Interactions between plant roots and soil microorganisms in the rhizosphere are critical for plant growth. However, understanding of precisely how root exudates influence the diversity and activity of rhizosphere microorganisms is limited. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effect of radiata pine (Pinus radiata) root exudates on rhizosphere soil microbial communities, with an emphasis on the role of low molecular weight organic anions. The study involved the development and validation of new methods for investigating rhizosphere processes in a purpose-built facility. This included development of an in situ sampling technique using an anion exchange membrane strip to collect a range of organic anions exuded from radiata pine roots grown in large-scale rhizotrons. These included tartarate, quinate, formate, malate, malonate, shikimate, lactate, acetate, maleate, citrate, succinate and fumarate. Soil microbial activity and diversity were determined using dehydrogenase activity and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Links between organic anions in root exudates and rhizosphere soil microbial community structures were investigated by comparing wild type and genetically modified radiata pine trees which were grown in rhizotrons for 10 months. As expected, there was considerable temporal and spatial variability in the amounts and composition of organic anions collected, and there were no consistent or significant differences determined between the two tree lines. Significant differences in rhizosphere microbial communities were detected between wild type and genetically modified pine trees; however, they were inconsistent throughout the experiment. The shifts in microbial communities could have been related to changes in exudate production and composition. Based on results from the main rhizotron experiment, a microcosm study was carried out to investigate the influence of selected pine root exudate sugars (glucose, sucrose and fructose) and organic anions (quinate, lactate and maleate) on soil microbial activity and diversity. Soil microbial activity increased up to 3-fold in all of the sugar and organic anion treatments compared to the control, except for a mixture of sugars and maleate where it decreased. The corresponding impacts on soil microbial diversity were assessed using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and 16S rRNA phylochips. Addition of the exudate compounds had a dramatic impact on the composition and diversity of the soil microbial community. A large number of bacterial taxa (88 to 1043) responded positively to the presence of exudate compounds, although some taxa (12 to 24) responded negatively. Organic anions had a greater impact on microbial communities than sugars, which indicated that they may have important roles in rhizosphere ecology of radiata pine. In addition, a diverse range of potentially beneficial bacterial taxa were detected in soil amended with organic anions, indicating specific regulation of rhizosphere microbial communities by root exudates. This project highlighted the considerable challenges and difficulties involved in detailed investigation of in situ rhizosphere processes. Nonetheless, the findings of this study represent a significant contribution to advancing understanding of relationships between root exudates and soil microbial diversity, which will be further enhanced by refinement and application of the specific methodologies and techniques developed.

Biomass waste has been recognised as a promising, renewable source for future transport fuels. With 1.7 million hectares of pine plantation forests and 12 million cubic meters of annual residue produced by sawmills and the pulp and paper industries, New Zealand presents a prime location where utilisation of these resources can take the next step towards creating a more environmentally friendly future. In this research, the process of fast pyrolysis was investigated using a laboratoryscale, nitrogen-blown fluidised bed pyrolyser at CRL Energy. This equipment can process 1–1.5 kg/h of woody biomass in a temperature range of 450–550°C. The purpose of this rig was to determine the impact of various processing parameters on bio-oil yields. Next, the pyrolysis liquids (bio-oil and tar) were processed downstream into bio-bitumen. Pyrolysis experiments were carried out on Pinus Radiata and Eucalyptus Nitens residue sawdust from sawmills and bark feedstock. The properties of the collected products, including pyrolysis liquids (bio-oil and tar), gas and solid bio-chars, were measured under different operational conditions. Further analysis was also performed to determine pH, volatile content, chemical composition and calorific values of the products. The ultimate goal for this project was to develop a feasible, advanced fast-pyrolysis system for a bio-bitumen production plant using various biomass feedstocks. Additionally, a design for a bio-bitumen production plant was developed, and techno-economic analysis was conducted on a number of plant production yield cases and bio-bitumen manufacture ratios.

