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Md. Qumruzzaman Chowdh
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Abstract Timber species grouping (TSG) is essential for meaningful and costoptimal use of wood. Bangladesh forests are exceedingly diverse and comprise
many woody species which are potentially suitable for versatile uses including
structural materials. Traditionally, widely known tree species are used for structural
timber because technological properties of most of the species are poorly known. In
this study, a hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis based on three selected
wood properties [i.e., wood density, modulus of elasticity (MOE) and modulus of
rupture (MOR)] of seventy-nine timber species was done. The clustering process led
to the formation of four distinct species groups [i.e., very low (TSG1), low (TSG2),
medium (TSG3) and high (TSG4)]. However, the species grouping patterns also
varied from trait to trait. This might be due to moderate relationship between density
and MOE (r2 = 0.46) or MOR (r2 = 0.52). Species of the TSG1 group are mainly
characterized by extremely low trait values, while the TSG4 group consists of
species having exceedingly high trait values. The TSG2 and TSG3 groups are
characterized by low and medium trait values. Hence, it is suggested to select
suitable species from these groups, particularly the lesser known high-quality species in afforestation and reforestation programs to meet future timber demand in
Bangladesh.
Introduction
Timber species grouping based on wood properties is a common practice in many
countries and essential for meaningful use of wood (Davalos and Barcenas 1999;
Ali et al. 2008; EN-338 2009). Wood properties (e.g., physical and mechanical) that
Md. Q. Chowdhury (&) S. K. Sarker J. C. Deb S. S. Sonet
Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, Shahjalal University of Science
and Technology, Sylhet 3114, Bangladesh
e-mail: qumrul-for@sust.edu
123
regulate the structural quality of wood are not in use in grouping or categorizing
timber species in Bangladesh. Indeed, timber species are grouped based on
stumpage appraisal method (for details see Pant 1990). At present, five different
timber species groups from superior to lower (e.g., special class, A, B, C and D
class) are in use, and based on these groups, royalties are scheduled for timberyielding species. Although the country has about 500 usable tree species (Sattar and
Akhtaruzzaman 1997), only a few widely known species are mostly exploited and
used (Sattar 1997). This overexploitation has resulted in decreased population size
of these species in the forests. As a consequence, the national timber markets have
been suffering from timber supply shortage for the last few decades (FAO 2009).
Under this circumstance, utilization of versatile or lesser known species is
considered essential to reduce pressure on the widely used timber species (Ali et al.
2008) and simultaneously to increase the resource base of the country. However,
lack of information on wood properties of these commercially least concerned
species has been a barrier for wider uses of these species. Depending on the tree
species, its wood properties vary, even within a single tree species (Panshin and de
Zeeuw 1980), and such kind of variation has resulted in a wood supply with great
variability, making difficulties in processing as well as utilization (Zobel and
van Buijtenen 1989). Hence, understanding the variation of wood properties
is imperative for processing and utilization of these species in Bangladesh
(Chowdhury et al. 2009a).
Teak (Tectona grandis) timber is considered as a standard with which other
locally grown or imported timbers are compared in Bangladesh. For example, the
strength properties of 40-year-old Chittagong-grown teak were used by Yakub et al.
(1978) to assess the relative suitability of other species for various purposes (Sattar
et al. 1997). However, use of wood properties rather than conventional stumpage
appraisal method in categorizing timber species is more logical because it provides
the scope to bring timber species into groups that are homogeneous in technological
properties. Furthermore, grouping technique based on wood properties may increase
the market value of unpopular species and may optimize uses of versatile species. In
this regard, the objectives of this work are to describe important wood properties of
timber species growing in Bangladesh based on a literature review, and then to
group the timber species based on the selected wood properties, such as basic
density (henceforth referred to as density), modulus of elasticity (MOE) and
modulus of rupture (MOR).
123
million ha public forests, 0.34 million ha private forests including tea and rubber
gardens, 1.16 million ha urban area and 0.94 million ha water bodies (FAO 1998).
It has a monsoonal climate with one dry and one wet season (Shaman et al.
2005). The monsoon has its onset in the beginning of June and ends in October with
some interannual variability. The pre-monsoon continues from March to May and
the post-monsoon from late October to November. The dry winter period lasts from
December to February. During this dry winter period, the mean temperature varies
from 16 C in the north-west and north-eastern parts of the country to 2021 C in
the coastal areas. The mean annual rainfall in Bangladesh varies from 1,600 mm in
the west-central part to over 3,000 mm in the northeast and southeast part of the
country (Banglapedia 2012).
