to certify that all the mistakes and errors pointed out by the external examiner have been incorporated in the thesis entitled Comparative studies on wood quality parameters of exotic and native species of Shorea Roxb. ex C.F. Gaertn., submitted by Ms. Seema Bhatt (F D) daughter of Shri Shridhar Bhatt to Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan (HP) in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (FORESTRY) in the discipline of Wood Science and Technology. Dr. Bhupender Dutt Chairman Advisory Committee (Professor and Head) Department of Forest Products Dr Y S Parmar UHF, Nauni, Solan (HP)

5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am extremely grateful to the Almighty the compassionate, who bestowed me with strength and courage to complete this endeavor. Every effort is motivated by ambition and all ambitions have an inspiration behind. I owe this place to my parents and all family members whose constant inspiration, blessing, everlasting love and innumerable sacrifices have encouraged me in every step of my life. There is no substitute for the love, affection and care bestowed on me by them. Words run short to express my love and adoration to them. With an overwhelming sense of legitimate pride and genuine obligation, I seize this rare opportunity to express my deep sense of gratitude to my esteemed advisor and chairman of my advisory committee, Dr. Bhupender Dutt (Associate Professor, Deptt. of Forest Products) for his kind stewardship, erudite guidance, keen interest and constant help, encouragement and valuable suggestions during my entire degree programme. Emphatically, I am grateful to Dr. K. R. Sharma (Professor and Head, Department of Forest Products) for his dynamism, vision and motivation that deeply inspired me. I emphatically extend my heartiest thanks to worthy members of my advisory committee Dr. K. R. Sharma (Professor and Head, Department of Forest Products), Dr. S.S. Sharma (Professor, Deptt. of Basic Sciences), Dr. Ravinder Sharma (Professor, Deptt. of Agriculture Economics), Dr. R. K.Gupta ( Professor, Deptt. of Basic Sciences) for their help, cooperation and valuable comments during the investigation and manuscript preparation. I am also appreciative to Dr. R. Raina (Senior Scientist, Deptt. of Forest Products), Dr. Meenu Sood (Senior Scientist, Deptt. of Forest Products), Dr. Y.P. Sharma (Assistant Scientist, Deptt. of Forest Products), Dr. Rajneesh (Assistant, Professor, Deptt. of Forest Products), Chitra mam, for their ideological contribution and prized suggestions. Thanks is too small word to express my deep sense of gratitude for their sincere, selfless and invaluable help as and when required. Thanks are extended to all my friends for the pleasant and amusing working atmosphere. My heartiest thanks to Amrish, Sneha, Pratibha, Geeta, Aditi, Seema di Yourmila and all my batch mates for being with me. I do recall the sweet memories of the time who were admirers and critics of my career. It is with the heartfelt touch of emotions that I seize the opportunity to acknowledge the moral support and ever caring nature of my juniors Amit, Bharti juneja, Kanica, Deepika and Jyoti. I cordially acknowledge the assistance extended by faculty members, office and field staffs of Department of Forest Products Vinod Rana sir, Kishori ji for timely and sincere help during the course of experimentation. Needless to say Errors and Omissions are mine. Place: Nauni-Solan Date: (SEEMA BHATT)

6 CONTENTS CHAPTER TITLE PAGE(S) 1. INTRODUCTION REVIEW OF LITERATURE MATERIALS AND METHODS RESULTS AND DISCUSSION SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION LITERATURE CITED ABSTRACT 93 APPENDIX i-iii

7 LIST OF TABLES Table Title Page No. 1. Physical wood characteristics of the exotic and native species of Shorea 2. Average fibre dimensions (µm) in the woods of exotic and native species of Shorea 3. Variation in fibre dimensions (µm) in the woods of exotic and native species of Shorea 4. Average vessel element dimensions (µm) and vessel frequency in the woods of exotic and native species of Shorea 5. Variation in vessel element dimensions (µm) and vessel frequency in the woods of exotic and native species of Shorea 6. Average ray dimensions (µm) in the woods of exotic and native of Shorea 7. Variation in ray dimensions (µm) in the woods of exotic and native species of Shorea 8. Average water soluble extractives (cold water and hot water) and alcohol- benzene soluble extractives of exotic and native species of Shorea 9. Average holocellulose and lignin content in the wood of exotic and native species of Shorea 10. Average tensile and bending strength of exotic and native species of Shorea 11. Average compressive strength parallel and perpendicular to grain of exotic and native species of Shorea 12. Average modulus of elasticity and modulus of rupture of exotic and native species of Shorea 13. Simple correlation coefficients for interrelationships between important mechanical and cellular characteristics of exotic and native species of Shorea 14. Simple correlation coefficients for interrelationships between important chemical and mechanical characteristics of exotic and native species of Shorea 15. Prediction equations: prediction of compression strength using the cellular parameters (Y= Compression Strength, X= Cellular characteristics) 16. Prediction equations: prediction of tensile strength using the cellular parameters (Y= Tensile Strength, X= Cellular characteristics)

