MODELING WOOD SHRINKAGE AND SIMULATING THE SILVICULTURAL INFLUENCE INEUROPEAN OAK (QUERCUS-PETRAEA AND QUERCUS-ROBUR)

Various wood shrinkages in relation to cambial age and ring width were examined in 23 trees of European oak (Quercus petraea and Quercus rob ur) from northeast France. Based on the relationship, individual model s were developed for predicting tangential, radial and volumetric shri nkage. The results show that the models developed are able to predict tangenitial, radial and volumetric shrinkage satisfactorily. The goodn ess of the models, however, is different from nee to tree, and a gener al model explains only small amount of the variation because of a larg e intertree variation of wood shrinkage in the species. The simulation reveals that the dynamic silviculture applied to European oak may res ult in the production of wood with higher and more uniform shrinkage, compared with the classical silviculture.