Anatomical comparison of original and regrowth wood from coppiced and pollarded poincianella pyramidalis trees in the caatinga of pernambuco, Brazil

Abstract

Poincianella pyramidalis (Tul.) L.P. Queiroz ('catingueira') is one of the most used trees by rural communities for wood and charcoal in the caatinga of northeast Brazil. It grows rapidly and can survive and thrive after either wet or dry season coppicing or pollarding. This paper explores the anatomical basis for P. pyramidalis being a good choice for fuel and charcoal by comparing the proportions of the constituent cell types (vessels, fibres and parenchyma) in wood from the trunk and branches of original trees with those from regrowth branches after three and six years. Since wood density is correlated with mechanical and physiological strategies of trees, the observations suggest that the anatomical differences between branch and regrowth are the result of rapid regrowth after coppicing or pollarding. The observed differences in cell type proportions along the trunk and branches are of interest from a physiological point of view but have little bearing on whether the regrowth is good for charcoal.