WOOD PROPERTIES OF Eucalyptus spp. DUE TO PLANTING TIGHTENING AND GENETIC MATERIAL
wood quality, wood density, heartwood and sapwood, planted forest.
Genetic material and silvicultural treatments, such as planting density, directly influence the quality of wood and, consequently, the definition of the final use of this forest resource. Within this context, the study aimed to evaluate the influences of the spacing between individuals at planting and of genetic materials on technological characteristics of Eucalyptus spp. For that, the database of an experimental network plantation, called TECHS/NAT site, was accessed at 6 years of age, with the purpose of defining the experimental design of the research. Five genetic materials were then defined in six different spacings between individuals, totaling 30 treatments. Three sample trees were then selected per treatment and, from these, discs were removed along the trunk at the positions: DBH (diameter at breast height), 0 (10 cm from the ground), 25, 50, 75 and 100% of commercial height. . Then the discs were sent to the studies on the variation of the basic density of the wood and the heartwood/sapwood ratio in the base-top direction. It was concluded that the G7 clone presented, along the trunk, for all treatments, the highest homogeneities for wood density. The other clones had different models of DBM variation along the bole. The planting spacing influenced the wood density, denser areas resulted in trees with lower wood density, in all clones. As for the heartwood/sapwood ratio, clone R9 had the lowest C/A ratios along the trunk, in addition to the highest wood density values, among all treatments studied.