123
indices that characterize wood properties, wood density is used universally to define
wood quality (Zobel and van Buijtenen 1989). The studied species have densities
ranging from 0.22 to 0.84 g/cm3 (Table 1). The lowest wood density is in Erythrina
orientalis, while Vitex peduncularis and Mesua ferrea show the highest density.
MOE is an indication of the stiffness, and MOR is an indication of the bending
strength of a board or structural materials (Panshin and de Zeeuw 1980; Kollman
and Cote 1984). In most of the species, the MOE and MOR are ranging from 3.6 to
20.3 GPa and 20.6 to 171.1 MPa, respectively (Table 1). E. ovalifolia shows the
lowest MOE, whereas M. ferrea shows the highest MOR.
Determination of physical and mechanical properties is very time-consuming
(Kokutse et al. 2010). The strong relationship of wood density to mechanical
properties, fiber yield and other properties relevant to the end use of forest products,
and the relative ease of its determination, make it (density) a simple and good
predictor of the aforementioned properties (Panshin and de Zeeuw 1980; Kollman
and Cote 1984). However, in this study, linear regression analysis showed that MOE
and MOR are moderately related with density (r2 = 0.46 and r2 = 0.52, respectively). Wood density is determined primarily by the cell wall thickness, and
therefore, it can be assumed that high-density woods have thick-walled fibers and
low-density woods have thin-walled fibers (Chowdhury et al. 2012). However,
moderate relationships reinforce the argument that density is not a sole predictor of
MOE or MOR and should not be used alone to predict timber strength. The lower r2
value indicates that there are other factors apart from density, for instance
microfibril angle which influence wood strength (Cave and Walker 1994; Nakada
et al. 2003; Zhu et al. 2005).
Wood is an extremely versatile material, and more than one property of wood
is important for the end product. Depending on the end use, the value of
appearance-type properties, such as texture and grain pattern, should be evaluated
with wood density and/or strength properties, because of their (appearance-type
properties) variations within them (density and/or strength properties) in the
tropical hardwoods (FPL 1999; Hernandez and Almeida 2003; Gupta and Sinha
2012). The studied species exhibit 26 % fine (cell arrangement is even), 57 %
coarse (cell arrangement is uneven) and 17 % moderate (mixed cell arrangement)
texture (Table 1). In this study, only grain types are presented which are often
used in reference to figures on wood and direction of the fibers (Desch and
Dinwoodie 1996). The grain types vary among the species, and 60 % trees exhibit
straight, 38 % interlocked and 2 % twisted grain (Table 1). However, the grain
types or textures do not show any distinct relationship with density or mechanical
strength (MOE and MOR), and thus, the occurrence of these properties might be a
result of either their inherent or induced structures by external influences (Desch
and Dinwoodie 1996).
Understanding natural durability of wood is important in utilization as well as
ecosystem management (Scheffer and Morrell 1998; Viitanen et al. 2010; Freschet
et al. 2012). The studied species show variations in wood decay resistance
(Table 1), and superior decay resistance is associated with higher wood density
(Fig. 1). Tree species with high natural decay resistance might evolve to produce
high-extractive compounds that can protect the wood against decaying organisms
123
Man ind
Man syl
Mangifera indica2
Mangifera sylvatica1
Bom ins
