Longitudinal variation of wood basic density of Inga marginata and Chrysophyllum gonocarpum

Abstract

The wood basic density is one of the main physical properties of wood and is correlated with several other characteristics of this material. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the longitudinal variation of wood basic density of Inga marginata Willd. and of Chrysophyllum gonocarpum (Mart. & Eichler) Engl. The three trees of each species were shown in a fragment Seasonal Deciduous Forest Alluvial and, after cutting, were measured and cubed by the Smalian’s method. For the determination of wood basic density, discs were removed in positions the 0.1 m of the base, 25, 50, 75 e 100% of the commercial height and diameter to height of 1.30 m above the soil. The results indicated that both the wood Inga marginata as the Chrysophyllum gonocarpum presented variation of wood basic densityin the bottom-up sense, where the highest values of this characteristic were observed in the base with decreasing trend until top the trees. The mean wood basic density of each species was 0.574 and 0.575 g.cm^-3 for Inga marginata and Chrysophyllum gonocarpum, respectively.