Microdensitometric study of recovery from collapse in eucalyptus camaldulensis dehn wood from beghla in algeria

Abstract

This study deals with recovery from collapse in Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehn wood from the Beghla station in Algeria, which covers about 500 ha. Three trees were analysed from two radial strips (six strips in all) cut from the top and bottom of each tree stem. An initial microdensitometric analysis was performed on the samples after air-drying. The samples were then reconditioned and dried again to the initial moisture content for a second microdensitometric analysis. Collapse was largely reduced by the reconditioning process The wood density profiles obtained before and after reconditioning were compared, and the relative decrease in wood density on recovery was used as an indicator of collapse. Our results show that the indicator value varied in inverse proportion to the wood density between samples and at the intra-ring level, but decreased substantially with sapwood density