Variation in Wood Density and Mechanical Properties of Acacia mangium Provenances Planted in Vietnam

ABSTRACT

There is a growing interest in improving wood properties through the appropriate selection of seed provenances within species. In this study, wood density and mechanical properties were investigated for Acacia mangium trees from six different provenances, planted in Quang Tri, Vietnam. Radial and among provenance variation in stress wave velocity (SWV), wood density (WD), dynamic modulus of elasticity (MOE_d), modulus of rupture (MOR), and modulus of elasticity (MOE) were determined on a total of 480 small clear specimens (20 × 20 × 300 mm) cut from 30 trees (five per provenance). SWV and selected wood properties near the pith were significantly lower than those near the bark. Differences in all selected mechanical properties among provenances were significant. The highest static properties (MOR and MOE) were found for the Long Thanh provenance indicating its potential suitability for breeding programs in Vietnam focused on improving A. mangium wood quality. A high positive correlation coefficient was found between MOE_d and MOE (r = 0.93, P < 0.001) and our results indicate that the stiffness of A. mangium can be predicted using stress wave method provided the density of measured element is known.

KEYWORDS:

• Acacia mangium
• provenance variation
• stress wave velocity
• wood density
• mechanical properties

Acknowledgments

We thank Professor Vo Dai Hai and his research group from the Vietnamese Academy of Forest Sciences for supporting collection sample trees in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training under Grant number [B2020-TNA-05].