8 Table Title Page 17. Prediction equations: prediction of static bending strength using the cellular parameters (Y= Static bending Strength, X= Cellular characteristics) 18. Prediction equations: prediction of compression strength using chemical parameters (Y= Compression Strength, X= Chemical characteristics) 19. Prediction equations: prediction of Tensile strength using chemical parameters (Y= Tensile Strength, X= Chemical characteristics) 20. Prediction equations: prediction of static bending strength using chemical parameters (Y= Static bending Strength, X= Chemical characteristics) 21. Multiple regression analysis between mechanical and cellular characteristics 22. Multiple regression analysis between mechanical and chemical characteristics

9 LIST OF PLATES Table Title Between pages 1. Tensile and bending test of different groups of Shorea species and Teak 2. Compression test of different groups of Shorea species and Teak Colour of different groups of Shorea species and Teak Tangential longitudinal sections (TLS) of different groups of Shorea species and Teak. 5. Radial longitudinal sections (RLS) of different groups of Shorea species and Teak. 6. Transverse sections of different groups of Shorea species and Teak 7. Lignin and holocellulose residue of Shorea species (Dark Red Meranti)

10 ABBREVIATIONS % : Per cent C D : Critical difference cm : Centi meter Dr. : Doctor etc. : Et cetera g : Grams H.P. : Himachal Pradesh ha : Hectare in. : Inch kn : kilo newton m : Meter mm : Millimeter MPa : Mega pascal ºC : Degree centigrate pp. : Pages CRD : Completely randomized block design SE : Standard error SG : Specific gravity µm : Micrometer d.b.h : Diameter at breast height i.e. : That is viz : videlicet (namely) LGA : Local Government Area yr : Year Ltd. : Limited ANOVA : Analysis of variance ml : Millilitre TAPPI : Technical Association of Pulp and Paper Industry

11 SSO : Seedling seed orchard IUCN : International Union for Conservation of Nature CPTs : Candidate plus tree MOE : Modulus of elasticity MOR : Modulus of rupture MCS : Maximum compression strength DPX : Dibutyl Phathalate Xylene PC : Personal Computer TS : Transverse section TLS : Tangential longitudinal section R 2 : Coefficient of determination SG : Specific gravity CPG : Compression parallel to grain T : Tensile strength SB : Static bending VD : Vessel diameter VF : Vessel frequency FL : Fibre length FD : Fibre diameter RH : Ray height RW : Ray width CW : Cold water HW : Hot water AB : Alcohol benzene H : Holocellulose L : Lignin

12 Chapter-1 INTRODUCTION Wood quality defined as the suitability of wood for a particular end use, indicate wood properties (anatomical, mechanical and chemical) that individually or in combination, have a positive influence on a specific wood product. The importance of wood quality has been recognized throughout the history, as native people globally understood the unique properties of different tree species and used a particular species best suited for specific applications. Studies on wood properties helps in promoting proper utilization of wood. Consumers will have the confidence to use a particular species when they know more about the species characteristics. Scientific information on the natural durability, anatomical properties, chemical behavior, and mechanical properties must be available on different commercial species. A reliable knowledge of anatomical properties and the behavior of wood under stress are essential for engineers, architects, and carpenters in order to use timber more efficiently. The anatomical structures of wood for example, play an important role in selecting the proper wood for particular usage because it affects strength properties, appearance, resistance to preservative treatment and decay. Similarly, the study of chemical behavior of wood is important to discover the potential utilization of wood based on this chemical characteristics, such as for pulp and paper, carbonization, bioethanol etc. Wood is essentially composed of cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin, and extractives. Each of these components contributes to fiber properties, which ultimately have an impact on product properties. Chemical composition also influences the mechanical properties of wood. Specifically, cellulose microfibrils are thought to be responsible for the tensile strength of wood. The structure of cellulose is advantageous for resisting tensile stress (Genet et al., 2005), probably due to covalent bonds in the pyranose ring and glucose units (Hu et al., 1999). Mechanical properties are largely such properties that determine the use of timber for structural and building purposes, and innumerable other uses. Present work looked at three aspects of the mechanical properties i.e. the static bending strength, compression strength and tensile strength of some selected commercial species of Shorea.

13 Genus Shorea consist of a large number of species (200) belonging to the family Dipterocarpaceae and is one of the most important sources of timber in South- East Asia (Chauhan et al., 2002). Shorea species are one of the most important timber yielding trees used for constructional purposes. In India most commonly found species is Shorea robusta locally known as Sal. Sal is a large deciduous tree, usually growing up to 45 m, having clean bole of m and girth of 6-7 m. It is widely distributed from Srilanka and India in the west and throughout Myanmar and other countries of South-East Asia, up to Philippines in the east. However, the greatest concentration of this species is met with in Borneo, Sumatra, and Malay Peninsula. In India, it covers nearly 13.3 per cent of the forested landscape and ranges from the East (Assam, West Bengal, Orissa and Jharkhand) upto the northern end of India (Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Shivalik Hills in Haryana). The range also extends through the Eastern Ghats and to the eastern Vindhyan and Satpura ranges of central India. It covers more than half of the forested area in the Terai landscape along the Himalayan foothills in Uttar Pradesh. Nearly 2000 km long arc of Sal distribution at the foothills (terai) of Himalaya extends from Shivalik hills in Himachal Pradesh to Sonitpur district in northern reaches of Brahmaputra valley. In the south of Brahmaputra river, sal forests extend eastward up to Nagaon district (Dutta and Devi, 2013a, b). Although the species has wide geographical range and weather adaptability, it has been observed to shift towards the eastern region of India pertaining to the moisture richness in response to the climate change during early 21 st Century (Chitale and Behera, 2012). Shorea robusta is one of the major timber-yielding plants in India, known for its superior quality wood (Satya et al., 2005). A well-known example is the use of the Sal wood for the manufacture of railway sleepers where strength and elasticity is the foremost requirement. In the present age of conservation of natural resources, green felling has been banned in many forest areas in India. Sal is one of the main timber species of India and is extensively used in construction, sleepers, poles and other purposes. The species is unable to meet the current demand of the timber. Modern forest management approaches which include the search for alternative substitute of timber species for those most exploited are increasingly employed in the timber sectors all over the world aiming to reduce pressure on the well-known species. As a result, timber of different 2