Target diameter harvesting (TDH) is a forest management system in which all stems above a set minimum diameter are harvested on a periodic basis. There is evidence in the literature that TDH can achieve a rate of return on a similar scale to a clearfelling regime, with added benefits of regular cash flow from partial harvests, and preservation of non-timber values. Economic analysis was carried out on 12 years of TDH using permanent sample plot (PSP) data from Woodside Forest, a 30ha plantation of radiata pine (Pinus radiata). The Woodside Forest management regime has a target diameter of 60cm, and a harvest cycle of two years. Economic analysis considered the option to partial harvest or clearfell every two years, and compared the outcome of each option in terms of land expectation value (LEV). Comparisons are made between regimes with different numbers of partial harvests, assessing the effect of TDH on stand LEV. Results show that in three of four applicable stands, LEV reached a maximum at ages 30 – 32, (near the time when partial harvesting commenced), and reduced slowy with increased numbers of partial harvests. This shows there is a small opportunity cost associated with choosing TDH over a clearfell system. The effect of revenue from early partial harvesting operations on LEV was small as the majority of stand value is still in the standing crop. This limited the conclusions that can be drawn form this study due to the short time frame analyzed. The study was limited by a small dataset which did not accurately represent average stand values. Because of this, no attempt to quantify the value of the opportunity costs was made. Despite this, the results support the notion that TDH can achieve economic returns similar to clearfelling in radiata pine forests.

The influence of initial stocking and physiologically aged cuttings (taken from 1-year- old and 5-year-old parents) on corewood modulus of elasticity (MOE) in 6-year-old Pinus radiata D. Don was studied in a Nelder-design experiment in Rolleston, Canterbury. In the same experiment, the influence of initial stocking on MOE in 5-year- old Eucalyptus nitens was also investigated. The study incorporated 19 different stocking levels ranging from 207 to 40,446 stems/ha. Green dynamic modulus of elasticity was assessed in standing trees using the TreeTap stress-wave method over the lower part of the stem (0.3 – 1.9m) for 151 P. radiata trees and 115 E. nitens trees. The interaction between species and stocking significantly influenced MOE (P<0.001). MOE of P. radiata increased by 55% (or 3.9 GPa) between 271 and 40,466 stems/ha, and by 41% (or 2.2 GPa) between 271 and 4370 stems/ha. MOE of E. nitens was also influenced by stocking but the slope was significantly lower indicating that the effect of stocking was less pronounced than for P. radiata. Over the usual range of stockings for E. nitens there was an insignificant relationship between stocking and stiffness (P=0.335). Trees were also assessed for DBH, height, and stem slenderness (height/ DBH). None of these latter variables had a significant influence on MOE after the effects of stocking and species were accounted for. No effects of physiological age of cuttings were detected in this study. The findings of this study highlight the importance of stocking as a tool that forest managers can utilize to regulate corewood stiffness in P. radiata trees. These results also suggest that for E. nitens, where wood stiffness is a priority, forest managers could reduce establishment costs by planting at much lower initial stockings. This study also highlights the superior stiffness of E. nitens in direct comparison with P. radiata, with many trees in the experiment already exceeding stiffness thresholds for structural timber in New Zealand.

