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5.16.00 - Wood identification

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2023-09-06

Highlight of 5.16.00 in Report of IUFRO all-Division 5 Conference 2023 in Cairns, Australia

Please find the full report via: https://www.iufro.org/science/divisions/division-5/50000/activities/

IUFRO all-Division 5 Conference 2023 in Cairns, Australia

Authors: Volker Haag, Roger Meder, Andrew Lowe, Victor Deklerck, Sangeeta Gupta, Yafang Yin, David J. Lee and Pekka Saranpää 

Between 4th and 8th June 2023, the IUFRO all-Division 5 conference 2023 took place in Cairns (Australia) under the title "The Forest Treasure Chest - Delivering Outcomes for Everyone". The conference focused on improving sustainable trade in timber and forestry, adapting forests to climate change, and cooperation between regional forestry and indigenous communities. 

Highlight of 5.16.00 in the Report:  

Strengthening modern technologies to secure the international timber trade

To strengthen the sustainable timber industry, scientists continue to focus on methods for species and origin identification. IUFRO Division 5 officially established a new unit "5.16 wood identification" in September 2020, which consists of three working parties: wood collections and databases, wood anatomical identification and multidisciplinary identification of wood. IUFRO 5.16 contributes to academic exchanges and cooperation among global wood identification scientists in the field of collection and exchange of wood specimens, and development of wood identification methods (IUFRO 2023). Current developments and advances in the field of digital image processing/analysis and neural network modelling have opened new research perspectives and applications for wood anatomy and wood quality research. In the last decades, traditional wood anatomy has experienced a renaissance, gaining increasing importance in the field of wood identification. This is highly significant for the strict implementation of timber trade regulations and legal frameworks (CITES, EUTR/EUDR, FLEGT, etc.)14. Various teams worldwide are currently engaged in taking traditional wood anatomy into the digital age in new fields of application, mainly focusing on computer vision and deep learning methods. The first machine vision-based wood identification systems were primarily concerned with the macroscopic analysis of transverse sections of commercial timbers. During the development of these techniques, the resolution of the examined areas became higher and made observations at the microscopic level possible, yet so far limited to cross-sections11, 22, 10, 12, 15, 23. In a recent study, the authors address the use of high-resolution sub-µCt based volumetric images. The potential of µCT technology is currently being explored8,9 for a variety of applications6,7 and the extent to which three-dimensional representations can be used in the field of artificial intelligence is being investigated.

Whilst the recent developments in wood anatomy are very promising, the application of other scientific techniques to provide species29, geographic and even individual level identification (stable isotopes, genomics and elemental profiling) were also presented at the conference. Some recent work includes the development of stable isotope profiles to confirm the geographic origin of timber from the Amazonian rainforest and Europe26, the application of genomics to provide a species level identification tool to the taxonomically complex group of meranti from Borneo19 use of ancient DNA to confirm the species and region of origin of timbers used in the Forbidden City13, the development of GCxGC-TOFMS-based metabolomic profiling for forensic identification of mahogany and rosewood species4. All are promising techniques and provide a broad arsenal of rigorous scientific testing methods to verify the species and region of origin of timber to help detect and ultimately stop illegal logging.

There were also very promising developments to provide international reference data (IAWA - International Association of Wood Anatomists 2023) that can be accessed by verification authorities, scientists and industry. The development of networks of xylaria3 and progress towards digitizing wood collections1 were also presented. But perhaps one of the most exciting initiatives is the progress of World Forest ID2, which emerged from a consortium of partners which included the US Forest Service, World Resources Institute (WRI), Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). World Forest ID aims to provide a robust and authoritative set of global reference collections, reference data for multiple scientific methods (isotopes, genomics, metabolites and elemental profiling), and data analysis and interpretation tools18 that enable effective enforcement of timber trade regulations. As of April 2023, World Forest ID has collected over 23,000 wood samples (>9,000 trees, >60 countries and >350 species). 

The IUFRO Division 5 conference highlighted again that establishing collaborative networks and enabling knowledge transfers will be key to develop these scientific techniques and to maximize their impact upon implementation.