14 species of Shorea has been imported from Malaysia and other South-East Asian countries and is known by the trade name Meranti. Meranti is a group name for species of Shorea in Malaysia, Sarawak, Brunei and Indonesia and corresponds to Seraya in North Borneo and Lauan in the Philippines. Shorea species of the Indian origin have been grouped under Balau group from Malay Peninsula. Wood of various species of this genus is very similar in anatomical structure; however, they vary considerably in physical properties and cover a wide range of colour, density, strength and texture. Large number of species of Shorea can be sub-divided into four groups according to the characteristics of their flowers, fruits and leaves (Symington, 1943). Desch (1941) has mentioned Shorea species according to their anatomical features corresponding closely to the classification proposed above. The four groups are: Red Meranti, Yellow Meranti, White Meranti and Balau. Classification is usually on the basis of colour as light or dark according to colour of particular timber specimen. Thus, the lighter coloured timber of Shorea acuminata in Malaysia is commonly classed as Light Red Meranti while the darkercoloured wood is included with Dark Red Meranti. In some countries the pale-coloured Shorea timbers are further sub-divided on the basis of their technical properties into White and Yellow Meranti wood. Based on weight and hardness it is possible to group them into 3 overlapping classes, viz., soft, hard, and very hard. In the first group the lightest Shoreas, S. assamica and S. farinosa can be placed. These are comparable to the light Meranti group of the Shorea of Malaya. The example of second group is S. talura moderately heavy, more or less corresponds to the Meranti pa ang group of Malaya. The last group consists of the well-known Sal (S. robusta). These are heaviest of the Shorea species and correspond to Balau group. In India, Sal wood being so much sought after for construction purposes and for other usages like furniture, scantling, beams that its demand is much more than the supply. Therefore, Meranti wood is imported in bulk. All the Merantis imported to India are well suited to joinery and general construction purposes. It is also used for furniture and for interior framing as a cheaper alternative of Sal. The wood has wide variation in its strength properties; Light Red Meranti is almost equal to oak in strength 3

15 except hardness. White and Yellow Meranti are reported to have similar strength properties to those of American mahogany. Keeping in view the commercial importance of the species for constructional purpose the present work entitled Comparative studies on wood quality parameters of exotic and native species of Shorea Roxb. ex C.F. Gaertn. has been conducted with the following objectives: Objectives To study the physical wood characteristics of exotic and native species of Shorea To study the chemical wood characteristics of exotic and native species of Shorea To study the mechanical wood characteristics of exotic and native species of Shorea 4

16 Chapter-2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE The literature pertaining to the studies on Comparative studies on wood quality parameters of exotic and native species of Shorea Roxb. ex C.F. Gaertn. is scanty. However, the limited available literature on different aspects for this species and also for other species in the related fields is reviewed as under: 2.1 Physicalcharacteristics 2.2 Chemical characteristics 2.3 Mechanicalproperties 2.4 Correlation studies 2.1 PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS Physical properties of wood are one of the important parameters in ultimate use of wood for multifarious applications. These properties are related to the physical state of the wood such as look or appearance, colour, density; weight and also to the reaction of the wood to sound, heat, light etc. However, these properties do not include those which appear under the influence of external mechanical or chemical factors on the wood. According to Sekhar (1988) the knowledge of physical properties decides the wood working qualities. The wood properties vary from species to species and it has been observed that no two species are identical with regard to all wood properties (Konwer et al., 2001). Different studies conducted by the researchers on this aspect are reviewed as follows: Smith (1954) studied the maximum moisture content for determining specific gravity of small wood samples. Kennedy and Smith (1959) reported that in Populus terichocarpa, as the site changed from good to poor, the specific gravity increased from to 0.383, respectively. Specific gravity is an important parameter to determine wood quality (Elliott, 1970: Panshin and Dezeeuw, 1970 and Horn, 1974). Hiller et al. (1972) reported that value of specific gravity of heartwood of walnut averaged 5 per cent greater than the wood. Higher specific gravity of heartwood was due to the

