INFLUÊNCIA DO ESPAÇAMENTO E DA APLICAÇÃO DA DESRAMA NA QUALIDADE DA MADEIRA DE EUCALIPTO

Abstract

The management decisions adopted when implementing and managing a eucalyptus stand, such as the choice of spacing and the application of pruning, can interfere with growth and, consequently, the quality of the wood produced. Therefore, the objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of planting spacing and the application of artificial pruning on the basic wood density and trunk conicity of a eucalyptus clone. The experiment was carried out in a clonal eucalyptus stand (I144) at 100 months of age, using a randomized block design, with three replications. To evaluate the relative conicity of the trunk, a 3x2x3 factorial scheme was adopted, testing: three planting spacings; with or without application of artificial pruning; and, three extensions of the evaluated logs (logs 1, 2 and 1+2). For the basic density of the wood, a 3x2x6 factorial scheme was used, considering the same spacing and pruning factors and, at six evaluation heights along the stem. The application of pruning affected the conicity of the trunk only in log 1+2, where the conicity was greater, while it was smaller in log 2, regardless of pruning. The spacing influenced the conicity only in the 1+2 log, with less conicity observed in the larger spacing. The taper varied with the log for all spacings, decreasing in the order: log 1+2 > log 1 > log 2. The basic density of the wood varied with the height sampled along the tree in all spacings, except for heights of 3 .0 m and 4.5 m, which presented higher densities in all spacings. The basic density also varied with the height position sampled along the tree, except at the spacing of 4.0 m x 1.5 m. The analysis of the basic density at different heights of the tree, with and without artificial pruning, showed higher densities with the application of pruning in all positions. Without the application of pruning, heights of 1.3 m and base showed lower densities compared to the others. Without pruning, the 4.5 m positions and the base showed higher densities, while with pruning, only the base had higher basic density. Therefore, the planting spacing associated with artificial pruning interfered with the relative conicity of the log and the basic density of the wood, up to a height of six meters from the shaft.