Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1977 Anatomical characteristics of stem, branch and root wood in European black alder (Alnus glutinosa L. Gaertn.) Hasan Vurdu Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Forest Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Vurdu, Hasan, "Anatomical characteristics of stem, branch and root wood in European black alder (Alnus glutinosa L. Gaertn.)" (1977). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 6110. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/6110 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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University Microfilms international 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 USA St. John's Road, Tyler's Green High Wycombe, Bucks, England HP10 8HR 78-5975 VURDU, Hasan, 1949- ANATOMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF STEM, BRANCH AND ROOT WOOD IN EUROPEAN BLACK ALDER (ALNUS GLUTINOSA L. GAERTN.) Iowa State University, Ph.D., 1977 Agriculture, wood technology University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48io6 Anatomical characteristics of stem, branch and root wood in European black alder (Alnus glutinosa L. Gaertn.) by Hasan Vurdu A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department: Forestry Major: Forestry (Forest Biology-Wood Science) Approved; Signature was redacted for privacy. In Charge of Major Work Signature was redacted for privacy. For the Major Department Signature was redacted for privacy. Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 1977 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION OBJECTIVES LITERATURE REVIEW MATERIAL AND METHODS Plant Material Sampling Technique Laboratory Measurements Specific Gravity Fiber Length Anatomical Characteristics Scanning Electron Microscope Statistical Design RESULTS Specific Gravity Fiber Length PROPORTION OF WOOD ELEMENTS Percent Rays Percent Longitudinal Parenchyma Percent Vessels Percent Fibers Number of Longitudinal Parenchyma Cells Number of Vessels Anatomical Description iii Page DISCUSSION 165 STJMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 171 Specific Gravity 172 Fiber Length 172 Percent Rays 173 Percent Longitudinal Parenchyma 173 Percent Vessels 173 Percent Fibers 174 Number of Longitudinal Parenchyma Cells 174 Number of Vessels 174 Descriptive Anatomy 175 LITERATURE CITED 176 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 182 1 INTRODUCTION We are looking closely at our renewable natural resources because of their limited supply. Wood is one of the few important renewable natural resources which may be part of the solution to future energy, human food, animal food shortages. Methanol produced from wood can be added to gasoline at the ratio of up to 15 percent and will improve the automobile's performance, or a car can be designed to operate on pure methanol (Reed and Lemer, 1973). Between 5 and 15 percent screened wood sawdust mixed with the other ingredients for beef cattle appears practical (Baker et al., 1975). But wood is needed for construction materials, pulp and paper, rayon, plastics, and in other wood industries and these uses are very competitive with its use for energy, human food and animal food. The projections indicate that in the year 2000, world wood consumption will be doubled. In the U.S.A., the per capita consumption of pulp and paper products is 531 pounds and lumber 208 pounds. Because of the short supply and competition for wood fiber, scientists are trying to find the best way to produce more fibers per year per unit area to meet the increasing demand. Some of the alternative methods of producing high volumes of fibers are: recycling wood and paper, using more hardwoods, eliminating logging and manufacturing residuals, complete tree utilization, selecting fast-growth trees, short rotation, and more efficient use of the tree. The fertilization and irrigation of the forest have been considered to produce high fiber volume. However, the short rotation forestry practices have been focused upon the possibility of improving fiber yield, by using 2 fast growing species. Some conifers and hardwood species have a higher fiber yield per year per unit area in a short rotation than in a longer rotation period. Also, management costs may decrease because of the availability of heavy equipment for intensive silviculture including site preparation, planting, cultivation, thinning and harvesting (Schreiner, 1970). The first problem is the selection of a tree species or clone that will grow well using a short rotation and will give a high yield of fiber. Because there are about 800 woody plants growing in North America, if clones and hybrids are included, the numbers to select from becomes almost infinite (Dickmann,1975). The second problem is that the tree breeders often consider only high yield for tree selection, but do not think of fiber quality which is one of the most important use characteristics. The anatomical properties of woods influence their utilization for intended use (Englerth, 1966; McElwee et al., 1970). For example, in sycamore (Plantanus occidentalis L.) specific gravity and the pro­ portion of ray tissue are positively correlated (Taylor, 1975). Therefore, increasing specific gravity by fertilization or irrigation increases ray content which is undesirable for present uses of the wood. Tension wood has excessive longitudinal shrinkage and adverse effect on paper strength properties. Isebrands and Bensend (1972) concluded that Populus trees have tension wood even in straight stems and this should be considered in species or clones selection. In general, fiber length influences most pulp strength characteristics. Fiber diameter has an effect on sheet formation, fiber bonding, fiber 3 rigidity and mobility. Thick cell walls give coarse bulky sheets, rough sheet surface and decrease in burst and tensile strength. Wood containing many vessels have reduced fiber yields, and lower the inter-fiber bonding in the paper. Pits are primary control elements of the movement of liquids and gases in and out of wood during the various wood manufacturing pro­ cesses, such as wood drying, preserving and pulping (Koran, 1974). European black alder (Alnus glutinosa L. Gaertn.) is recognized as one of the fast growing species for high fiber yield production. It is also known that it fixes atmospheric nitrogen in its roots as root-nodules. Therefore, European black alder is desirable for short-rotation forestry. In addition, it can be planted on less favorable sites for spoil-bank reclamation because of its nitrogen fixing ability. Fast growing trees, such as European black alder, are essential to eliminate erosion and to improve the aesthetic qualities of the landscape on spoil-banks and badly eroded areas. Considering the above discussion, European black alder (Alnus glutinosa L. Gaertn,) is one of the important species for high fiber production. Therefore, its anatomical characteristic must be known to help the tree breeders with the selection and the extended future use by the industry. The research reported in this thesis is a part of a larger Iowa State University Agricultural Experiment Station project dealing with the feasibility of growing European black alder in the Midwest for intensive fiber production. Since only two trees were used, the data obtained does not represent the whole population of black