Pro ser
Tam ind
B. insigne1
P. serratum1
T. indica2
Cra ada
Gar cow
Mes fer
Ter bel
Ter che
Ano acu
Dil ind
Dil pen
Dip ala
Dip pil
Dip sca
Dip tur
Crataeva adansonii1
Garcinia cowa1
M. ferrea1
Terminalia belerica1
Terminalia chebula1
Anogeissus acuminata1
Dillenia india1
Dillenia pentagyna1
Dipterocarpus alatus4
Dipterocarpus pilosus4
Dipterocarpus scaber4
Dipterocarpus turbinatus4
Cassia siamea
Cas sia
Ste per
S. personatum1
Paj lon
P. longifolia1
Swietenia floribunda
Swi flo
Lan gra
Lannea grandis3
Lan cor
Hol cau
Lannea coromandelica1
Holigarna caustica
Tre nud
Trewia nudilfora1
Code
Species name
Dipterocarpaceae
Dipterocarpaceae
Dipterocarpaceae
Dipterocarpaceae
Dilleniaceae
Dilleniaceae
Combreteaceae
Combretaceae
Combretaceae
Clusiaceae
Clusiaceae
Capparaceae
Caesalpiniaceae
Caesalpiniaceae
Burseraceae
Bombacaceae
Bignoniaceae
Bignoniaceae
Anacardiaceae
Anacardiaceae
Anacardiaceae
Anacardiaceae
Anacardiaceae
Anacardiaceae
Aceraceae
Family
0.65
0.66
0.58
0.55
0.52
0.51
0.79
0.64
0.67
0.84
0.50
0.36
0.67
0.69
0.75
0.33
0.62
0.39
0.53
0.49
0.52
0.50
0.62
0.37
0.40
15.1
13.6
15.8
8.9
12.0
8.0
10.4
13.5
16.2
20.3
6.4
6.0
6.0
17.6
9.5
6.8
13.9
6.1
13.6
8.5
6.8
6.6
12.8
9.0
9.3
MOE (GPa)a
Table 1 Selected wood properties and natural durability variation of the studied timber species
106.7
81.1
91.6
54.9
95.0
66.2
73.3
132.0
124.6
171.1
58.0
48.0
49.1
119.2
87.0
37.8
149.9
33.1
88.1
64.6
77.5
57.2
78.8
63.7
55.7
MOR (MPa)a
NR
MR
MR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
RS
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
Durability17
IN
IN22
IN22
IN22
IN22
IN18
TW18
ST18
IN18
ST18
ST18
ST18
ST18
18
IN25
IN18
ST18
ST18
ST18
ST
19
ST18
IN19
ST18
ST
18
ST18
Grain
CO22
CO22
CO22
CO22
CO18
CO18
FI18
FI18
CO18
FI18
CO18
CO18
CO
18
FI25
FI18
CO18
CO18
CO18
CO19
CO18
CO19
FI18
CO18
FI18
Texture
Category of use
123
123
Aca nil
Alb sam
Dal sis
Eryt ori
Ery ova
Pon pin
Acacia nilotica2
Albizia saman2
Dalbergia sissoo2
E. orientalis2
E. ovalifolia2
Pongamia pinnata1
Cal pol
Can res
Eng spi
Cin cec
Dua gra
Lag spe
Son ape
Calophyllum polyanthum1
Canarium resiniferum1
Engelhardtia spicata1
Cinnamomum
cecidodaphne1
Duabanga grandiflora1
Lagerstroemia speciosa4
Sonneratia apetala8
Alp pol
Aza ind
Ced too
Alphanamixis polystachya1
Azadirachta indica2
Cedrela toona12
Michelia champaca
Mic cha
Hom bha
H. bhamoense1
Que sp.
Quercus sp.1
Lop fin
Hev bra
Hevea brasiliensis7
Lopopetalum finbriatum
Dio par
Dioepyros paregrina1
Shorea robusta
Sho rob
Hop odo
Hopea odorata5
Code
Species name
Table 1 continued
Meliaceae
Meliaceae
Meliaceae
Magnoliaceae
Lythraceae
Lythraceae
Lythraceae
Lauraceae
Juglandaceae
Guttiferae
Guttiferae
Flacourtiaceae
Fagaceae
Fagaceae
Fabaceae
Fabaceae
Fabaceae
Fabaceae
Fabaceae
Fabaceae
Euphorbiaceae
Ebenaceae
Dipterocarpaceae
Dipterocarpaceae
Family
0.40
0.69
0.55
0.56
0.51
0.51
0.41
0.52
0.48
0.51
0.56
0.80
0.74
0.38
0.54
0.25
0.22
0.65
0.54
0.63
0.51
0.56
0.73
0.59
10.2
14.9
11.3
12.7
9.5
10.6
8.3
12.9
5.6
12.0
10.4
10.1
16.5
8.8
9.4
3.8
4.2
11.0
8.0
9.9
5.6
4.3
11.7
11.9
MOE (GPa)a
69.3
101.4
82.2
92.0
69.9
88.7
52.7
93.1
46.5
54.2
71.4
70.8
126.0
50.5
75.6
20.6
34.5
98.4
64.2
100.2
61.0
42.0
86.3
98.2
MOR (MPa)a
MR
RS
MR
MR
NR
VR
NR
MR
NR
NR
RS
NR
MR
NR
NR
VR
MR
NR
NR
NR
RS
MR
Durability17
ST
ST26
IN25
ST18
ST
IN8
ST21
CO26
FI25
CO18
MT
FI8
CO21
CO18
MT18
IN18
IN18
CO18
CO18
MT18
FI18
MT18
CO
18
MT18
MT25
CO25
MT25
FI25
MT23
FI18
CO22
CO22
Texture
ST18
IN18
IN18
ST18
ST18
18
IN18
ST25
ST25
ST25
IN25
ST23
ST18
IN
22
IN22
Grain
Category of use
Art cha
Art het
Artocarpus chaplasha9
Artocarpus heterophyllus2
Syz sp.
