Stand factors affecting the wood density of naturally regenerated young silver birch growing at the lower altitude of the Czech Republic region

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the basic wood density (rho(k) ) of the silver birch (Betula pendula Roth.) trees in relation to the stand structure. This research was conducted in three stands of different structure and ages, located in the region of the lower part of the Jesenilcy Mountains in the Czech Republic. In total, 71 healthy dominant silver birch trees were randomly selected. Two samples (cores) were taken per tree for performing the tree-ring width analysis and rho(k) determination. We found that the average rho(k) of the three examined stands ranged from 471.8 to 494.6 kgm (-3) . The older trees showed a high variation of the rho(k). The age of the tree and stem diameter positively influenced the rho(k). Nevertheless, it was noted that the slenderness ratio had a negative influence on the rho(k). Overall, the prediction of wood density using stand and tree characteristics, even when the management history records are available, remains a complex hypothesis.