Stem sinuosity is a highly visible stem-form trait in the leaders of fast-growing Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. (Mirb.) Franco) trees, yet its cause is unknown. We tested the hypotheses that sinuous stems have longer expanses of primary growth than nonsinuous stems (putting the leader at higher risk curvature, induction of...
The volume and complexity of their vascular systems make the dynamics of long‐distance water transport in large trees difficult to study. We used heat and deuterated water (D₂O) as tracers to characterize whole‐tree water transport and storage properties in individual trees belonging to the coniferous species Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco...
Little is known of wood properties in trees that were initially suppressed and subsequently released from suppression. The purpose of this study was to assess differences in growth ring width, specific conductivity (Ks), tracheid dimensions, moisture content, and wood density in suppressed Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) and western hemlock...
To study whether pruning young Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco var. menziesii) hastens the transition from juvenile to mature wood, we investigated the effects on wood properties in an intensively managed young plantation in the Coast Range of Oregon. Ten years after trees were pruned to a fixed height (3.4...
ASTM standard sizes for bending tests (either 50 × 50 mm or 25 × 25 mm in cross-section) are not always suitable for research purposes that characterize smaller sections of wood. Moreover, the ASTM standards specify loading the sample on the longitudinal-tangential surface. If specimens are small enough, then the...
Many stands of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) near coastal areas of Oregon and Washington are heavily infected with the foliar pathogen causing Swiss needle cast (SNC) disease, and yet there is very little research on the resulting wood quality. Modulus of elasticity (MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR), microfibril angle...
To better understand the influence of competition on wood formation and wood quality in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco), patterns of cambial growth and latewood production were examined for one growing season in 15-year-old plantations with similar densities but differing Douglas-fir/red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) ratios. The treatments consisted of...
The relationships among stand structure, Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) branch characteristics, and red alder (Alnus rubra (Bong.)) stem form attributes were explored for 10- to 15-year-old trees growing in mixed Douglas-fir – red alder plantations. Treatments included a range of species proportions, and red alder was either planted simultaneously...
Breast-high stem sections were sampled from 56 western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) trees growing in 15 plots representing a wide range of tree and site conditions in northwestern Oregon. Growth and wood density traits of individual rings were measured via X-ray densitometry, and relationships of ring density and its...
Extractives can account for between 1 to 20% of the oven-dry weight of wood of various tree species and can influence wood density values appreciably. Removing these chemical deposits (extraction)in wood samples can help establish a consistent baseline for comparing wood densities where extractives are expected to differ between sample...
The Willamette Valley (WV) race of ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) is being widely planted for timber in the Willamette Valley, western Oregon, because it grows in habitats that are either too wet or too dry for Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). Compared to the eastern Cascade Mountains (CM), the WV has 3...
The relationships between leaf area and sapwood and inner bark quantities (widths, areas, and volumes) were studied in an attempt to understand the design criteria for sapwood quantity in eighteen 34-year-old Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) trees with a wide range of leaf areas, sapwood areas, and dry masses of leaf, xylem,...
We evaluated effects of chemical fertilizer, spacing, and interplanted nitrogen-fixing trees on wood density and diameter growth of 15-year-old Eucalyptus saligna trees. The trees were grown in silvicultural trials established on former sugarcane land on the island of Hawaii. Elevation was 480 m, slopes were gentle, and annual rainfall averaged...
The factors that determine sapwood width and volume in a tree are not known. This study asked whether sapwood width is related to a need for stem storage sites. Experiments were conducted on 12 34-year-old Douglas-fir [(Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco] trees with a 6-7 fold range of leaf areas and...
Heartwood durability of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco var. menziesii) was studied as a function of vertical and radial position in boles of trees with a wide range of leaf area/sapwood area ratios. Six 34- year-old trees were harvested from each of three plots established 14 years before: very dense,...
Length of libriform fibers was measured in rings 2 7 at breast height in 7-year-old hybrid poplar stems from two clones (11-11, a Populus trichocarpa Torr. & Gray ´ P. deltoides Bartr. ex Marsh. hybrid; and D-01, of unknown taxonomic identity) grown in a controlled test of three spacings (0.5,...
The high decay resistance of western redcedar (Thuja plicata Donn) is due to the presence of toxic extractives, called tropolones, in the heartwood. Therefore, tropolone content may be used as an indicator of decay resistance. With increment core-sized samples of western redcedar heartwood, we used gas chromatography to measure tropolone...
Six 40-year-old red alders (Alnus rubra Bong.) were harvested from a mixed stand of A. rubra and big-leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum Pursh) in the Oregon Coast Range to evaluate variation in their wood characteristics at two heights. Because the trees had a slight lean (4 to 14°), we sampled along...
Natural stands and a 3-year-old plantation of red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) trees were used to study the incidence of leaning stems, the level of growth stresses and tension wood formation, and the ability of the stems to right themselves to vertical. Overall, 10% of the 512 trees in 10...
This paper hypothesizes a correlation in some species between the cambial age of transition from core (juvenile) to outer (mature) wood and the cambial age of transition from photosynthetic to non-photosynthetic bark. Secondly, this paper hypothesizes that the relationship is causal: a signal produced in relation to the photosynthetic bark...
To learn the effect of wind on a species native to a windy site, I compared germination, seedling survival, seedling form, and the force required to uproot seedlings in a wind-exposed and a wind-sheltered site. In February 1992, the sand dune perennial Lupinus arboreus Sims. was planted in wind-exposed and...
Xylem is nonuniform in its structure and function throughout the plant stem. Xylem structure varies from pith to bark, from root to apical meristem, from stem to branch, at nodes vs internodes, and at junctions of branches, stems or roots compared to the internodal regions nearby. At smaller scales, anatomy...