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Detection of incipient decay in tree stems with sonic tomography after wounding and fungal inoculation

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Abstract

Picus® acoustic tomography was used to map incipient stages of fungal decay in the sapwood of standing Douglas fir, beech, oak, and sycamore trees 2, 16, and 27 months after wounding and artificial inoculation with brown-, soft-, and white-rot decay fungi. Some wood properties were additionally measured before (velocity of sound) and after (moisture content, weight loss, and density of sound, discoloured and/or decayed wood) tree felling (28 months). With the exception of Trametes versicolor in sycamore, wood decay was not evident from the tomograms in any host-fungus combination. In comparison to measurements after two months, the device recorded a reduction in sound velocity in some host-fungus combinations after 16 and 27 months. In beech, there was a significant reduction in sound velocity after inoculation with Ganoderma applanatum, Kretzschmaria deusta, and Trametes versicolor. Similarly, a reduction in sound velocity was recorded in sycamore inoculated with Kretzschmaria deusta and Trametes versicolor. In all these combinations, losses in wood weight and wood density were also found. Results showed that the detection of incipient fungal decay at the periphery of tree stems needs to be improved such that tomograms of the Picus® acoustic tomograph are capable of identifying decay progressing from the sapwood inwards.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the company “Institut für angewandte Baumpathologie” (Freiburg i.Brsg., Germany) for lending the device and the producer (Dr. Gustke GmbH, Germany) for granting two device sensors. The authors are indebted to Mr. Volker Kieber (Forest Service of the Region Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany) for providing tree material of the Mooswald forest (Freiburg i.Brsg., Germany), and to Dr. David Ferner and Dr. Steffen Rust for technical advice. Field assistance of Mr. Robert Dietrich, Mr. Walter Drescher, Ms. Sigrid Hagenguth, and Mr. Karl Merz (Forest Botany Institute, Faculty of Forest and Environmental Sciences, University of Freiburg, Germany) is greatly acknowledged. Dr. Jutta Holst and Prof. Andreas Matzarakis (Meteorology Institute, University of Freiburg, Germany) kindly provided data on daily temperature in Freiburg. Ms. Giuliana Deflorio was supported by a scholarship from the DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst, Germany) to carry out Ph.D. studies. Also, laboratory material was partly granted by the IPP program “Forestry in transition” of the Faculty of Forest and Environmental Sciences (University of Freiburg, Germany).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Forest Botany Institute, University of Freiburg, Bertoldstrasse 17 Freiburg i.Brsg, 79085, Freiburg, Germany

    Giuliana Deflorio & Siegfried Fink

  2. Swiss Federal Laboratories for Material Testing and Research (EMPA), Wood Laboratory, Lerchenfeldstr. 5, 9014, St. Gallen, Switzerland

    Francis W. M. R. Schwarze

Authors
  1. Giuliana Deflorio
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  2. Siegfried Fink
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  3. Francis W. M. R. Schwarze
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Correspondence to Giuliana Deflorio.

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Deflorio, G., Fink, S. & Schwarze, F.W.M.R. Detection of incipient decay in tree stems with sonic tomography after wounding and fungal inoculation. Wood Sci Technol 42, 117–132 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00226-007-0159-0

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