Eliminating growth-stresses in Eucalyptus: A scoping study with E. bosistoana and E. nitens

Abstract

Tropical hardwoods dominate the market for fine timbers. In contrast, plantation-grown eucalypts, whether in temperate or tropical regions, are grown largely for pulpwood. Addressing log end-splitting and distortion of timber due to growth-stress is necessary if eucalypts are to succeed in solid wood markets. This scoping study compared growth-strain in 2-year-old Eucalyptus nitens using both traditional strain gauges and a novel, rapid slit-opening method. Subsequently only the splitting test was used to screen 2-year-old Eucalyptus bosistoana. The splitting test offers a cheap and fast, yet repeatable and rigorous selection method to screen very young trees and so opens the way to create a new landrace of low growth-strain winners.