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Wood Science and Tropical Forest Ecology

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A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Wood Science and Forest Products".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2019) | Viewed by 40379

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Dr. Hans Beeckman

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Service of Wood Biology, Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA), Leuvensesteenweg 13, 3080 Tervuren, Belgium
Interests: wood biology understood as the study of wood as a result of growth, the compartmentalization of it in cells and tissues and its variability; xylem anatomy; dendrochronology; carrying capacity of populations and communities of trees and of forest ecosystems; Central African rainforests and woodlands; tropical forests resilience; trait-based ecology; research relevant for development cooperation; epistemology of ecology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Tropical forests stockpile more than half of the terrestrial organic carbon. 98 % of this carbon is wood. The prominence of lignified tissues provides a resounding plea for implying wood research into investigations of the structure and function of tropical forests, their climatic buffering capacities and the resources they contain for local and global economies.

Several aspects of wood science support tropical forest ecology, management and conservation.

Analysis of wood traits help understanding the performance of individual trees. Together with properties, such as wood density, these traits hold key information for ecosystem models on carbon fluxes.

Carbon sequestration processes can be studied using retrospective growth analysis of pith-to-bark samples and through vegetation reconstructions from fossil wood and charcoal.

Wood technological endeavors provide the best understanding of which timber qualities are optimally-suited to which applications, and, as such, help to avoid wasting valuable materials.

Finally, public concern for the fate of tropical forests has resulted in the creation of a number of mechanisms for assuring biodiversity conservation and sustainable production of goods and services. Implementation and enforcement of these instruments very often imply various tools from the domain of wood science. Verification of the authenticity of a material is, for instance, done through microscopic or chemical identification.

Altogether, tropical wood science comprises a firm foundation of global change research. The special issue will illustrate this statement with papers on different applications of wood research.

Dr. Hans Beeckman
Guest Editor

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Keywords

trait-based ecology
wood anatomy
dendrochronology
tropical forests
wood technology
carbon fluxes
climate changes
vegetation history
sustained yield
forest resilience

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2741 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Response of Erica arborea L. Tree Growth to Climate Variability at the Afro-alpine Tropical Highlands of North Ethiopia

by Miro Jacob, Maaike De Ridder, Marlies Vandenabeele, Tesfaalem Asfaha, Jan Nyssen and Hans Beeckman

Forests 2020, 11(3), 310; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11030310 - 12 Mar 2020

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2433

Abstract

The important ecosystem services of the high altitude tropical afro-alpine Erica arborea L. forests are under increasing environmental and human pressure. The Erica treeline ecotone in the Ethiopian highlands forms a temperature-responsive vegetation boundary that is potentially affected by climate change. The cambium of 10 Erica arborea trees in Lib Amba Mountain and Ferrah Amba Mountain in the North Ethiopian highlands was marked in 2012, and corresponding tree disks were sampled after 498 days. Microphotographs of these cambial marks confirmed the formation of annual growth rings (0.76 ± 0.24 mm) with higher vessel density in earlywood and radially flattened fibers in the last layers of the latewood. In-continuum measurements of vessel size and density on microphotographs indicated the formation of inter-annual density fluctuations (IADFs) related to early rainfall in March-May. The same stem disks and 40 increment cores were used for detailed tree-ring analyses—a tree-ring chronology with 18 trees spanning from 1966 to 2014 could be derived. A significant (p < 0.1) positive correlation with minimum temperature in the growing season (August) and a negative correlation with minimum temperature in the spring season (March) were indicated as the most important climate factors regulating tree growth of Erica trees in the afro-alpine forest. The existence of annual tree rings and the proven potential for chronology building encourages further tree-ring analyses of Erica arborea in the afro-alpine tropical highlands in order to link it with climate variability and climate change. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Science and Tropical Forest Ecology)

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12 pages, 4490 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Growth-Ring Analysis of Diploknema butyracea Is a Potential Tool for Revealing Indigenous Land Use History in the Lower Himalayan Foothills of Nepal

by Md. Qumruzzaman Chowdhury, Teeka Ram Bhattarai, Maaike De Ridder and Hans Beeckman

