Non-destructive acoustic assessment of wood quality in trees and logs and the effects of silvicultural treatments: a review

ABSTRACT Assessing intrinsic wood qualities such as modulus of elasticity and internal decay in trees and logs can be challenging. However, acoustic technologies have been investigated for a possible solution. This paper reviews available literature on non-destructive acoustic methods for assessing wood quality, both in tree and log form. The paper further reviews the effects of silvicultural practices (such as thinning and pruning) on wood quality assessed by non-destructive acoustic methods. We documented some of the benefits of application of non-destructive acoustic methods on wood quality of trees and logs. The acoustic velocity of a tree (VT) or log (VL) of the propagated waves and wood density can be used to determine the Dynamic Modulus of Elasticity (MOEd). Thinning was reported to affect VT/VL and MOEd negatively. Acoustic tomography methods were equally found to have good accuracy in detecting the location and extent of wood decay in standing trees and logs.