17 accumulation of polyphenoles and other extractives in heartwood which were normally not found in sapwood. Manwiller (1979) examined twenty two small diameter hardwood species and found that specific gravity tended to remain relatively stable or decreased slightly with sampling height in majority of studied species. Taylor (1979) could not find any relationship between sampling height and specific gravity in six of eight southern US hardwood species. Overall trend of Taylor s study suggested slightly greater specific gravity at ground line and crown position. The wood specific gravity is one of the very useful indicator of the strength of wood (Shirin et al., 1998). It is the sum total of the wood substance proper, extraneous matter, and water content (Sekhar, 1988). Ola-Adams and Egunjobi (1989) conducted experiments to study the effects of spacing on specific gravity in Tectona grandis and Terminalia superb at 1.8 m x 1.8 m, 2.8 m x 2.8 m, 4.2 m x 4.2 m and 6.1 m x 6.1 m. Results indicated that there were significant differences in specific gravity between spacing (i.e in Tectona grandis and in Terminalia superba). Bhat et al. (1990) revealed that there was considerable tree-to-tree variation in bark specific gravity on many timbers like Benteak, Dillenia, Erythrina, Irul and Teak although within tree variation was insignificant. In majority of the species, bark specific gravity was positively correlated with wood specific gravity. Gillah and Ishengoma (1993) showed that L. leucocephala had an average basic density of 540 kg/m 3 and an average fibre length of mm. Verma et al. (2001) reported the variations observed in the specific gravity of wood in segregating populations of F 2 and F 3 hybrids of Eucalyptus citriodora and E. torelliana in 10-year-old plants growing in a field trial laid out at New Forest Campus,Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. A comparison of specific gravities of wood was made with parent species involved in hybridization. The range in specific gravity of wood observed was in E.citriodora, in E. torelliana and for F 2 and F 3 recombinants. Tharakan et al. (2003) reported that woody biomass feedstock produced from willow and hybrid poplar can be converted in to bio- energy via thermo-chemical and bio-chemical processes. They found a lower amount of variation for specific gravity 6

18 ( ) and moisture content (49-56 per cent). Willow clones had higher specific gravity and bark percentage than hybrid poplar clones. Hannrup et al. (2004) estimated genetic parameters for wood and growth traits in two 19-yr-old clonal trials and a 40-yr-old full-sib progeny trial of Norway spruce (Piceaabies (L.) Karst). In the clonal trials high (/0.4) broad-sense heritability were found for wood density traits, lignin content, number of internal cracks, growth traits, spiral grain and number of resin canals. Santos et al. (2004) studied the two wood samples of Eucalyptus globulus viz., industrial chip sample and clone tree and reported the basic density of 536 kg/m 3 and 527 kg/cm 3, respectively. Oliveira et al. (2005) reported that the specific gravity generally increased in thedirection of pith-to-bark for Eucalyptus species. Sharma and Sharma (2005) has observed significant decrease in the wood density from base to top of the Robinia pseudoacacia trees managed under high density short rotation system. The wood percentage increased from base to top while bark per cent showed a reverse trend. The planting densities also showed variation in wood and bark percentage. Shanavas and Kumar (2006) studied the wood properties of three locally important fast growing tree species (Acacia auriculiformis, Acacia mangium, and Grevillea robusta) occurring scattered and also as boundary planted trees on the agricultural lands of Kerala. Basic wood density of A.auriculiformis was greater than that of A. mangium and G. robusta, while moisture content followed a reverse sequence: G.robusta>A. mangium>a. auriculiformis. Wood density also increased from inner to outer positions along the radial direction, except for G. robusta. Although moisture content decreased from the inner to outer position of the specimens for A. mangium, no predictable pattern was discernible in this respect for the other two species. Chen (2006) also studied variation of wood basic density for four Eucalyptus clones in Stora Enso Guangxi (China) plantation. The basic density ranged from kg/m 3 to kg/m 3. The mean basic density of the four species (Antiaris toxicaria, Celtis mildbraedii, Alstonia boonei and Maesopsis eminii) ranged between 325 kg/m 3 and 630 kg/m 3. Celtis mildbraedii had the highest basic density i.e kg/m 3 and Alstonis boonei the lowest i.e kg/m 3 (Zziwa et al., 2006). 7

19 Tang (2007) said that White ash (Fraxinus) wood is a strong and elastic timber used for furniture, tool handles, and sporting goods such as baseball bats. The shrinkage and swelling properties of White ash wood were analysed with the use of drying and absorbing moisture methods. The changes in sizes in three dimensions with wood moisture content were preliminarily detected, and were then compared with other three varieties. The results showed that the basic density of the White ash wood as 0.73 g/cm 3. Dhillon and Sidhu (2007) measured specific gravity of wood samples collected at breast height of Poplars planted at two locations of Punjab viz. Central Plain Region (Ludhiana) and Semi-Arid Region (Bathinda). Significant differences among clones were noticed at both the locations. Specific gravity ranged from to in Central Plain Region and from to in Semi-Arid Region was noticed. Agbontalor (2008) reported that specific gravity of wood has not been adequately reported to be a factor directly or indirectly influencing its selection for incorporation into or retention in some of the agroforestry systems. The specific gravity of twelve wood species that top the priority ranking of respondents in Akinyele and Ido Local Government Areas (LGAs), Oyo State, Nigeria, where the predominant type of agroforestry system practiced is that of scattered trees in croplands, were evaluated and found to range between 0.42 and 0.85 with eleven of the species having values >0.60. Izekor and Modugu (2010) studied the specific gravity and shrinkage characteristics variations of 23-years old plantation grown Teak (Tectona grandis) in Ologbo Forest Reserve. Results revealed that specific gravity decreased with increase in the tree height, while shrinkage characteristics increased with height along the tree bole. There was increase in wood specific gravity from inner wood and decrease from the tree base to the top. The interaction between tree height and its radial positions were not significant at 0.05% probability level. Lokman and Mohd Noor (2010) studied 13 year old provenance trials of Acacia mangium established at five sites in Sabal, Jakar, Oya, Labang and Sawai in Sarawak Malaysia and found that radial variation in specific gravity increased from pith to bark, ranging from 0.20 at pith to 0.80 at bark with a mean and coefficient of variation of 0.56 and per cent, respectively 8

