Wood durability in terrestrial and aquatic environments – A review of biotic and abiotic influence factors

ABSTRACT

Factors relevant to degradation are important in every wood application. For wood used in ground and water contact; well documented abiotic factors (or agents) include exposure to temperature and moisture linked to the physiological requirements of biotic degradation agents such as wood-decaying fungi and bacteria. Other biotic degradation agents such as subterranean insects and marine borers occur overshadowing the effect of fungal and bacterial decay, but are restricted in geographical distribution and to aquatic applications, respectively. This review focusses on decay specific to soil exposure. The inherent material characteristics are important to durability in that heartwood and sapwood show differences in resistance to degradation between species, provenance, and individual trees. Wood durability testing methods and classification, as well as a summary of prominent models and variables suitable for regional-level modelling of in-ground wood durability are presented.

KEYWORDS:

• Decay
• fungi
• bacteria
• soil contact
• freshwater contact
• marine environment

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Acknowledgements

This article was made possible through funding from the ongoing research projects CEMWOGEO (22007617), supported by the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), CEMSLEEPER (873191), supported by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG). The authors also received funding in the frame of the research project CLICKdesign, which is supported under the umbrella of ERA-NET Cofund ForestValue by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport (MIZS) - Slovenia; The Ministry of the Environment (YM) - Finland; The Forestry Commissioners (FC) - UK; Research Council of Norway (RCN) - Norway; The French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) and The French National Research Agency (ANR) - France; The Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS), Swedish Energy Agency (SWEA), Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova) - Sweden; Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and Agency for Renewable Resources (FNR) - Germany. ForestValue has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 773324. The authors would like to thank Dr. Martin Jansen from the Department of Soil Science of Temperate and Boreal Ecosystems at the University of Goettingen for his support and contribution to this paper.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Bundesministerium für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft: [Grant Number 22007617]; Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG): [Grant Number 873191]; ForestValue: [Grant Number 773324].