2022-09-02

IAWA-IUFRO Wood Identification Symposium of IUFRO Division 5 Conference in Cairns, Australia on June 4th - 8th, 2023

The next All - Division Conference of IUFRO Division 5 - Forest Products will be held in tropical Cairns, Australia on June 4th - 8th, 2023. The call for abstracts has opened and details of the twenty-four themed sessions including S21 IAWA-IUFRO Wood Identification Symposium titled “Promoting Data-driven Methods for Species and Origin Identification of Forest Products” can be found at www.iufro-div5-2023.com/copy-of-call-for-session-proposals.

This IAWA-IUFRO Symposium is to have an exchange of experiences and ideas on how scientific research can support a sustainable supply chain of forest products and legal timber trade, through the development of data-driven wood identification tools or technologies.The program will encourage open dialogue around the following topics: a) Can a xylarium network and an integrated wood identification system guarantee a legal timber trade; b) Can the development of integrated wood identification technology enhance the regional and/or international timber and wood products export and import activities among countries? c) Do different regulations in each country complicate the development of axylarium network? The syposium will be held for two hours and each speaker will have fifteen minutes to deliver key messages with an interactive Q&A.

During this conference, other two sessions regarding wood identification S22 “From Wood Anatomy to DNA: Species and Provenance Tracking for Modern and Archaeological Woods” and S23 "Interdisciplinary Wood Identification Approaches for Supply Chain Transparency" will be held.

The deadline for abstract submission is postponed to October 3rd, 2022.


2022-08-20

The Database of macroHOLZdata is Free and Available in German, English, and Spanish

The knowledge about recognition and utilization of the most important internationally traded timbers is of prime importance to forestry and the wood industry as well as timber trade and even control authorities. As an important tool for this purpose, the database of macroHOLZdata developed at the Thuenen-Institute for Wood Research has been programmed as an app for smartphones and tablets. The “macroHOLZdata” is an innovative digital tool for macroscopic wood identification and information retrieval for educational facilities and professionals in the wood industry and trade. The app offers:

  1.  interactive identification of 150 common trade timbers (hardwoods and softwoods) based on macroscopic features to be observed with the unaided eye or with a hand lens,
  2.  high-quality colour illustrations of wood characters and timbers featuring transverse (10x) and longitudinal surfaces (natural size),
  3.  complete timber descriptions accompanied by high-quality colour illustrations depicting characteristic wood features,
  4.  database offering pertinent information on wood properties, processing, and utilization,
  5.  a textbook (glossary) with definitions, explanations, procedures, etc. for most features used in the description of the timbers in terms of wood structure, properties, and utilization (specific information retrieval),
  6.  innovative tool for teaching at vocational schools and higher educational facilities with a wood technology and forestry-related curriculum (also suitable for Do-It-Yourself education).


The app is also suited for further education and training in forestry and timber industry as well as self-study for all those interested in wood.

Please download the app from the App Store (iOS) and Google Play (Android) using the search term macroholzdata.


2022-04-20

2022 International Youth Forum for Wood Anatomy, December 9-12, 2022, China

The 2022 International Youth Forum for Wood Anatomy and the 9th IAWA-China Group Annual Meeting will be held on December 9-12, 2022 in Guangzhou, China. The theme of the conference is “Wood Anatomy and Wood Utilization - Future for Ecozoic Era and Community”. The meeting is organized by International Association of Wood Anatomists (IAWA), IAWA China Group and South China Agricultural University, co-sponsored by Division 5 (5.16.00 and 5.06.00) of International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) and International Academy of Wood Science (IAWS). 

PhD candidates or early career researchers who have completed their PhD no longer than five years are cordially invited to submit their abstracts by October 20th, 2022, and to attend the International Youth Forum for Wood Anatomy open in the afternoon of December 10th and in the morning of December 11th, 2022. The newly established Sherwin Carlquist Award by IAWA will be given to excellent speakers of the Youth Forum for Wood Anatomy with certificates and grants.

Please visit http://www.iawa-website.org/en/Meeting/Future_Meetings/article_204.shtml for more details.


2021-12-11

A new article on inference of origin of Pterocarpus wood by chemical method

A new article on the inference of origin of Pterocarpus wood by chemical method authored by Cady Lancaster et al. was recently published. The article is available: 

Inference of origin of Pterocarpus timber by chemical profiling of ambient ionization mass spectra | Request PDF (researchgate.net)


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