20 Pande et al. (2012) studied 10 clones of Populus deltoids Bartr. ex Marsh. raised by WIMCO Plantations Ltd. at Rudrapur (Udhamsingh Nagar), India. He reported that specific gravity increased with height and also from pith to periphery for the clones. Female parents showed higher specific gravity than the male parents Anatomical characteristics Anatomy forms the strong basis for identification of species it is found that transverse section of wood under magnification will serve in the majority of cases as sure means of identification (Howard, 1941). Bisset et al. (1950) found the fibre length variation within one growth ring in teak. These workers found that the increase in the fibre length was rapid and a more or less constant value was reached quite quickly. Kedharnath et al. (1963) reported significant difference in fibre length in the three regions across the stem in teak provenance test at Haldwani, (U.P.).The fibre in the sap wood region were significantly longer than those in the adult-heart wood region, and those in adult-heart wood region were significantly longer than those in the juvenlile- heart wood region. Significant differences in fibre length were also observed between trees within each region of the sample cores. The pulping of Albizia procera indicated that pulp from White siris could be prepared through sulphate process. The average fibre length of the pulp was 0.90 mm and the average diameter was mm. Easy bleaching pulp and good yield with satisfactory strength properties could be prepared from Albizia procera (Guha, 1969). The study undertaken by Purkayastha et al. (1984) with a view to investigating whether there is any significant difference in the average fibre length of Eucalyptus tereticornis different plantation of the same age class. The fibre length in three out of four plantation (Shahdol-805 µm, Bangalore-790 µm and Coimbatore-804 µm) showed no significant difference, only the Dehra dun grown trees the average value is significantly lower (742 µm). Robinson and Mize (1987) reported that the fibre length of European black alder provenances ranged from 0.68 to 1.01 mm and relative density ranged from 0.37 to 0.42 g/cm 3. There was no significant difference between provenances for either trait. 9

21 Gartneret al. (1997) reported that the variations between the two heights and between the lower and upper sides of the lean of red alders (Alnus rubra Bong.) were minor or not significant for all measured characteristics. In the radial direction, fibre length and vessel diameter increased rapidly during the first 8 to 12 years (from 0.8 to 1.2 mm and 47 to 60 mm, respectively). From pith to bark, there was no significant change in ray proportion, a small increase in the vessel proportion (from 23 to 28%), and a small decrease in the fibre proportion (from 63 to 57%). Specific gravity was constant radically and with height but varied significantly among trees (from 0.45 to 0.51 for tree means). These results suggest that the wood characteristics of A. rubra are quite uniform within individual trees with the exception of fibre length and vessel diameter, which increase radically in the first several growth rings. Studies on basic density and anatomical properties of Eucalyptus camaldulensis, E. citriodora, E. paniculata indicated that basic density was 651, 716 and 720 kg/m 3 for E. camaldulensis, E. citriodoraand E. paniculata, respectively. Fibre length was 0.96, 0.94 and 1.00 mm, fibre wall thickness was 4.93, 4.80 and 5.88 mm and fibre lumen diameter was 5.58, 5.38 and 4.47 mm for E. camaldulensis, E. citriodora and E. paniculata, respectively (Hamza, 1999). Cox et al. (2001) assessed the growth and wood quality of four dipterocarp species (Shorea acuminata, S. ovalis, S. leprosula and Dryobalanops aromatica). Trees were randomly selected from a taungya plantation that was established in Kenaboi Negeri Sembilan, Peninsular, Malaysia. A detailed study of S. ovalis indicated that mean fibre length was 1355 µm. The specific gravity ranged from 0.31 (S. leprosula) to 0.37 (S. acuminata). Chauhan et al. (2001) studied variations in specific gravity and wood anatomy in 10 year old trees of 18 clones of Populus deltoides, collected from experimental plantations in Uttaranchal, India. The specific gravity reached maximum at 50 per cent tree height and fibre length at 25 per cent of tree height showing a decreasing trend upwards. At breast height, fibre length and specific gravity increased rapidly up to the 6th year followed by a slower rate of increase up to the 8th year with a tendency to level off. Breast height values of specific gravity and fibre length were highly correlated with whole tree values for these two parameters. 10

