The effect of stand origin on the wood structure of Norway spruce

A study was carried out to compare the annual ring width, latewood share and density of spruce wood from the north eastern a nd south w estern ranges of Norway spruce. Twelve trial plots were located in the north eastern range, while within the south w estern range eight trial plots were established in the Sudeten Mountains and twelve trial plots in the Carpathian Mountains. On ev ery trial plot fifteen spruce trees were chosen, from which increment cores were sampled using a Pressler borer. Next, the increment cores had their surfaces smoothed and measurements were made of the width of annual rings, latewood zones and the share of latewood. Then the cores were divided into 2 cm sections, for which the relative wood density was determined. The analyses indicate that annual rings were wider in trees growing within the north eastern range than in those from the south western range an d the Kruskal Wallis test showed the differences to be statistically significant. T he latewood share followed an opposite pattern: t he wood from the Mazury region had a higher proportion of latewood than the wood from the mountainous areas and the statist ical test again indicated that the differences were significant. The analys i s of wood density showed slight differences between the density of wood from the north eastern and south western ranges, but in this case the Kruskal Wallis test showed the differe nces to be statistically insignificant.