2nd Workshop on Quantitative Wood Anatomy Birmensdorf, WSL, 29 - 31 May 2007 Download Flyer (pdf) Download Program (pdf) (definitive version) View presentations (password protected)

Report on the Workshop on Quantitative Wood Anatomy

The second European workshop on “Quantitative Wood Anatomy” was held on 29 to 31 May 2007 at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL in Birmensdorf, Switzerland.

The workshop was organized by Patrick Fonti, Britta Eilmann and Paolo Cherubini and co-sponsored by the Dendro Sciences Unit and a manufacturer of imaging devices, Olympus. More than 25 participants from nine different European countries attended the workshop.

Quantitative wood anatomy (QWA) is a methodological approach based on the measurement of wood cell anatomical characteristics (e.g., conduit size and density, cell wall thickness, tissue percentage), analyzed through time (at intra- and/or inter-annual level), and used to characterize the relationships between tree growth and various environmental factors.

QWA is currently becoming increasingly attractive for scientists from various research fields. On-going developments in imaging analysis systems (e.g. powerful digital cameras and software) and new techniques for wood surface preparation are making the survey of intra-annual wood anatomical characteristics more effective and efficient. The increase in the numbers of dendrochronologists, ecologists, and physiologists that are both applying and improving QWA methods made it timely to hold an enlarged meeting in order to promote discussion and exchange of experiences. The primary aims of the workshop were to bring together researchers working on QWA i) for a mutual update of ongoing research and developing methods and ii) for discussion about common needs, challenges, and future perspectives.

Presentations on the current research revealed a multitude of applications of QWA ranging from the identification and understanding of environmental signals, such as different aspects of climate and geomorphic events, to the identification of growth periodicity in tropical trees. For the mechanistic understanding of cambial activity additional methods such as pinning and micro-sampling are being utilized to monitor cambial growth. During a tour through the wood anatomy laboratories of the WSL Dendro Science Unit, new preparation methods and equipment, such as the core-microtome, and specialized image analysis procedures for semi-automatic cell- and tissue measurements across long tree-ring series were presented. The discussion about further perspectives underlined the unique potential of QWA methods to help answer ecological and environmental questions in temperate and tropical ecosystems. Exchanging experience and keeping updated on the last advances and applications is however essential to further promote the application of QWA. Therefore the necessity of similar working meetings for the growing “community” was highlighted and a third workshop is welcomed.

Patrick Fonti, Britta Eilmann, Paolo Cherubini

Organizers of the workshop

Sponsoring:

Dendro Sciences Unit