Syz gra
Pod ner
Xan fla
Syzigium sp.1
Syzygium grande11
Podocarpus nerrifolia1
Xanthophyllum flavescens1
Pal pol
Dua son
Pte ace
Pte all
Palaquium polyanthum1
Duabanga sonneratioides6
Pterospermum acerifolium1
Pterygota allata1
Mitragyna rotundifolia
Mit rot
Hym exc
Hymenodictyon excelsum1
Ant chi
Anthocephalus chinensis1
Bruguiera conjugata
Bru con
Myr lin
Myristica linifolia1
10
Fic sp.
Ficus sp.1
Artocarpus lakoocha
Art lak
Alb pro
Albizia procera5
Alb chi
Albizia chinensis1
Acacia mangium
Aca man
Aca aur
Acacia auriculiformis13,
14
Amo roh
Amoora rohituka11
14,15
Xyl mol
Xylacarpus mollocensis10
Melia azadarach
Mel aza
Chu tab
Chukrasia tabularis6
Code
Species name
Table 1 continued
Sterculiaceae
Sterculiaceae
Sonneratiaceae
Sapotaceae
Rubiaceae
Rubiaceae
Rubiaceae
Rhizophoraceae
Polygalaceae
Podocarpaceae
Myrtaceae
Myrtaceae
Myristicaceae
Moraceae
Moraceae
Moraceae
Moraceae
Mimosaceae
Mimosaceae
Mimosaceae
Mimosaceae
Meliaceae
Meliaceae
Meliaceae
Meliaceae
Family
0.57
0.56
0.41
0.60
0.58
0.40
0.43
0.71
0.50
0.43
0.68
0.6
0.36
0.29
0.45
0.46
0.44
0.67
0.39
0.56
0.57
0.51
0.64
0.40
0.55
13.4
11
7.6
11.0
10
7.8
7.4
18.2
11
9.9
11.2
10
8.7
3.6
7.5
6.4
9.0
11.3
5.5
8.8
8.6
11.3
13.7
7.2
9.8
MOE (GPa)a
105.9
83.7
47.5
97.7
85.0
58.5
47.2
138.1
81.6
52.8
80.5
80.5
55.4
43.3
59.9
70.1
66.1
80.5
47.5
65.6
70.1
82.2
99.7
66.5
61.9
MOR (MPa)a
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
MR
MR
NR
NR
MR
MR
NR
MR
NR
MR
MR
RS
NR
Durability17
IN
ST26
ST18
ST18
ST
18
ST18
ST18
ST18
ST18
IN18
ST18
ST18
18
ST25
IN9
ST24
ST24
ST
25
IN26
Grain
CO26
FI18
MT18
FI18
MT18
MT18
CO18
FI18
MT18
FI18
CO18
CO
18
CO25
CO9
CO24
CO24
CO25
FI26
Texture
Category of use
123
123
Tet nud
Sch wal
Tetrameles nudiflora
Schima wallichi
Vit ped
V. peduncularis1
Verbenaceae
Verbenaceae
Verbenaceae
Theaceae
Tetramelaceae
Sterculiaceae
Family
0.84
0.58
0.41
0.61
0.31
0.29
15.8
13.1
7.6
6.6
7.6
MOE (GPa)a
124.8
100.8
55.4
55.5
41.5
53.3
MOR (MPa)a
Mean value
VR
MR
MR
NR
NR
Durability17
ST18
ST20
ST
FI18
CO20
CO20
MT18
IN18
20
CO18
IN18
Texture
Grain
Category of use
Sattar et al. (1997), 2 Sattar et al. (1992b), 3 Ali et al. (1972), 4 Yakub and Ali (1970), 5 Yakub and Bhattacharjee (1983), 6 Yakub and Bhattacharjee (1980), 7 Sattar
et al. (1992a), 8 Sattar and Bhattacharjee (1983), 9 Bhattacharjee et al. (1987),10 Bhattacharjee and Sattar (1988), 11 Yakub et al. (1972), 12 Ali et al. (1972), 13 Chowdhury
et al. (2009a), 14 Sattar et al. (1993), 15 Chowdhury et al. (2005), 16 Yakub et al. (1978), 17 Scheffer and Morrell (1998), 18 Das and Mohiuddin (1997), 19 Das (1984a),
20
Das (1984b), 21 Das (1972), 22 Das (1970), 23 Mohiuddin (1993), 24 Das (1990), 25 Mohiuddin and Das (1992), 26 Das (1999)
Tec gra
T. grandis16
Gmelina arborea
Gme arb
Ste vil
Sterculia villosa1
11
Code
Species name
Table 1 continued
(Scheffer and Morrell 1998). In addition to the chemical composition, the structure
of wood, such as higher fiber portion, and less conduits and parenchyma portions,
might influence less fungal movement within wood and reduce the spread of
infections (Fengel and Wegner 1984; Choat et al. 2008).
