Development and evaluation of a rational and nondestructive sampling methodology for softwoods used in chemical analyses

Abstract

Wood has been a natural resource widely used by mankind. Particularly, conifer wood is important because of its ecology, economy and geographic distribution in comparison with others taxa. Usage of different timber species is based on the evaluation of their physical properties and also on the analysis of their main chemical properties. Thus, in order to achieve good chemical determinations, it is required an optimal methodology for sample collection of wood (SCW) in standing trees. This kind of methodologies are scarce, moreover just a few of them consider ahead of time the amount of wood needed for chemical analysis (rational sample collection) and at that at the same time they are a nondestructive sample collection (without cutting down trees). For that reason, the aim of this study was to develop a new methodology which describe SCW of conifers in a rational and nondestructive way. This SCW methodology was evaluated in Abies religiosa along of different sampling sites and consists of four steps: 1) To define the amount of wood needed; 2) To determine the basic density of wood (main parameter in the precision of subsequent calculations); 3) To estimate the volume to extract and 4) To take samples of wood in field. Our results showed that with this methodology we obtained greater amount of A. religiosa wood than the needed without showing significant differences (P>0.05) between sampling sites. In conclusion, this methodology was successful for this conifer, however future studies are required in order to determine if it can be applied in other softwood species.