The use of X-ray densitometry to evaluate the wood density profile of Tectona grandis trees growing in fast-growth plantations

Abstract

Tectona grandis (teak) is an important commercial tree species that is widely used in tropical dendrochronology due to the formation of climate-sensitive annual growth rings. However, young trees growing in plantation conditions exhibit poor ring visibility during the first years of growth, limiting the dendrochronology application. In the present study, we use x-ray densitometry to determine the wood density profile between and within annual rings and at the sapwood-heartwood boundary in trees from fast-growth plantations. The resulting wood density profiles (WDP) can be categorized as uniform, stable growth, unstable growth, and false. The annual ring boundaries were indistinct in trees less than 8 years old. In mature trees, the annual ring boundaries are more defined. In relation to the sapwood-heartwood boundary, the WDP showed a decrease in the wood density; however, this decrease is influenced by the annual ring boundary when the two boundaries coincide. The identification of annual rings in trees growing in fast-growth plantations should be combined with X-ray densitometry and visual identification if wood density data are necessary for deriving other analysis, as climate change, from annual ring.