Forests 2020, 11(2), 242; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11020242 - 22 Feb 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3292

Abstract

Slash-and-burn is a farming practice of the indigenous communities in the Himalayan foothills of Nepal. The traditional land-tenure system is based on a customary oral tradition. However, the government’s persistent denial of land rights has fueled the indigenous conflicts in the last few decades. Deliverance of scientific evidence-based arguments may underpin the ongoing conflict-resolution dialogues between the authorities and the indigenous communities. Dating growth rings of trees in a slash-and-burn system might help the indigenous people to find evidence of their historic land uses in the mountainous landscape. In this pilot study, we examined the potential of Diploknema butyracea (Roxb.) H. J. Lam growth rings for documenting land use history of Nepalese indigenous farming practices, as this species is being preserved during the slash-and-burn practices. The species is an economically important and ecologically interesting (as it flushes leaves when everything is dry, and sheds leaves while everything is green) deciduous tree species belonging to Sapotaceae family and widely distributed in Sub-Himalayan tracts. Five stem discs were studied which were originated from the Kandrang valley of the Chitwan district, Nepal. For the first time, we revealed distinct growth rings in this species which are marked by fibers with thicker cell walls. Growth-ring anomalies, i.e., wedging and partially missing rings, were also found. Four out of five samples could be crossdated at a marginal level (GLK ≥ 60 and t ≥ 2.0) which is a confirmation of the annual nature of growth rings. One of the samples showed black spots of oxidized wood which are traces of fire, suggesting evidence of slash-and-burn practices in the study area since 1933. This study suggests a strong potential of D. butyracea for growth-ring analysis to reconstruct indigenous land use history in Nepal. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Science and Tropical Forest Ecology)

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13 pages, 1894 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Chemical Fingerprinting of Wood Sampled along a Pith-to-Bark Gradient for Individual Comparison and Provenance Identification

by Victor Deklerck, Cady A. Lancaster, Joris Van Acker, Edgard O. Espinoza, Jan Van den Bulcke and Hans Beeckman

Forests 2020, 11(1), 107; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11010107 - 15 Jan 2020

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3608

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The origin of traded timber is one of the main questions in the enforcement of regulations to combat the illegal timber trade. Substantial efforts are still needed to develop techniques that can determine the exact geographical provenance of timber and this is vital to counteract the destructive effects of illegal logging, ranging from economical loss to habitat destruction. The potential of chemical fingerprints from pith-to-bark growth rings for individual comparison and geographical provenance determination is explored. Materials and Methods: A wood sliver was sampled per growth ring from four stem disks from four individuals of Pericopsis elata (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and from 14 stem disks from 14 individuals of Terminalia superba (Côte d’Ivoire and Democratic Republic of the Congo). Chemical fingerprints were obtained by analyzing these wood slivers with Direct Analysis in Real Time Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry (DART TOFMS). Results: Individual distinction for both species was achieved but the accuracy was dependent on the dataset size and number of individuals included. As this is still experimental, we can only speak of individual comparison and not individual distinction at this point. The prediction accuracy for the country of origin increases with increasing sample number and a random sample can be placed in the correct country. When a complete disk is removed from the training dataset, its rings (samples) are correctly attributed to the country with an accuracy ranging from 43% to 100%. Relative abundances of ions appear to contribute more to differentiation compared to frequency differences. Conclusions: DART TOFMS shows potential for geographical provenancing but is still experimental for individual distinction; more research is needed to make this an established method. Sampling campaigns should focus on sampling tree cores from pith-to-bark, paving the way towards a chemical fingerprint database for species provenance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Science and Tropical Forest Ecology)

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11 pages, 3099 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Chemical Structure and Mechanical Properties of Wood Cell Walls Treated with Acid and Alkali Solution

by Enguang Xu, Dong Wang and Lanying Lin

Forests 2020, 11(1), 87; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11010087 - 10 Jan 2020