22 Susilawati and Fujisawa (2002) carried out first and second round selection of plus tree candidates of Eucalyptus pellita seedling seed orchard (SSO) in Pleihari, South Kalimantan based on growth performance (phenotype). Family performance evaluation in wood properties was based on wood samples collected from progeny test aged 66 months (5 years 6 months). Samples were sorted by diameter class (large, medium and small), and a total of 8 family for each class diameter were selected, resulting in 24 families for the whole 10 blocks. Wood density and fibre length of E. pellita showed high family heritability, which ranged from to for wood density and to for fibre length. Estimation of mean values of wood density of total section varied from 0.53 to Fibre length of total section varied from 0.76 mm to 1.06 mm. Rao et al. (2003) studied the radial variation in anatomical properties of plantation grown Tecomella undulata. They found that vessel frequency, vessel diameter and percentage of solitary vessels were interrelated and significantly varied from pith to periphery. In another study in Fraxinus excelsor L., the radial variation of vessel lumen diameter and frequency were limited adjacent to pith. It was observed that the diameter of early wood vessels increased along cambial age whereas, frequency of vessels decreased (Helinska and Fabisiak, 1999). Sheng- Zuo and Wen- Zhong (2003) reported significant variation in wood density among poplar clones. There was significant difference in wood basic density among the growth rings, which has an increase tendency along the direction from the pith. The mean wood basic density had a general increase trend with increasing height of the trees. They also reported significant variations in fibre diameter and the ratio of fibre length to diameter among poplar clones. There were significant differences in fibre length and fibre diameter among the growth rings, which had an increasing tendency along the direction from pith to bark. The fibre length and fibre diameter had a general decline trend with increasing height of the trees. Jiang et al. (2004) studied fourteen fast growing poplar varieties widely cultivated in Shandong Province, China, for their volume growth, fibre shape, chemical composition and economic indices. The average fibre length and fibre content of the14 poplar varieties in the 6-year-old stand was mm, which was equivalent to 11

23 per cent. Liu et al. (2004) reported physico-mechanical properties (density, shrinkage ratio, compression strength perpendicular to grain) of Hippophae rhamnoides and reported that the mean of fibre length was µm and air density was g/cm 3. Pande et al. (2004) worked on the inter-species variations in the different wood elements of Red Meranti group of Shorea in Malay Peninsula. Variance ratio test indicated that variations in the wood elements viz., fibre-length, vessel-diameter and wall-thickness were significant due to species. These variations were non-significant due to samples of same species (alpha =0.05). Minimum specific gravity was recorded for S. dasyphylla (0.368) while maximum recorded for S. macrantha (0.848). Dimensions of different wood elements were non-significantly correlated to each other. Pan et al. (2005) studied the wood anatomical properties of 24 year old hybrid tulip (Liriodendron chinense L tulipifera).the results showed an average fibre length of mm. The fibre length from pith to bark increased rapidly, tended to stabilize at the 9 th to 11 th year growth ring. Basic density, fibre length and fibre wall thickness decreased, while fibre width increased with increasing DBH. Height of crown had a positive effect on basic density but had no influence on any of the remaining properties. The analysis showed that it is possible to describe the variation inside and between trees satisfactorily for a range of important wood and fibre properties (Molteberg and Hoibo, 2006). Venkaiah et al. (2006) evaluated twenty clones of Populus deltoides for wood characteristics at the end of 9 th year. Clone 5-18 showed the maximum specific gravity (0.427) and clone C-181 recorded the minimum value (0.333). The longest fibres were found in the clone IC (1.236 mm), closely followed by A-238 (1,222 mm), the shortest fibre length (0.952 mm) was recorded in Wang et al.(2006) determined and analysed key fibre morphological features, fibre length, fibre width, cell wall thickness, ratio of length to width, and ratio of cell wall to lumen of poplar (Populus deltoids 1-69/55). In the radial variance, from the pith outward, the fibre length, fibre width and ratio of length to width all increased year after year, reaching a maximum at a certain year and then, decreased gradually. 12

24 Ren et al. (2006) studied the effects of different plant densities (1000, 500 and 250 trees/ha) on the anatomical properties of Populus xiaohei in Shuozhou County, Shanxi Province, China. Results showed that the planting densities had certain effects on the radial variation of fibre properties. An initial rapid and then gentle increase was observed on fibre length from pith to outer layer. Jiang et al. (2007) suggested that wider spacing for Populus xiaohei may feasibly increase the rate of wood production while not affecting fibre length for pulpwood production. This was concluded by studying the effects of stand density on wood quality of this species. Significant variation of pulp yield and basic density of different Eucalyptus species viz., Eucalyptus grandis, Eucalyptus amplifolia and Corymbia torelliana was earlier reported by Rockwood et al. (2008). Christensen et al. (2007) evaluated anatomical and mechanical properties of six species of tropical trees with two different rooting morphologies. He revealed that the smallest vessels and the lowest vessel frequency were found in the parts of the trees subjected to the greatest stresses or strains. A trade-off between conductivity and stiffness or strength was revealed, which suggests that anatomical alterations occur in response to mechanical strain. Pande et al. (2007a) examined the variations in physical, macroscopic and microscopic anatomical features of different species of Shorea of White Meranti group of the Malay Peninsula. Variance ratio (F) test indicated that interspecific differences among wood element dimensions of Shorea were significant for fibre length, vessel element length, wall thickness and fibre diameter. However, intra-specific differences were non-significant for all the anatomical characters. Fibre diameter and vessel element length showed positive significant correlation. Pande et al. (2007b) also found the variations in physical, gross and minute anatomical features of different species of the Balau group in the Malay Peninsula. Variance ratio (F) test indicated that interspecific variations among the wood element dimensions of studied species of Shorea, were significant while intra-species variations were non-significant for all the characters. Similarly Pande et al. (2007c) reported the variations in physical, gross and microscopic anatomical features of different species of Shorea of Yellow Meranti group of Malay Peninsula. Variance ratio (F) test indicated that inter-specific differences among the wood element dimensions of Shorea were significant for vessel 13

