Annual growth and wood characteristics of Ginkgo biloba L. in Egypt: A pilot study

Abstract

Countries are implementing various strategies, including wood tree planting, to reduce importing costs, Egypt is a major importer of wood. This study aims to investigate the annual growth and wood characteristics of the introduced tree Ginkgo biloba L., cultivated in a few sites in Egypt. In one accessible site (Alexandria University Botanical Garden) (ALEX), wood samples and cores were extracted from male and female trees to measure tree-ring widths, basal area increment (BAI), and wood characteristics. Results showed a strong relationship between wood dry weight and volume of a female tree (R2=0.9948), with wood density=0.486 at 12% moisture. Female tree sequestered 43.92kg CO2/year. The trees' age was 24 years. The average annual growth and BAI for female and male trees were 3.96mm, 5.05mm, and 109.3%, 47.7%, respectively. G. biloba has a tracheid length higher than or close to the known wood species value. The wood lies among the medium-density wood species, with a lighter and less dense microstructure composition, with 45.39% cellulose, 21.59% hemicellulose, and 30.67% lignin. The mean values of modulus elasticity, compressive strength, and hardness were 4834.40N.mm-2, 29.04N.mm-2, and 1229.2N, respectively. These results suggest that G. biloba wood may be well-suited for paper making, crafting lightweight furniture, and carpentry purposes. Expanding G. biloba cultivation along the Mediterranean coast of Egypt can fill the wood importing gap. Since this is a pilot study, we recommend further research on G. biloba cultivation in different soil types in Egypt with a considerable sampling.