Provenance variation in growth and wood properties of A. mangium and A. auriculiformis in Central Java, Indonesia : selecting potential hybrid parents for good performance

Wood variations among regional and local provenances of 11-year old Acacia mangium and Acacia auriculiformis in Central Java, Indonesia were investigated to obtain the basis data for selecting for superior trees. The regional provenances of Am and Aa were from Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Queensland-Australia (QLD), respectively. Wood cores were extracted at the breast height of each candidate plus trees, and used for measuring the wood properties. First, a quick and effective method for evaluation of fiber length in an individual tree was investigated. The means at two different positions (F_t) were statistically related to the weighted fiber length. F_t could be used as the value for the individual tree. Second, provenance variation in wood properties was evaluated by analysis of variance. Among Am provenances, both fiber length and lignin content differed significantly between PNG and QLD at the 1% level. Fiber length of PNG (1.09mm) was longer than that of QLD (1.06mm), and lignin contents of PNG (29.9%) was lower than that of QLD (1.06mm), and lignin contents of PNG (29.9%) was lower than that of QLD (30.6%). All provenances were classified into three groups (good, medium, and poor performance) according to the mean values for fiber length, air-dried density, and lignin content. Aa provenances could not be classified into the good group. These results suggested some Am provenances might provide superior trees with good performance.