Effect of Tree-growth Rate on Papermaking Fiber Properties

Measurements of wood density and anatomical properties of wood disks were conducted by SilviScan (CSIRO Australia) and a new imaging technique. The disks included red pine obtained from a never-thinned experimental forest with five different plantation densities and Douglas-fir and lodgepole pine (one normal growth and the other suppressed growth) both supplied by a sawmill. The results indicated that the effect of tree-growing conditions can be effectively characterized by radial annual growth rate. Growth suppression produced wood with less distinction in wood density, tracheid radial diameter, and wall thickness between earlywood and latewood.