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Acoustic Velocity—Wood Fiber Attribute Relationships for Jack Pine Logs and Their Potential Utility

This study presents an acoustic-based predictive modeling framework for estimating a suite of wood fiber attributes within jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) logs for informing in-forest log-segregation decision-making. Specifically, the relationships between acoustic velocity (longitudinal stress wave velocity; vl) and the dynamic modulus of elasticity (me), wood density (wd), microfibril angle (ma), tracheid wall thickness (wt), tracheid radial and tangential diameters (dr and dt, respectively), fiber coarseness (co), and specific surface area (sa), were parameterized deploying hierarchical mixed-effects model specifications and subsequently evaluated on their resultant goodness-of-fit, lack-of-fit, and predictive precision. Procedurally, the data acquisition phase involved: (1) randomly selecting 61 semi-mature sample trees within ten variable-sized plots established in unthinned and thinned compartments of four natural-origin stands situated in the central portion the Canadian Boreal Forest Region; (2) felling and sectioning each sample tree into four equal-length logs and obtaining twice-replicate vl measurements at the bottom and top cross-sectional faces of each log (n = 4) from which a log-specific mean vl value was calculated; and (3) sectioning each log at its midpoint and obtaining a cross-sectional sample disk from which a 2 × 2 cm bark-to-pith radial xylem sample was extracted and subsequently processed via SilviScan-3 to derive annual-ring-specific attribute values. The analytical phase involved: (1) stratifying the resultant attribute—acoustic velocity observational pairs for the 243 sample logs into approximately equal-sized calibration and validation data subsets; (2) parameterizing the attribute—acoustic relationships employing mixed-effects hierarchical linear regression specifications using the calibration data subset; and (3) evaluating the resultant models using the validation data subset via the deployment of suite of statistical-based metrics pertinent to the evaluation of the underlying assumptions and predictive performance. The results indicated that apart from tracheid diameters (dr and dt), the regression models were significant (p ≤ 0.05) and unbiased predictors which adhered to the underlying parameterization assumptions. However, the relationships varied widely in terms of explanatory power (index-of-fit ranking: wt (0.53) > me > sa > co > wd >> ma (0.08)) and predictive ability (sa > wt > wd > co >> me >>> ma). Likewise, based on simulations where an acoustic-based wd estimate is used as a surrogate measure for a Silviscan-equivalent value for a newly sampled log, predictive ability also varied by attribute: 95% of all future predictions for sa, wt, co, me, and ma would be within ±12%, ±14%, ±15%, ±27%, and ±55% and of the true values, respectively. Both the limitations and potential utility of these predictive relationships for use in log-segregation decision-making, are discussed. Future research initiatives, consisting of identifying and controlling extraneous sources of variation on acoustic velocity and establishing attribute-specific end-product-based design specifications, would be conducive to advancing the acoustic approach in boreal forest management.