In fact, most of the information regarding the wood properties presented in this
work is rather old. In addition to inter- and/or intra-specific variation, wood
properties vary vertically along the main axis of the stem and/or radially from pith
to bark within individual trees (Zobel and van Buijtenen 1989; Savidge 2003;
Chowdhury et al. 2009a, b). Except for a few (Chowdhury et al. 2005, 2009a), most
of the data presented in Table 1 are based on single mean without providing the
information about the exact location of wood specimens or of the variation patterns
within trees. Presenting single-mean data might be erroneous due to within-tree
variation (e.g., Nogueira et al. 2008; Nock et al. 2009). Thus, future research should
be directed to determine their properties considering whole tree variations which are
likely to be beneficial for timber utilization in the country.
Methods
Data from various literature sources on selected physical and mechanical properties
of eighty tree species growing in Bangladesh (Table 1) were collected. In this
analysis, P. nerifolia was the only softwood species deducted. Hierarchical
agglomerative polythetic cluster analysis was performed using software PC-ORD
5.0 (McCune and Mefford 1999) to categorize seventy-nine tree species based on
three wood properties, namely density, MOE and MOR. Tree species only having
data on these three common properties were subjectively used in the analysis. In
123
cluster analysis, complete linkage method and Euclidean distance were used as
group linkage method and distance measure, respectively. Wisharts objective
function was used to scale the resulting dendrogram that measures loss of
information at each step of cluster formation. All dendrograms were pruned at
distance indicating 75 % information remaining.
Results
Timber species groups based on wood density
Based on wood density variation, cluster analysis identified four timber species
groups (TSGs) (Fig. 2). Species of TSG1 group (e.g., E. orientalis, E. ovalifolia,
Ficus spp, etc.) had extremely low wood density (0.28 0.040 g/cm3), while TSG4
had timber species (e.g., V. peduncularis, M. ferrea, etc.) having very high wood
density (0.78 0.049 g/cm3) (Table 2). TSG2 and TSG3 groups represented
timber species having low and medium wood density values, respectively.
Fig. 2 Dendrogram representing four timber species groups (TSGs) based on wood density and pruned
at distance 8.7E-02 (75 % information remaining scale). Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 indicate timber species
group with very low, low, medium and high basic density of wood values, respectively
123
Wood density
(g/cm3)
MOE (GPa)
MOR (MPa)
Description
TSG2
TSG3
TSG4
Range
0.220.33
0.360.53
0.540.69
0.710.84
Average SD
0.28 0.040
0.45 0.057
0.61 0.048
0.78 0.049
Number of species
32
33
Range
3.66.1
6.412.0
12.716.5
17.620.3
18.7 1.4
Average SD
5.20 1.0
9.2 1.7
14.2 1.3
Number of species
11
49
16
Range
20.637.8
41.578.8
80.5106.7
119.2171.1
Average SD
31.5 7.5
59.5 10.2
91.1 8.5
135.7 17.3
Number of species
41
26
SD standard deviation
Discussion
Based on the selected wood properties, the clustering process led to the formation of
four distinct species groups (Figs. 2, 3, 4). Trees of the TSG1 group are mainly
characterized by the lowest values of wood traits, while trees of the TSG4 group are
with the highest values. The other two groups (TSG2 and TSG3) are characterized
by substantially low and medium values, respectively. Concerning both wood
123
Fig. 3 Dendrogram representing four timber species groups (TSGs) based on MOE while pruned at
distance 6.2E?1 (75 % information remaining scale). Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 indicate timber species group
with very low, low, medium and high MOE values, respectively
123
Fig. 4 Dendrogram representing four timber species groups (TSGs) based on MOR when pruned at
distance 5.2E?03 (75 % information remaining scale). Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 indicate timber species group
with very low, low, medium and high MOR values, respectively
The present grouping system also varies from the previously mentioned
categorization of Pant (1990). For example, Syzigium sp. is a lower (C)-class timber
species in that category, whereas same species belongs to higher (TSG3) group in
this study here. Wood properties of many lesser known species have higher values
than those of well-known species (Table 1) and grouped with them (Figs. 2, 3, 4).