25 element length, wall-thickness and fibre-diameter and non-significant for fibre length and wood density (α=0.05). However, intra-specific differences were non-significant for all the anatomical characters. Vessel element-length and diameter showed negative while wood density showed positive correlation with fibre wall thickness. Nguyen et al. (2009) examined growth, specific gravity, and wood fibre length of Acacia mangium, Acacia auriculiformis, Acacia hybrid clones, and combinations, which were planted in a trial forest in Bavi, Vietnam. Superiority of hybrids over their parents ranged from per cent for diameter, from per cent for specific gravity, and from per cent for wood fibre length. Wood fibre length was initially mm near the pith and then increased slowly, finally reaching mm near the bark. The specific gravity of Acacia increased from near the pith to near the bark. Pande et al. (2009) compared intra- and inter-species variations in the dimensions of different wood elements and wood density of Balau, White Meranti (Meranti Pa'ang), Yellow Meranti (Meranti dammar hitam) and the Red Meranti group of Malay Shorea. Variance ratio (F) test indicated that intra-species differences of Shorea were non-significant for all the groups. Inter-species variations were significant for fibre length, fibre diameter, wall thickness and vessel element diameter for all the four groups except vessel element diameter for White Meranti and fibre length for Yellow Meranti. Significant variations in wood density were noticed for all the groups except in the Yellow Meranti group (α=0.05). Wall thickness, fibre diameter, wood density and vessel element length were positively correlated (α=0.05). Wani and Khan (2010) reported significant variation in the wood anatomical features viz. fibre length, fibre diameter, fibre wall thickness from different positions of trees of Populus nigra L. Lal et al. (2010) reported the fibres of Anthocephalus cadamba as short but its fibre width, cell wall thickness, and rigidity coefficient are comparable to those of softwood such as Pinus kesiya and Picea abies. Due to low lignin and higher holocellulose contents, A. cadamba produces high pulp yield at milder cooking conditions. 14

26 Adi et al. (2011) compared the fiber characteristics of branchwoods of 3 Meranti species namely Meranti Sangkan, Meranti Bakau, and Meranti Bunga kulit hitam from Bukit Batu Peat Swamp Forest, Riau. The result showed that fiber length of Meranti Bunga kulit hitam, Meranti Sangkan, and Meranti Hitam were µm, µm, µm, and µm, respectively. Izekor and Fuwape (2011) studied Tectona grandis wood in Edo state, Nigeria and reported that the mean values of fibre length were 1.45, 1.73 and 1.96 mm; fibre diameter, were 26.79, and micro meter; fibre lumen width were 18.17, and micro meter, while the mean values for fibre wall thickness were 5.87, 7.89 and 9.80 micrometer for 15, 20 and 25 year old Tectona grandis wood, respectively. Fibre length, fibre diameter and cell wall thickness increased with increase in age while fibre lumen width decreased with increase in age. However, all these anatomical characteristics increased from innerwood to outerwood but decreases from the base to top. Tavares et al. (2011) compared wood and bark fibre characteristics of Acacia melanoxylon and Eucalyptus globulus. They found that wood and bark fibre length varied between mm and mm respectively. The cell wall thickness varied between µm in wood and µm in the bark. Wood and bark fibre length decreased from the bottom to the top of the tree and the cell wall thickness had no specific pattern for axial variation. Fibre length and wall thickness increased from the pith to bark, but the wall thickness increased slightly with some fluctuations. In A. melanoxylon significant site differences were found in relation to bark fibre length and also to wood wall thickness. The fibre of A. melanoxylon was thinner and the bark fibre thicker. The radial variation was similar in both species. In the wood of E. globules, fibre wall thickness increased from the base to the middle of the tree height and decreased to the top; in the bark decreased from the base to the top. Naji et al. (2011) found that vessel characteristics in Hevea brasiliensis (Rubber) were more or less influenced by tree spacing. Dewi and Supartini (2011) investigated wood anatomy of P.S. Ashton in order to ensure this species belongs to Yellow Meranti group. Such study is very important since this species is already listed in the red list of IUCN and classified as critically endangered species. The results 15