Submitted by LUMEY PEREZ ARTILES null (lumeyp@yahoo.es) on 2017-03-06T20:53:35Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Lumey_Perez_Artiles.pdf: 1138570 bytes, checksum: 01f489085bac51420d9c3526e6ac70a8 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by LUIZA DE MENEZES ROMANETTO (luizamenezes@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2017-03-13T18:59:39Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 artiles_lp_dr_jabo.pdf: 1138570 bytes, checksum: 01f489085bac51420d9c3526e6ac70a8 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-13T18:59:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 artiles_lp_dr_jabo.pdf: 1138570 bytes, checksum: 01f489085bac51420d9c3526e6ac70a8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-01-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A doença huanglongbing (HLB) é considerada um dos maiores problemas fitossanitários da cultura dos citros na atualidade e sua disseminação ocorre principalmente por insetos vectores. Desta forma, o presente trabalho teve por objetivos estudar a biologia e os parâmetros populacionais de Diaphorina citri (vector do HLB) em variedades de citros e determinar o controle natural de Tamarixia radiata sobre as populações de D. citri. A biologia de D. citri foi estudada nos hospedeiros, limão Cravo e Citrumelo ‘Swingle’ e as copas de laranjas Pera, Hamilim e Valência em combinações com estes porta-enxertos. Em cada hospedeiro avaliaram-se a duração das fases de ovo, ninfa e ciclo biológico, viabilidade, fecundidade e razão sexual. Os resultados obtidos do estudo da biologia de D. citri mostram que em Citrumelo ‘Swingle’, a praga apresentou o maior tempo de duração da fase de ovo. A duração do ciclo biológico vario de 15,08 dias em Pêra/Cravo a 16,5 dias em Hamilim/Citrumelo ‘Swingle’, diferenciando-se significativamente. As maiores taxas de sobrevivência e viabilidade para ovo e ciclo biológico foram observadas nas copas de laranjas enxertadas em limoeiro Cravo. Na combinação Valência/limoeiro Cravo o inseto apresentou a maior viabilidade dos ovos (82,02%) e a menor (73,66%) em Hamilim/ Citrumelo ‘Swingle’. Os valores de sobrevivência (ovo-adulto) variaram de 71,07 a 56,16 % entre os hospedeiros avaliados, observando-se que a combinação Pêra/Cravo favorece a sobrevivência do inseto. Com base na tabela de fertilidade, o limoeiro Cravo apresentou a maior taxa liquida de reproduço (160,57) e a menor tempo de duração de cada geração (31,54 dias). Estimativas Jackknife da taxa intrínseca de crescimento (rm) variou de 0,152 em Valencia/Limoeiro Cravo para 0,127 em Citrumelo 'Swingle'. Os resultados indicaram que o porta-enxerto limoeiro Cravo favorece os parâmetros reprodutivos da praga, enquanto o Citrumelo ‘Swingle’ foi menos adequado para o desenvolvimento de D. citri, especialmente na copa Hamilim. Para complementar o segundo objetivo os experimentos sobre o controle natural de T. radiata foram desenvolvidos em Artemisa, Cuba, durante os anos 2007, 2008 e 2009, foram realizadas coletas de 125 brotos jovens em Citrus sinensis com uma frequência quinzenal e foi contabilizada a presença de ninfas de 3o a 5o instar e determinado as porcentagens de parasitismo por T. radiata. Foram determinadas as correlações entre as porcentagens de parasitismo e as variáveis climáticas. Foi encontrada uma correlação positiva (0,545 **, p <0,01) entre o número de ninfas parasitadas por T. radiata e a população total de ninfas de D. citri. Das variáveis climáticas estudadas, as precipitações (-0.388, p = 0,0257), dias com chuva (-0.364, p = 0,0374) e umidade relativa (-0.399, p = 0,0219) foram correlacionadas negativamente com o percentual de parasitismo. A percentagem de parasitismo foi estatisticamente significativa diferente entre estações do ano (p <0,01), sendo maior na primavera e outono e menor durante o verão. Tamarixia radiata mostrou-se ser regulador eficientes das populações de D. citri nas condições avaliadas com porcentagens de parasitismos superiores a 50% na primavera. / Huanglongbing disease (HLB) is considered one of the main phytosanitary problems currently in citrus plantations and its dissemination occurs mainly by insect vectors. Therefore, the present work aims to study the biology and population parameters of Diaphorina citri (vector do HLB) in citrus varieties and to evaluate the natural control of Tamarixia radiata on the populations of D. citri. The biology of D. citri was studied in the hosts Rangpur and Citrumelo ‘Swingle’ and the canopy of oranges Pera, Valencia and Hamilim in the combinations with these rootstocks. In each host the duration of the egg, nymph and biological cycle phases, viability, fertility and sexual proportions were evaluated. As for the biology of D. citri the longer time for the egg phase was obtained in Citrumelo Swingle. The biological cycle duration varied from 15.08 days in Pera/Rangpur to 16.5 in Hamilim/Citrumelo Swingle, differing significantly. The highest survival rates and viability of eggs and biological cycle were observed in the varieties of oranges grafted on lemon Rangpur. In the combination Valencia/Rangpur, the insect has presented the highest viability of eggs (82. 