Selim, H., Farahat, E., Mohareb, A., Toto, S., Hassan, K. (2024). Annual growth and wood characteristics of Ginkgo biloba L. in Egypt: A pilot study. Egyptian Journal of Botany, 64(3), 258-269. doi: 10.21608/ejbo.2024.279025.2784
Heneidy Z Selim; Emad A Farahat; Ahmed S. O. Mohareb; Soliman Mohammed Toto; Khaled T. S. Hassan. "Annual growth and wood characteristics of Ginkgo biloba L. in Egypt: A pilot study". Egyptian Journal of Botany, 64, 3, 2024, 258-269. doi: 10.21608/ejbo.2024.279025.2784
Selim, H., Farahat, E., Mohareb, A., Toto, S., Hassan, K. (2024). 'Annual growth and wood characteristics of Ginkgo biloba L. in Egypt: A pilot study', Egyptian Journal of Botany, 64(3), pp. 258-269. doi: 10.21608/ejbo.2024.279025.2784
Selim, H., Farahat, E., Mohareb, A., Toto, S., Hassan, K. Annual growth and wood characteristics of Ginkgo biloba L. in Egypt: A pilot study. Egyptian Journal of Botany, 2024; 64(3): 258-269. doi: 10.21608/ejbo.2024.279025.2784
Annual growth and wood characteristics of Ginkgo biloba L. in Egypt: A pilot study
1Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, 21511 Alexandria, Egypt
2Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Egypt
3Department of Forestry and Wood Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University
4El-Shatby
Faculty of Science, , Botany & Microbiology Department
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.