Cork oak wood growth and anatomy in relation to climate factors and cork extraction

• Autores: Sofia Leal, Helena Pereira
• Localización: Suberwood: new challenges for the integration of cork oak forests and products / Javier Vázquez Piqué (ed. lit.), Helena Pereira (ed. lit.), María Arantzazu González Pérez (ed. lit.), 2008, ISBN 978-84-96826-47-2, págs. 137-145
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Mature cork oaks (Quercus suber 1., ) in cork production and young cork oaks without cork extraction were studied for a ten-year period comprising one cycle of growth between two successive cork removals by observation of stern discs taken at 1.3 m. Ring width, vessel area and density (nº vessels/mm2) were measured for this period.

    The mature cork oak trees have smaller vessels than the young trees and the differences between earlywood and latewood could be better observed in the young trees. The vessel characteristics did not seem to he affected by annual precipitation not by cork removal.

    The average ring width for the period was higher in the young trees than in the mature trees (respectively 2.6 mm and 1.6 mm). Ring width was reduced in both cases in years of lower precipitation. For the mature trees undergoing cork extraction, a wood ring width reduction was observed in the year of cork extraction and in the two following years, estimated in approxima rely 44% per year. In the case studied, the wood growth reduction due to cork extraction was estimated to correspond to 1.3-19% in a complete 9-year cork production cycle.