02%) and the lowest viability in Hamilim/Citrumelo Swingle (73. 66%). Survival values (egg-adult) ranged from 71.07 to 56.16% in the evaluated hosts, taking into account that the combination of the Pera/Rangpur favors the survival of the insect. Based on the fertility chart, Rangpur lemon had the highest net reproductive rate (160.57) and the shortest duration of each generation time (31.54 days). Jackknife estimates of rm varied from 0.152 on Valencia/Rangpur to 0.127 on Citrumelo Swingle. The results indicate that the rootstock of Rangpur lemon favors the reproductive parameters of the pest, while Citrumelo Swingle was less suitable for the development of D. citri, especially with Hamilim canopy. To complement the second objective the experiments were carried out in Artemisa, Cuba, during the years 2007, 2008 and 2009. Samples of young shoots of Citrus sinensis (125) were taken with a biweekly frequency and counted the number of nymphs in 3rd and 5th instar and the parasitism of T. radiata was determined. The correlation between climatic variables and parasitism was determined. A positive correlation (0.545 ** p <0.01) between the number of nymphs parasitized by T. radiata and the total population of D. citri nymphs found. Of the climatic variables studied rainfall (-0.388, p = 0.0257), the days with rain (-0.364, p = 0.0374) and relative humidity (-0.399, p = 0.0219) were negatively correlated with the parasitism percentage. Parasitism was statistically different between seasons (p <0.01), being higher in spring and autumn and less during summer. T. radiata proved to be effective in regulating D. citri populations under conditions evaluated with percent parasitisms higher than 50% in spring.

"November 2001" / Bibliography: leaves 132-156. / xii, 166 leaves : ill. (some col.), plates (col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Focusses on the ecophysiology of Ecklonia radiata and quantifies its carbon contribution to further elucidate E. radiata's role in the nearshore marine environment. The photosynthesis-irradiance response of E. radiata was investigated in situ throughout the year and across the dept profile. A clear seasonal change in photokinetic parameters was detected and provided strong evidence of a seasonal acclimation response. Changes in photokinetic parameters across the depth profile were less pronounced and a significant decline in productivity occurred at deeper depths. The acclimation state of E radiata did alter across the depth profile. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Environmental Biology, 2002

This study examined the role of olfactory and visual cues in host finding of the pine bark beetles Hylastes ater and Hylurgus ligniperda and the burnt pine longhorn beetle Arhopalus ferus. The ultimate aim of this research was to provide new information on attractant and repellent (such as non-host leaf volatiles) stimuli to improve monitoring methods and reduce the attack by wood-boring and bark beetle species. A field trapping trial of visual and olfactory cues near Nelson caught 7842 H. ater, 274,594 H. ligniperda and 16,301 A. ferus adults. There were significant effects of both visual (colour and sihoutte) and olfactory (host and non-host volatiles) cues for all three species. The highest catches were in black (host mimicking), panel flight intercept traps baited with attractant (α-pinene and ethanol) and the lowest in clear or white (non-host mimicking) control traps. The repellent, green leaf volatiles (GLV) ((E)-2-hexen-1-ol & (Z)-3-hexen-1-ol) when present on traps with attractant reduced catches significantly but modestly in H. ater and H. ligniperda, but had no significant effect on A. ferus. A field trial near Christchurch found that GLV applied as a topical repellent halved the number of beetles attacking Pinus radiata logs. This reduction was significant in H. ligniperda, but not quite (P = 0.07) in H. ater. Placing logs among broadleaved plants (natural sources of non-host volatiles) significantly reduced attack of H. ligniperda by about 75% compared to logs in the open, but had no effect on H. ater. Attack by H. ater was found on 4% of 500 P. radiata seedlings in a field trial near Dunedin. Treatment of seedlings with GLV significantly affected the severity and proportion of seedlings attacked by H. ater, compared with insecticide-treated and control seedlings, but the treatment effect was apparently driven by an unexpected direct damaging effect of GLV on the health of seedlings. It is recommended that future research explores the use of non-host volatiles from natural sources that influence host finding in wood–boring and bark beetle species for the protection of plantation forests in New Zealand.

