Effects of Age and Height Variation on Physical Properties of Mangium (Acacia Mangium Willd.) Wood (Report‪)‬

Introduction Bangladesh is faced with the problem of a large gap between the supply of and demand for wood materials. Illegal cutting, high fire hazard, improper management and other degrading factors have resulted in poor supplies of wood being available from native forests. Extensive of forestation is thus required to provide a sustainable supply of forest products, as well as for environmental reasons. As in many other tropical countries, plantations of fast-growing species have become a necessity. Acacia mangium, an exotic species from Australia, is such a species now extensively planted in social forestry and agro-forestry in Bangladesh (Siddiqi and Ali 1994). Its relatively good tolerance of very poor soil, rapid growth, resistance to disease, high biomass production and good wood properties make it attractive for use in plantations. It has hard, pale yellow-brown heartwood with a narrow band of light-coloured sapwood, and close grain. The timber kiln-dries well without serious defects, and can be easily sawn, drilled, turned and polished. It is stable after drying (Razali and Hamami 1992); heartwood is moderately resistant to preservative treatment (Keating and Bolza 1982). The trees form large resources which are economically, environmentally and socially significant. The wood is being used extensively for pulp and paper; other uses include fuelwood, building materials, furniture and particleboard.