Cited by 47 | Viewed by 4033

Abstract

The mechanical properties of individual fibers are related to the production and performance of papers and fiberboards. This paper examines the behavior of the microstructure constituents of wood subjected to acid and alkali treatments. The chemical structure and mechanical properties of wood cell walls with different acid or alkali treatments was analyzed. The results show that, compared with acid treatment, the crystal size and crystallinity index of cellulose increased after alkali treatment, resulting in an increase in the cell wall elastic modulus. The mechanical properties of the wood cell wall S₂ region were higher than those of the compound middle lamella (CML) region. There was a topochemical effect between the CML and the S₂ region in acid and alkali-treated samples, which provided a major threshold that facilitates the production/separation of wood fibers for better strength fiber properties. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Science and Tropical Forest Ecology)

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18 pages, 2458 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Foliar and Wood Traits Covary along a Vertical Gradient within the Crown of Long-Lived Light-Demanding Species of the Congo Basin Semi-Deciduous Forest

by Chadrack Kafuti, Nils Bourland, Tom De Mil, Sofie Meeus, Mélissa Rousseau, Benjamin Toirambe, Papy-Claude Bolaluembe, Léopold Ndjele and Hans Beeckman

Forests 2020, 11(1), 35; https://doi.org/10.3390/f11010035 - 25 Dec 2019

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3495

Abstract

Plant functional traits have shown to be relevant predictors of forest functional responses to climate change. However, the trait-based approach to study plant performances and ecological strategies has mostly been focused on trait comparisons at the interspecific and intraspecific levels. In this study, we analyzed traits variation and association at the individual level. We measured wood and leaf traits at different height locations within the crown of five individuals of Pericopsis elata (Harms) Meeuwen (Fabaceae) from the northern tropical forest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. All traits varied between and within individuals. The between-individual variation was more important for leaf traits (23%–48%) than for wood traits (~10%) where the within-individual variation showed to be more important (33%–39%). The sample location height within the crown was found to be the driving factor of this within-individual variation. In a gradient from the base to the top of the crown, theoretical specific hydraulic conductivity and specific leaf area decreased while the stomatal density increased. We found significant relationships among traits and between wood and leaf traits. However, these relationships varied with the position within the crown. The relationship between vessel size and vessel density was negative at the bottom part of the crown but positive upward. Also, the negative relationship between stomatal density and stomatal size became stronger with increasing height within the crown. Finally, the positive relationship between specific leaf area and theoretical specific hydraulic conductivity became stronger in higher parts of the crown, suggesting that P. elata constantly adapts its water use with respect to its water supply, more strongly at the top of the crown where the environment is more extreme and less buffered against environmental fluctuations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Science and Tropical Forest Ecology)

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18 pages, 4791 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Growth Ring Measurements of Shorea robusta Reveal Responses to Climatic Variation

by Sony Baral, Narayan Prasad Gaire, Sugam Aryal, Mohan Pandey, Santosh Rayamajhi and Harald Vacik

Forests 2019, 10(6), 466; https://doi.org/10.3390/f10060466 - 29 May 2019

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 5091

Abstract

Many tropical species are not yet explored by dendrochronologists. Sal (Shorea robusta Gaertn.) is an ecologically important and economically valuable tree species which grows in the southern plains and mid-hills of Nepalese Central Himalayas. Detailed knowledge of growth response of this species provides key information for the forest management. This paper aims to assess the dendroclimatic potential of Shorea robusta and to understand climatic effects on its growth. A growth analysis was done by taking 60 stem disc samples that were cut 0.3 m above ground and represented different diameter classes (>10 cm to 50 cm). Samples were collected and analysed following standard dendrochronological procedures. The detailed wood anatomical analysis showed that the wood was diffuse-porous, with the distribution of vessels in the entire ring and growth rings mostly marked with gradual structural changes. The basal area increment (BAI) chronology suggested that the species shows a long-term positive growth trend, possibly favoured by the increasing temperature in the region. The growth-climate relationship indicated that a moist year, with high precipitation in spring (March–May, MAM) and summer (June–September, JJAS), as well as high temperature during winter (November–February) was beneficial for the growth of the species, especially in a young stand. A significant positive relationship was observed between the radial trees increment and the total rainfall in April and the average total rainfall from March to September. Similarly, a significant positive relationship between radial growth and an average temperature in winter (November–January) was noted. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Science and Tropical Forest Ecology)