Radiata pine (Pinus radiata) is the most important plantation tree in New Zealand forestry, and factors that reduce the quality of wood cause significant economic loss. Two of the most important of these issues are compression wood and spiral grain. Compression wood is a type of reaction wood, formed when a tree moves away from the vertical, and is characterised by biochemical and structural changes within the wood that reduce its quality and value. Spiral grain, however, is the alignment of the wood grain in a helix around the tree’s axis and away from the vertical. Again, this reduces the structural qualities of the wood and thus its value. Spiral grain and compression wood are notorious for their deleterious effect on the quality of wood produced and are very important for the forest industry due to the huge economic loss they cause. The demand for reliable tools to evaluate these wood quality issues in clonal planting material at an early stage, within 3 years of germination rather than at 8 to 15 years as in current practise, is of ever increasing importance from plant breeders and other industry stake holders. Therefore this research was undertaken with an overall aim to develop quick, easy and reproducible techniques to evaluate young radiata pine clones (up to 3 years old) based on compression wood content and presence of spiral grain. This is important because a shortened breeding cycle could provide significant economic benefits to the forest industry. The incidence of these commercially important wood quality parameters has been studied in this thesis in research conducted on young trees (1 to 3 years old). The research described in this thesis used a variety of different imaging approaches to investigate wood structure, including polarised light and confocal microscopy, and X-ray tomography and circular polarised light scanning. The images achieved have been analysed using a range of different software, including Photoshop, ImageJ and Matlab bringing a quantification approach to the imaging. Compression wood was quantified in young clonal material using images collected with a commercial document scanner, and processed using image analysis tools available in Photoshop. An easy, reliable and robust, automatic image analysis protocol was successfully developed and tested for the detection and quantification of compression wood in these young trees. This new technique to detect and quantify compression wood was based on the thresholding of the blue channel of the scanned RGB image as this was demonstrated to contain the greatest image contrast. Development of this new technique may reduce the waiting time for screening clonal planting materials based on compression wood content. To understand the organisation of the grain at a cellular level within these young trees, confocal microscopy techniques were utilised. The cell wall characteristics and fluorescence properties of compression wood in comparison with normal wood were investigated using a new cellulose specific dye, pontamine fast scarlet 4B. Staining protocols for this dye for confocal microscopy were optimised, and the potential of measuring the microfibril angle of the S1 and S3 layers of the pontamine treated opposite wood was demonstrated through either direct observations of these layers, or through the property of bifluorescence where the dye is excited only when aligned parallel to the polarisation of the incident light. Despite extensive work with confocal microscopy, this technique proved to be unsuitable for investigations of spiral grain because although it provided cellular detail, imaging was limited to the surface layers of sections, and the area over which observations were required was prohibitive. Instead of confocal microscopy, the incidence of spiral grain in young stems was investigated in two completely new ways. Resin canals, which are formed from the same cambial initials as the tracheids and which align with the grain, were used as a proxy to demonstrate the grain changes. A novel technique, using circular polarised light and a professional flatbed scanner, was developed to image whole serial transverse sections of the young stems to detect the resin canals. Using ImageJ, the number and location of resin canals was measured on vertical controls, and trees that had been rocked and leaned. The number and frequency of resin canals were less in tilted trees, especially in compression wood, compared to the higher number of canals formed in the rocked trees. More importantly, a combination of serial sectioning and this approach allowed a 3-dimensional view of the orientation of resin canals inside a stem to be generated with ImageJ, and the angles of these canals could be measured using Matlab. The resin canals were oriented with a left-handed spiralling near the stem surface whereas the canals near to the pith were nearly straight, consistent with previous