Chemical characteristics of endemic oak-wood Quercus vulcanica Boiss

Abstract

M. Balaban, N. Yilgo¨rI. U¨. Orman Faku¨ltesi, 80895 Bahceko¨y, Istanbul, TurkeyC. StrobelInstitute for Woodresearch, Winzererstr 45, 80797 Mu¨nchen,GermanyIntroduction Vulcanic oak or, ‘‘riddle-frame oak’’ as named bythe natives, occupies an area over 8000 ha’s near the provinceIsparta in southern Turkey. In the so called ‘‘Kasnak Forest’’it forms few pure stands but the tree itself frequently occurs inthe companionship of its natural neighbours (Quercus cerris,Q. libani, Q. coccifera, Q. infectoria, Acer platanoides, A.monspessulanum, A. hyrcanum, Fraxinus ornus, F. oxycarpa,Sorbus torminalis, Populus tremuloides, Salix alba, Ostryacarpinifolia, Ulmus glabra, Cedrus libani, Pinus nigra, P. brutia,Abies cilicica, Juniperus oxycedrus, J. foetidissima, J. excelsa, etc.).Except for some solitary groups living on the western Taurusmountains in Anatolia there is no other place known where thevulcanic oak still naturally exists.The rich flora makes the Kasnak Forest a true arboretum andthe Kovada Lake within the forest completes the area to its fullbeauty. Because of intensive utilization of oak wood in the 80’sand encountered difficulties in reforestation and for reasonsmentioned above, Kasnak Forest was declared as one of the fa-mous national parks of Turkey in 1989. Hence, a very limitednumber of specimens can be taken for scientific purposes onlyand with an official permission.Material and methods Two trees, 101 and 87 years old, from pureoak stands, both about 18 m high, were felled in the summer of1997. The diameters of stems at the breast height were about 35and 30 cm respectively. Every 2 meters, disks were cut outbeginning at 40 cm from the bottom of each stem. After removingthe bark, first the sap- and heartwood were separated. Thechipped wood was milled and screened from 40 to 100 mesh forthe analysis.The determination of ash and extractives soluble in ethanol/benzene, ethanol, hot water and in 1% NaOH was performedusing TAPPI standards. Ultimate analyses of unextracted woodswere carried out in a rapid analyzer (Hereaus). The Klason-Lignincontents were estimated acc. to the method by Runkel und Wilke(1952). Using acidified NaClO