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22 pages, 6915 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Wood Density Variations of Legume Trees in French Guiana along the Shade Tolerance Continuum: Heartwood Effects on Radial Patterns and Gradients

by Romain Lehnebach, Julie Bossu, Stéphanie Va, Hélène Morel, Nadine Amusant, Eric Nicolini and Jacques Beauchêne

Forests 2019, 10(2), 80; https://doi.org/10.3390/f10020080 - 22 Jan 2019

Cited by 28 | Viewed by 5073

Abstract

Increasing or decreasing wood density (WD) from pith to bark is commonly observed in tropical tree species. The different types of WD radial variations, long been considered to depict the diversity of growth and mechanical strategies among forest guilds (heliophilic vs. shade-tolerant), were never analyzed in the light of heartwood (HW) formation. Yet, the additional mass of chemical extractives associated to HW formation increases WD and might affect both WD radial gradient (i.e., the slope of the relation between WD and radial distance) and pattern (i.e., linear or nonlinear variation). We studied 16 legumes species from French Guiana representing a wide diversity of growth strategies and positions on the shade-tolerance continuum. Using WD measurements and available HW extractives content values, we computed WD corrected by the extractive content and analyzed the effect of HW on WD radial gradients and patterns. We also related WD variations to demographic variables, such as sapling growth and mortality rates. Regardless of the position along the shade-tolerance continuum, correcting WD gradients reveals only increasing gradients. We determined three types of corrected WD patterns: (1) the upward curvilinear pattern is a specific feature of heliophilic species, whereas (2) the linear and (3) the downward curvilinear patterns are observed in both mid- and late-successional species. In addition, we found that saplings growth and mortality rates are better correlated with the corrected WD at stem center than with the uncorrected value: taking into account the effect of HW extractives on WD radial variations provides unbiased interpretation of biomass accumulation and tree mechanical strategies. Rather than a specific feature of heliophilic species, the increasing WD gradient is a shared strategy regardless of the shade tolerance habit. Finally, our study stresses to consider the occurrence of HW when using WD. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Science and Tropical Forest Ecology)

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12 pages, 6786 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Variation in Climate Signals in Teak Tree-Ring Chronologies in Two Different Growth Areas

by Sineenart Preechamart, Nathsuda Pumijumnong, Paramate Payomrat and Supaporn Buajan

Forests 2018, 9(12), 772; https://doi.org/10.3390/f9120772 - 14 Dec 2018

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3402

Abstract

We developed two tree-ring chronologies of teak (Tectona grandis L.f.) from Mae Tuen (462-year, 1555–2016) and Umphang (165-year, 1852–2016) in Tak province, northwestern Thailand. The chronologies were based on 67 and 71 living teak trees, respectively. We used crossdating methods to check and verify the tree-ring width data and tree-ring chronology construction using the ARSTAN program. In this study, the two teak tree-ring chronologies from two different growth areas could not be crossdated. The relationship among these chronologies is, thus, relatively low (r = 0.33, n = 165, p < 0.01). This result shows that the growth of tree-ring structure from two sites can be affected by a variety of non-climatic patterns due to site variation, such as topography, nutrient, light, and internal factors. However, these chronologies have a significant positive correlation with rainfall, during the pre-monsoon season (April to May). As demonstrated by the spatial correlation patterns, these chronologies represent April to May rainfall, which was a limiting factor of teak growth from northwestern Thailand. While the difference in surface temperatures of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) might not be affected by rainfall, its unstable relationship with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) was noted to have occurred. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Science and Tropical Forest Ecology)