observations of the development of spiral grain in radiata pine. However, it was observed that while vertical trees had a symmetric pattern of grain and grain changes around the stem, this was not the case in tilted trees. In these, the opposite wood often had severe spiral grain visible through formation of twist whereas the compression wood formed on the lower side had bending. Consistent with this, grain associated with compression wood was significantly straighter than in opposite wood. This hitherto unknown link between the incidence of compression wood and spiral grain was investigated and explained on the basis of the characteristics of resin canals in these types of wood. X-ray micro-tomography was also used to investigate resin canals in the stubs from which serial sections were collected. The 3D reconstructions of the resin canals showed exactly the same patterns as observed by polarised light scanning.

During this study two models were developed to predict growth of Pinus radiata D.Don plantations in Canterbury, New Zealand. The first, CanSPBL(1.2), is a model for whole rotations of stands owned by Selwyn Plantation Limited in Canterbury. The second model, CanSPBL(water) is a hybrid growth model for the Selwyn estate in Canterbury that incorporates an index of root zone water balance over the simulation period. An existing stand growth and yield model CanSPBL was examined using a validation dataset of PSP measurements that were not used in model fitting. Projection bias was shown for mean top height, basal area per hectare, and residual stand stocking particularly for stands at elevations exceeding 450 metres. The new model, CanSPBL(1.2) showed an increase in precision of 4 - 46% over CanSPBL(1.0) at a stand level. The components of the stand model include mean top height, basal area per hectare, stems per hectare, and diameter distribution. The mortality model was made in conjunction with managers at CanSPBL to exclude catastrophic mortality events from model projections. Data used for model fitting was filtered using a mortality index based on the -3/2 power law. An examination of this model with an independent dataset showed little apparent bias. The new model, CanSPBL(water) was developed to include an index of water balance over the simulation period. Water balance estimates were made using a sub model for root zone water balance included in the hybrid physiological model 3-PG (Landsberg and Waring, 1997). The new model showed an increase in precision of 1 - 4% over CanSPBL(1.2) at a stand level (with the exception of the model for maximum diameter which showed a decrease in precision of 0.78%) using climatic inputs that included yearly variation. However the model showed increases of precision from 0.5 to 8% (with the exception of maximum diameter again, showing a decrease in precision of 0.13%) using long term monthly average climatic inputs. The components of the stand model also include mean top height, basal area per hectare, stems per hectare, and diameter distribution. The mortality model was also fitted with a data set filtered using a mortality severity index based on the -3/2 power law to exclude catastrophic mortality events. An examination of this model with an independent dataset showed little apparent bias. Two models to predict a one sided canopy leaf area index (LAI) of radiata pine stands in the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand were also developed. The models were fitted using non-linear least squares regression of LAI estimates against stem measurements and stand characteristics. LAI estimates were derived from digital analysis of fisheye lens photography. The models were kept simple to avoid computational circularity for physiological modelling applications. This study included an objective comparison and validation of a range of model types. The models CANTY (Goulding, 1995), CanSPBL(1.2) (Pinjuv, 2005), CanSPBL-water (Pinjuv, 2005), and 3-PG (Landsberg and Waring, 1997) were compared and validated with the main criteria for comparison being each model s ability to match actual historical measurements of forest growth in an independent data set. Overall, the models CanSPBL(water), and CanSPBL(1.2) performed the best in terms of basal area and mean top height prediction. Both models CanSPBL(water), and CanSPBL(1.2) showed a slightly worse fit in predictions of stocking than did the model CANTY. The hybrid model 3PG showed a better fit for the prediction of basal area than the statistically based model CANTY, but showed a worse fit for the prediction of final stocking than all other models. In terms of distribution of residuals, CanSPBL(1.2) had overall the lowest skewness, kurtosis, and all model parameters tested significant for normality. 3PG performed the worst on average, in terms of the distribution of residuals, and all models tested positively for the normality of residual distribution.

