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- Hyll, Kari, et al.
(author)
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CT-skanning som verktyg för detektering av törskateangrepp på tall
- 2022
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Reports (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Scots pine blister rust fungi (Cronartium pini) is expected to become an increasing problem for both forest owners and sawmills in the Nordic region, and there is great uncertainty about the economic consequences. There is also a lack of knowledge about the biology of Scots pine blister rust, as well as the tree's response and defence against ongoing infection. The tree is known to defend itself by enriching resin at the infected area, creating a damaged area of resin-wood. There is currently no reliable way to detect and assess the degree of damage in sawn timber, which leads to waste, as entire sawlogs are usually downgraded when parts or most of the timber could possibly be used. The objectives of this preliminary study were to: (1) investigate whether X-ray computed tomography (CT scanning) can detect blister rust damage in pine timber, in order to optimise sawing and save the value of the sawn timber; (2) to compare the 3-dimensional CT image description of the fungal attack with how the damage looks on the outside, to enable recommendations for external assessment of the damage attack, for example during felling; and (3) to assess the possibilities for describing the course of the damage and the tree's defence against the fungal attack.Eight rust-infested and two non-infested trees (Scots pine) were collected from a thinning stand and a mature stand outside Bjurselet, Norsjö municipality in Västerbotten. The trees were felled in January 2022. After felling, the stems were visually inspected, and infected parts were marked with paint on the mantle surface. The stems were cut into logs of suitable length for transport and scanning. Cuts through fungal-infested regions were avoided. The wood was transported to LTU’s Wood Science and Engineering facility in Skellefteå for CT scanning.The CT scan of the sample trees showed that damage due to pine blister rust can be detected in a way that enables further development of an industrial detection method and optimisation of the wood decomposition. However, one difficulty discovered was that fungal-infested sapwood areas have similar image intensity as non-infested heartwood. It could also be established that the distribution of damage inside the volume of the stem is greater than can be detected visually on the mantle, especially in the longitudinal direction. In this study the temporal development of the infection from the time of infestation to the time of CT scanning could not be analysed. However, annual rings could be distinguished in both damaged and undamaged wood, making it possible to monitor the evolution of the damage from year to year. DNA analysis detected the presence of blister rust fungus in the wood, both in and outside resin-rich areas. The highest amount of fungus-specific DNA was measured outside the resin-rich area in the outer parts of the sapwood.
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