Growth and Wood Quality from 32-Year-Old Eucalyptus pellita Owing to Chemical Characteristics of the Soil

Abstract

In a provenance and progeny test of Eucalyptus pellita, installed with seeds from 25 open-pollinated progenies from Helenvale and Coen in Australia, one individual from each progeny of the two provenances was selected. Height and DBH measurements were taken forming three diameter classes. From the felled trees, a 0.10 m disk was collected at the base of each tree to obtain samples, considering the pith, intermediate and bark positions, to evaluate the density at 12% moisture ( 12), fiber length (Fl), and fiber wall thickness (Fwt). In the canopy projections, soil samples were collected for chemical analysis. The samples were processed based on the standard methodology for anatomy and wood properties. Factor analysis did not group the soil variables with those of dendrometry, indicating no significant effect between these sets of variables. On the other hand, multivariate analysis indicates that Fwt in the intermediate position was influenced by groups of soil variables that comprise both F1 and F2 factors. Thus, we can infer that the higher values of Fwt (I) are related to lower Ca, Mg and pH and lower values of P, organic matter and cation exchange capacity. By showing statistical significance in the analyses, these results suggest that Helenvale should be chosen for vegetative reproduction (cloning) of the material that makes up the Batatais Forest collection based on the wood quality variables studied.