Previous studies on wood instability have identified some wood basic properties which influence the timber distortion and shape changes while the wood is losing or gaining moisture. These properties include wood anisotropic shrinkage, equilibrium moisture content (EMC) in both desorption and adsorption, fibre saturation point (FSP) and water diffusion coefficient. This study investigated the stability related wood properties and their variations within the stems of the New Zealand grown radiata pine trees. The basic density, EMC and shrinkage for the earlywood and the latewood were also experimentally determined. In taking into account these properties and their variations, an analytical model was developed to simulate the wood distortion. The equilibrium moisture content was determined at 30°C and humidity range from 27% to 90%. It was found that the EMC difference between the earlywood and the latewood was negligible. The experimental results also show that the EMC decreases from pith towards the bark over the disc cross section and the trend is most obvious at high humidities (70-90%). Along the tree height, the EMC decreases from ground towards the top of the stem. The tangential shrinkage results were highly variable but, in general, the latewood has higher values than the earlywood. The opposite trend was found for the longitudinal shrinkage, higher values for the earlywood than the latewood. In the tree height direction, the tangential shrinkage was found to decrease with the tree height. This follows the same trend as the microfibril angle which in general also decreases with the tree height. The fibre saturation point (FSP) was determined from the tangential shrinkage values at different equilibrium moisture contents. These were taken as the intersection point of the tangential shrinkage line with the moisture content axis. The experimental results have revealed a trend that the FSP decreases from the pith towards the bark and also decreases with the tree height. Similar behaviour was found for the tangential and longitudinal swelling during the adsorption. The moisture transport within radiata pine was investigated based on the diffusion theory under transient and isothermal condition of 30°C. The moisture dependant diffusion coefficient was derived from the experimental data using the inverse analysis method. The surface emission coefficient was determined by taking into account the variable surface moisture content, wood density and the ambient conditions. In the experiments, 138 samples in total (46 samples for each XIV of the longitudinal, tangential and radial directions) were used and their diffusion coefficients were determined for both the adsorption and the desorption with moisture content ranging from 6% to 22%. The derived diffusion coefficients are comparable with the reported data in the literature. Further investigation of the wood type influence on the diffusion coefficient revealed that compression wood has the lowest diffusion coefficients in the three directions (longitudinal, tangential and radial) both in the desorption and in the adsorption. In addition, the moisture content has the least influence on the diffusion coefficient in the compression wood. Investigation on the effects of the wood density has shown that in general, the diffusion coefficient decreases with increasing wood density although the correlations are only significant for the longitudinal direction in desorption. An analytical model for the simulation of the wood twist was developed which is based on the geometry and geometrical changes of the grains aligning non parallel to the pith. A board consists of numerous such grains which change the length and shape with moisture content change. The model predictions confirm that the grain angle, the tangential and longitudinal shrinkage and the conical angle all affect the development of the board twist. However, the discrepancies between the model prediction and the experimental data are significant, partly due to the experimental uncertainties and partly due to the model errors. In this study, sound velocity in the longitudinal direction was measured for the test samples used in the shrinkage experiments. The results revealed that the correlations between the sound velocity and the volumetric shrinkage at oven dry are significant. Based on this finding, the relationship between the tangential shrinkage and the radial shrinkage, the tangential shrinkage can be predicted from the sound velocity measurements. As the tangential shrinkage has significant influence on the wood distortion, this method can be used to segregate logs which may be prone to wood distortion.