SILLVICULTURAL PERFORMANCE OF Acrocarpus fraxinifolius Wight IN FUNCTION OF THE DIFFERENT SPACING AND AGES

Abstract

Acrocarpus fraxinifolius is a hard wood tree species occurring mainly in Indonesia, Malaysia and India. Considering its potential for producing lumber and its development possibilities in Brazil, an experiment was carried out aiming to verify the effects of different spacing on the silvicultural performance of this species in order to produce wood biomass and sawnwood. The experiment was developed in completely randomized blocks with 4 treatments and 4 repetitions. Nine trees were sampled in each treatment, i.e., 36 trees per block, 144 trees overall. The treatments were constituted of four spacing: 1.5 m x 3 m; 2 m x 3 m; 2.5 m x 3 m; 3 m x 3 m. The following parameters were analyzed: diameter at breast height (DBH), total height (HT) and survival; and sectional area (G/pl), basal area (G), volume per plant (V/pl), volume per hectare (V), current annual volume increase and the annual mean increment in volume were calculated. The spacing 3 m x 3 m and 2 m x 3 m presented the highest values of HT, G/pl and V/pl. All tested spacings favored the growth in DBH, except 3 m x 1.5 m. Other variables did not present statistical differences according to the Scott-Knott test at 5% probability. It was concluded that the best planting spacing for Acrocarpus fraxinifolius at 72 months are 3 m x 3 m and 3 m x 2 m.