© 2003 Heron Publishing—Victoria, Canada
Wood properties of Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris) grown at elevated temperature and carbon dioxide concentration
Antti Kilpeläinen (1, 2), Heli Peltola (1), Aija Ryyppö (1), Kari Sauvala (3), Kaisa Laitinen (1) and Seppo Kellomäki (1)
1. University of Joensuu, Faculty of Forestry, P.O. Box 111, FIN-80101 Joensuu, Finland / 2. Author to whom correspondence should be addressed (antti.kilpelainen@joensuu.fi) / 3. Finnish Forest Research Institute, Vantaa Research Centre, P.O. Box 18, FIN-01301 Vantaa, Finland / Received October 16, 2002; accepted February 9, 2003; published online August 1, 2003
Summary
Impacts of elevated temperature and carbon dioxide concentration ([CO2]) on wood properties of 15-year-old Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris L.) grown under conditions of low nitrogen supply were investigated in open-top chambers. The treatments consisted of (i)
ambient temperature and ambient [CO2] (AT+AC), (ii) ambient temperature and elevated [CO2] (AT+EC), (iii) elevated temperature and ambient [CO2] (ET+AC) and (iv) elevated temperature and elevated [CO2] (ET+EC). Wood properties analyzed for the years 1992–1994 included ring width, early- and latewood width and their proportions,
intra-ring wood density (minimum, maximum and mean, as well as early- and latewood densities), mean fiber length and chemical
composition of the wood (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and acetone extractive concentration).
Absolute radial growth over the 3-year period was 54% greater in AT+EC trees and 30 and 25% greater in ET+AC and ET+EC trees,
respectively, than in AT+AC trees. Neither elevated temperature nor elevated [CO2] had a statistically significant effect on ring width, early- and latewood widths or their proportions. Both latewood density
and maximum intra-ring density were increased by elevated [CO2], whereas fiber length was increased by elevated temperature. Hemicellulose concentration decreased and lignin concentration
increased significantly in response to elevated temperature. There were no statistically significant interaction effects of
elevated temperature and elevated [CO2] on the wood properties, except on earlywood density.
Keywords:
chemical composition of wood, climate change, diameter growth, earlywood, fiber length, latewood, ring width, wood density.