27 showed that the main microscopic characters are vessel diffuse, mostly solitary, rounded to oval; simple perforation plate and alternate intervessel pits; parenchyma scanty paratracheal to thin vasicentric; axial intercellular canals in long tangential line, radial intercellular canal and vasicentric tracheids present; rays uniseriate and multiseriate, prismatic crystal in procumbent cells; fibre length 1,294 µm, diameter 26µmand wall thickness 4µm. Macroscopic and microscopic observation of wood confirms that species belongs to Yellow Meranti group. The assesment on fibre dimensions and derived values of the wood fibres classified the wood into class quality II. It indicates that this species is moderately favorable as raw material for pulp and paper manufacture. Pande et al. (2012) studied the inter-clonal variation in dimensions of wood elements and specific gravity of 6-year-old Populus deltoides based on sexual dimorphism of a female clone (G48) and male clone (G3). The Variance ratio (F) test revealed that both clones differed significantly in fibre length and diameter, wall thickness, vessel element length and diameter, and specific gravity. The G48 clone showed higher fibre and vessel element dimensions but lower specific gravity than G3 clone, suggesting better fibre dimensions for G48 and specific gravity for G3. It showed female dominance on wood anatomical properties. Fibre length and specific gravity increased with height. Dimensions of wood element and specific gravity also increased from pith to periphery. Non-significant intra-ramet variations for both the clones indicated that homogeneous wood properties could be achieved from the single bole. Intra-clonal variations in G48 revealed non-significant differences, suggesting stable wood properties in the clone. Clara Manasa (2012) conducted experiments on Eucalyptus urophylla with the spacing of m, m, m, m and m with densities of 1666, 1481, 1333, 1212 and 1111 trees ha-1, respectively. Among the different spacing treatments, the maximum fibre length was observed in m treatment (811 µm) and was found to be superior over other treatment. It was also found that effect of spacing did not influence significantly the vessel diameter and vessel frequency in Eucalyptus urophylla. 16

28 Saravanan et al. (2013) reported the differences in anatomical characteristics viz., vessel length, vessel diameter, vessel arrangement, vessel frequency, ray height, ray width, ray frequency, fibre length, fibre diameter, fibre wall thickness and fibre lumen width of one, two, three, four and five year old Melia dubia cav.. The wood samples were systematically collected from the pith, middle and periphery wood sections of the radial positions. The mean values of vessel length (235.68, , , and µm), vessel diameter (192.57, , , and µm), vessel frequency (4.00, 4.00, 4.00, 5.00 and 5.00 mm2), ray height (336.65, , , and µm), ray width (71.73, 77.00, 84.53, and µm), ray frequency (7.00, 8.00, 8.00, and 11.00), fibre length (647.00, , , and µm), fibre diameter (24.00, 24.90, 26.01, and µm), fibre wall thickness (4.07, 5.29, 6.49, 7.62 and 9.08 µm) and fibre lumen width (15.87, 14.32, 13.03, and 9.35 µm) for one, two, three, four and five year old M. dubia wood, respectively. All parameters showed significant increment with respect to increase in age and also all the anatomical characteristics examined in this study increased significantly from pith to periphery except lumen width. The effects of age and radial positions contributed significantly to variations in anatomical characteristics of M. dubia wood. Sharma et al. (2014) studied the anatomical properties of Terminalia myriocarpa collected from plantation located at Ungma village in Mokokchung district of Nagaland. The mean range of fibre length, vessel length, increment infibre length and wood density were found to be µm ± 33.56µm, µm ± 14.71µm, µm ± µm and ± 0.38 respectively. ANOVA carried out among trees showed non-significant variation in all the wood properties. Wood density, fibre length and fibre length increment increased from pith to 40mm. and afterwards it remained more or less constant. There was gradual increase in vessel length from pith to bark. On the basis of radial variation in wood properties, the boundary between juvenile wood and mature wood could be marked at 40mm from pith for all selected parameters. Anoop et al. (2014) found that wood physical and anatomical properties of Swietenia macrophylla varied along the radial directions from pith to periphery. 17

29 Physico-mechanical properties were correlated with anatomical properties. Most of the wood quality parameters were comparable to teak. Carrillo et al.(2015) studied six 15-year-old Eucalyptus globules trees, ranging in wood density from 474 to 575 kgm 3, at breast height for anatomical study and fibre measurement. Vessel and fibre dimensions showed an increase from pith to bark, while vessel frequency decreased. Also significant and positive correlations were found for fibre length vs density, density vs wall thickness, runkel ratio vs density and coarseness vs fibre length at different sections along the radius analyzed. Elseed and Abdelgadir (2015) investigated the effect of growth rate on fibre characteristics (fiber dimensions and suitability indices for pulp and paper production) of Eucalyptus camaldulensis and their relationships. Growth rate significantly affected all fibre characteristics, except fibre length. Slow growing coppice stems had wider fibres and thicker fibre walls than fast growing coppice stems. Increased growth rate led to a decrease in fibre diameter by 4.10 per cent and in double cell wall thickness by per cent, and an increase in fiber lumen diameter by11.51 per cent. 2.2 CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS The chemical composition of wood cannot be defined precisely for a given tree species. Chemical composition vary with tree part (root, stem, or branch), type of wood (i.e., normal, tension, or compression) location, climate and soil conditions. Ordinary chemical analysis can distinguish between hardwoods (angiosperms) and softwoods (gymnosperms). Chemical composition of wood components includes cellulose, lignin, pentosans and ash. Wilde and Paul (1959) detected only 10 per cent of variation in specific gravity and chemical composition of wood of Populus tremuloides which could be related to differences in soil on which the trees were grown. Mullins and Mcknight (1981) worked on aspen (Populus tremuloides) and reported the following chemical profile: cellulose 53 per cent, hemicelluloses 31 per cent and lignin 16 per cent, on extractive free wood basis. Khurana et al. (1983) observed variation in holocellulose, lignin and ash content in wood of both male and female trees of Populus ciliata of 18 natural provenances in temperate forest and ravines. 18