Fc. Bao et al., Differences in wood properties between juvenile wood and mature wood in 10species grown in China, WOOD SCI TE, 35(4), 2001, pp. 363-375
This study examined the intrinsic differences in various wood properties be
tween juvenile wood and mature wood in 10 major reforestation species in Ch
ina. Comparisons between juvenile wood and mature wood were made in both pl
antation- and naturally-grown trees. Considerable differences in most wood
properties were found both between plantation-grown juvenile wood and matur
e wood, and between naturally-grown juvenile wood and mature wood. This sug
gests that wood properties of plantation-grown trees, to a large extent, de
pends on their juvenile wood contents, and can thus be manipulated effectiv
ely through rotation age. In general, the longer the rotation age, the lowe
r the juvenile wood content, and the stronger the mechanical properties of
the plantation-grown woods. However, the differences between juvenile wood
and mature wood vary with wood properties and species. In general, juvenile
wood and mature wood have less difference in chemical composition than in
anatomical and physicomechanical properties. Compared to the softwoods stud
ied, the hardwoods appear to have less difference between juvenile wood and
mature wood.