Authors:
Juha Rikala
Book:
After Wise Use – The Future of Peatlands, Proceedings of the 13th International Peat Congress: Chemical, Physical and Biological Characteristics of Peat
Keywords:
cambium-age, growth-rate, heartwood-formation, pinus-sylvestris
Documentfile:
Rikala 2008: Influence of cambium age and growth rate on heartwood formation
Summary:
Heartwood formation of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is usually modelled by assuming cambium age as an independent variable. The aim of this study was to analyse how well cambium age and growth rate explain heartwood formation of Scots pines grown on drained peatlands. Furthermore, two earlier models (rules) between cambium age and heartwood age were tested. According to the results, cambium age and stem diameter accounted for 66% of the variation in heartwood proportion. Generally, the heartwood age rules worked quite well. However, the rules gave clear underestimates at stump height in old and slow-grown trees.