Rapid assessment of wood density in the Scots pine cenopopulations

The paper presents the data on the variability of wood base density in the pure Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) cenopopulations in the Mari El Republic. The studies were conducted on 38 plots in the stands of different ages (30 to 240 years old), origins and growing conditions in 2023–2024. In each plot, we measured tree trunks with bark and took cylindrical cores of 5.15 mm in diameter and 50 mm in length using a Pressler increment borer (Haglöf Sweden AB). The sample size in each plot varies from 15 to 30 cores. The numeric empirical material was processed by standard methods of mathematical statistics using a PC with packages of relevant applications. It is demonstrated that the assessment of the mean value of wood density, which may vary in the Scots pine cenopopulations from 320 kg×m–3 to 520 kg×m–3, requires cores from 20 or 25 trees of the average size that would ensure an error of not more than ± 3% with a probability of 99%, while for assessment with an error of ± 5%, it is necessary to take cores from 12 to 15 trees. The minimum and maximum values of the assessed parameter in each cenopopulation will be 75% and 140%, respectively, in relation to the arithmetic mean of its value. To assess this parameter, trees in the cenopopulations may be selected either regularly along the computation line or randomly, except the trees with sharply outstanding sizes. It is more appropriate to assess the base density of wood by a stereometrical method as it provides the accuracy that is not less than that of a hydrostatic method, which is more difficult and timeconsuming.

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