The cost pressure and capacity utilization in the wood industry are leading to a demand for large amounts of cheap wood as raw material. As a consequence, forestry is providing a raw material often produced by supporting faster growing species under specific silvicultural management, primarily concentrating on the quantity and macroscopic quality. This effect is tightened by promoting wood as a renewable energy source.
In general, many wood products can be produced from wood of only a few species. The different species have different wood properties and different productivities, show different responses to silvicultural management and enable different process optimisations. These lead in forestry to favouritism of some species. Process optimisation and specialisation due to cost pressure are also evident in the sawmill industry and they lead to a group of bulk products which build a relatively cheap raw material source for the continuing wood-processing industry. Changes already at the beginning of the process chain can, however, influence the properties of the (intermediate) wood product. The aim of this paper is to review the opportunities for silvicultural management and their impact on the properties of the wood of some selected species based on literature data. The results show that wood modification may already to some extent start in the forest and that properties such as durability and strength can be influenced by silvicultural management. Product diversification in combination with a more diverse production and selection would therefore lead to a more effective use of wood.
Keywords: Silviculture, wood properties, fibres, processing
Authors
Trischler J.
Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Linnæus University, Växjö, Sweden
Sandberg D.
Wood Science and Engineering, Wood Technology, Skellefteå, Sweden
Thörnqvist T.
Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Linnæus University, Växjö, Sweden
Login to download the PDF