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14 pages, 2453 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Wood Density Profiles and Their Corresponding Tissue Fractions in Tropical Angiosperm Trees

by Tom De Mil, Yegor Tarelkin, Stephan Hahn, Wannes Hubau, Victor Deklerck, Olivier Debeir, Joris Van Acker, Charles De Cannière, Hans Beeckman and Jan Van den Bulcke

Forests 2018, 9(12), 763; https://doi.org/10.3390/f9120763 - 07 Dec 2018

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 5778

Abstract

Wood density profiles reveal a tree’s life strategy and growth. Density profiles are, however, rarely defined in terms of tissue fractions for wood of tropical angiosperm trees. Here, we aim at linking these fractions to corresponding density profiles of tropical trees from the Congo Basin. Cores of 8 tree species were scanned with X-ray Computed Tomography to calculate density profiles. Then, cores were sanded and the outermost 3 cm were used to semi-automatically measure vessel lumen, parenchyma and fibre fractions using the Weka segmentation tool in ImageJ. Fibre wall and lumen widths were measured using a newly developed semi-automated method. An assessment of density variation in function of growth ring boundary detection is done. A mixed regression model estimated the relative contribution of each trait to the density, with a species effect on slope and intercept of the regression. Position-dependent correlations were made between the fractions and the corresponding wood density profile. On average, density profile variation mostly reflects variations in fibre lumen and wall fractions, but these are species- and position-dependent: on some positions, parenchyma and vessels have a more pronounced effect on density. The model linking density to traits explains 92% of the variation, with 65% of the density profile variation attributed to the three measured traits. The remaining 27% is explained by species as a random effect. There is a clear variation between trees and within trees that have implications for interpreting density profiles in angiosperm trees: the exact driving anatomical fraction behind every density value will depend on the position within the core. The underlying function of density will thus vary accordingly. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Science and Tropical Forest Ecology)

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20 pages, 2000 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Recovery of Functional Diversity Following Shifting Cultivation in Tropical Monsoon Forests

by Fuying Deng, Yunling He and Runguo Zang

Forests 2018, 9(9), 506; https://doi.org/10.3390/f9090506 - 22 Aug 2018

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3244

Abstract

The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is an important issue in ecology. Plant functional traits and their diversity are key determinants of ecosystem function in changing environments. Understanding the successional dynamics of functional features in forest ecosystems is a first step to their sustainable management. In this study, we tested the changes in functional community composition with succession in tropical monsoon forests in Xishuangbanna, China. We sampled 33 plots at three successional stages—~40-year-old secondary forests, ~60-year-old secondary forests, and old growth forests—following the abandonment of the shifting cultivation land. Community-level functional traits were calculated based on measurements of nine functional traits for 135 woody plant species. The results show that the community structures and species composition of the old-growth forests were significantly different to those of the secondary stands. The species diversity, including species richness (S), the Shannon–Weaver index (H), and Pielou’s evenness (J), significantly increased during the recovery process after shifting cultivation. The seven studied leaf functional traits (deciduousness, specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, leaf nitrogen content, leaf phosphorus content, leaf potassium content and leaf carbon content) changed from conservative to acquisitive syndromes during the recovery process, whereas wood density showed the opposite pattern, and seed mass showed no significant change, suggesting that leaf traits are more sensitive to environmental changes than wood or seed traits. The functional richness increased during the recovery process, whereas the functional evenness and divergence had the highest values in the 60-year-old secondary communities. Soil nutrients significantly influenced functional traits, but their effects on functional diversity were less obvious during the secondary succession after shifting cultivation. Our study indicates that the recovery of tropical monsoon forests is rather slow; secondary stands recover far less than the old growth stands in terms of community structure and species and functional diversity, even after about half a century of recovery, highlighting the importance of the conservation of old growth tropical monsoon forest ecosystems. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Wood Science and Tropical Forest Ecology)

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