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...h a mean field pH of 6.1 in the topsoil and 5.9 in the subsoil. The soil pH increased dramatically in the parts of the soil profile near to the underlying coral. A test for the presence of allophane (=-=Fieldes and Perrot 1966-=-) which is important because it is a mineral that ties up phosphorus, was carried out across the sites and returned an average rating of 1 for both the topsoil and subsoils of the described sites (on ...

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... current estate is based on a few species and narrow genetic base. The lack of diversity in planted forests currently exposes the global timber industry to risks, particularly from pests and disease (=-=Nichols et al. 2006-=-). Amongst several thousand tree species in the world only about 30 have been extensively planted. Although holding great potential, few native species found in rainforests have begun to be “domestica...

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...nue well beyond twenty years of age. “Long-lived pioneer” species such as whitewood often exhibit strong diameter growth until sudden death (Metcalf et al. 2009) and can attain quite large diameters (=-=Thomson 2006-=-) so that the diameters projected in this figure seem plausible. Market conditions vary over time, with the advantage that trees can be “held over” if prices are poor or harvest is not able to be achi...

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... material and existing older trees in the Loro estate Y1. m9-10 SPRIG seed orchard thinned, seed collected for new seed orchards under FST/2008/010 Wood quality from thinned trees presented in paper (=-=Doran et al 2012-=-), Section 6.7 Y4. m3-5 Data collected from original 1995 spacing trial MSL Loro (Walker/Haines 1996); spacing trials at Victor Andres, Lorum and Kelsais. Preferred spacing options presented at five w...

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...ear rotation and a low price of $50 per m3, 300 m3 of whitewood trees on one hectare would yield $15,000 (not discounted), a considerable sum in a country where per capita GDP was $1,138 USD in 2002 (=-=Jayaraman and Ward 2006-=-). Larger trees, particularly if well managed for clearwood production, could bring up to $100 per cubic metre. Likewise, processing into boards for resawing, drying and chemically treating timber, an...

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...by Tony Page. A study of wood quality in relation to families from Shark Bay seed orchard was the product of collaboration between this whitewood silviculture project (Results 6.7, Doran et al. 2012, =-=Settle et al. 2012-=-) and FST/2008/010, on improved germplasm of whitewood and sandal wood. Activity 3.3 In the silvicultural treatments called “thinning” which include precommercial operations in which trees are felled ...

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...ay subsoil with strong fine polyhedral to subangular blocky structure. These soils are described as having field textures of from clay loam to light medium clays but these soils are often subplastic (=-=Bennett 1989-=-). No particle size analysis was carried out, however it is likely that clay contents are much higher than indicated by the field textures. Similar soils from Santo have been reported as having measur...

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...g in Vanuatu he was leading a team examining the effects on growth and wood properties of thinning in plantations of Eucalyptus dunnii and Corymbia citriodora var. variegata in subtropical Australia (=-=Glencross et al 2011-=-). The advantage of closer spacings, usually 4 x 3 metres, in whitewood, are that canopy closure occurs earlier than it does in spacings of 6 or 8 by 3 metres, the other major options, and that branch...

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...y Viranamangga et al. (2012) reported on preliminary tests with preservative treatments. Whitewood has low durability to biological degradation, but will readily take chemical preservative treatment (=-=Groves and Wood 1998-=-). This capacity represents a significant opportunity to add value to whitewood in Vanuatu, since outdoor and in ground products may be produced from any part of a log. Figure 13 illustrates that good...

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...articularly given the favourable climate and fertile soils. In 2003, timber exports of whitewood represented 14.5% of total exports, by 2008 timbers share of total export earnings had fallen to 2.5% (=-=McGregor and McGregor 2010-=-). As a result of diminishing wood supply, Vanuatu is currently heavily dependent on imports of wood products (Vutilolo et al. 2005, 2008); this situation has led the development of whitewood as a pla...

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...e forest that was exploited throughout the English-French colonial period in Vanuatu and after independence in 1980. As a result, the most accessible whitewood resource has been extensively depleted (=-=Viji et al. 2001-=-) and the commercial timber industry has largely ceased in Vanuatu (Viranamangga et al. 2012). Whitewood has been identified by researchers and the Vanuatu Government as a high priority species (Walke...

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...ce seed and for assessing the effects of genotypes on growth and wood properties. Establishment silviculture experiments supported the general recommendations given for plantations in tropical areas (=-=Smith et al. 2012-=-) although the soils at this project’s trial sites supplied adequate nutrients to trees without the addition of fertiliser, whereas often fertilizer provides a benefit and is recommended at establishm...

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...er ha). These results, from the PSPs were again confirmed in the various spacing and thinning trials (results Section 6.5) established elsewhere by the project and listed in Table 1, and discussed in =-=Glencross et al. 2012-=-. Activity 1.3 Training in whitewood site selection was done in the process of putting in 40 soil pits and establishing and maintaining 27 Permanent Sample Plots. Officers from the Department of Fores...