For instance, V. peduncularis, M. ferrea, Homalium bhamoense, Anogeissus
acuminate and Protium serratum have higher wood density and strength properties
than other species and belong to higher groups. At present, homestead forests and
social forestry plantations are the major sources of timber in Bangladesh (Choudhury
and Hossain 2011), and government has initiated collaborative forest management to
secure sustainable supply of timber from these forests (Sarker et al. 2011). Hence,
sustainable use of lesser known species that are abundant in the homesteads and
introduction of these species in the ongoing social forestry plantations may offer a
solution in relieving the pressure on the widely used species in the country.
The quality of a grouping system can be assessed on the basis of requirements
that are related to the utilization of timber. For example, if a company/user needs
only timber of higher strength, then the grouping system might be able to optimize
123
the yield for these groups. Several timber species grouping systems exist on an
international level. For example, Davalos and Barcenas (1999) made five categories
(very low to very high) using 500 tree species growing in Mexico on the basis of the
probability distribution of MOE and MOR values. Compared to that grouping, the
MOE of the present study resembles low to high categories and MOR resembles
very low to medium categories. In Europe, the strength classes are divided into C
classes for softwood and D classes for hardwood incorporating the standard
requirements of the end users (EN-338 2009). In Bangladesh, this type of grading
system is lacking yet. However, the mean density, MOE and MOR of the
investigated timber (hardwood) species of TSG2 to TSG4 are comparable to those
of European strength classes of EN-338, for example, D18 to D70. On the other
hand, density and MOR of the softwood species (P. nerrifolia) are comparable with
C40, and MOE is similar to C24 class (EN-338 2009). These findings support the
argument that in an attempt to ensure quality control, timbers should be grouped on
the basis of the uniformity in strength results and used for similar structural
applications (Zziwa et al. 2006).
It is necessary to add new species to this grouping, and therefore, additional data
collection is required as Bangladesh forests are highly diverse. In plantations and
homestead forests, most of the species are fast growing having short (618 years)
and long rotations (40 years to upward) (Sarker et al. 2011). Hence, it is
recommended to select suitable species from these groups in future afforestation and
reforestation programs to meet the future timber demand. From this study, it is also
evident that some of these species may not be popular traditionally (Table 1), but
possess desirable properties that the users would like to have, such as M. ferrea. In
Uganda, Zziwa et al. (2010) suggested that timber species with MOR equal to or
greater than 16 MPa could be used for high-load-bearing timbers, whereas those
with MOR equal to or less than 4 MPa could be used for relatively low-load-bearing
timbers. With the wide range of density and strength values, species of TSG3 and
TSG4 groups appear to have potential to meet the wood quality requirements for
medium to large construction and furniture, whereas those of TSG1 and TSG2
groups could be used for lighter uses where relatively low-load-bearing- capacity of
wood is necessary.
Conclusion
In this study, wood properties of seventy-nine tree species were analyzed by
comparing among the species. The variation in density and strength properties of the
studied timber species indicate that the timbers can be categorized into four
different groups: TSG1, TSG2, TSG3 and TSG4. Concerning both density and
strength properties, differences among the groups were also found and this might be
due to having moderate relationships between them. The purpose of this species
grouping protocol is not to make every user a certified lumber grader but rather to
provide a simple tool with sufficient supporting documentation to facilitate the
decision-making process concerning the structural capacity of woody species. The
results obtained in this study have quite significance from the perspective of the
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Bangladesh timber promotion, for instance selecting lesser known timber species in
the wood industry.
Acknowledgments This study was partly supported by a research grant from Shahjalal University of
Science and Technology (SUST), Sylhet, Bangladesh. The authors wish to thank Bangladesh Forest
Research Institute (BFRI), Chittagong, for using their library. Special thanks to Mr. Swaikat Haldar for
his help in literature collection. We are grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their critical comments
on an earlier version of the manuscript.
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