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Deforestation poses a massive threat to global biodiversity with illegal logging
and the associated trade in illegally sourced wood products. This is a significant
contributor to the continuation of unsustainable deforestation rates. Reputed timber
traders are also struggling to police their own supply chains and comply with the
growing requirement for due diligence with respect to timber ongin and legality. A
range of scientific methods have been developed independently with the potential to
provide the required identification information.
Wood anatomy is considered as a hi^y specialised science discipline which
is used in combination with various technologies in forensic timber identification.
Wood anatomical features are generally considered not prone to changes under normal
circumstances and therefore it forms the basis of wood identification. Analysis can be
undertaken at both the macroscopic and microscopic scale, but microscopic
examination is usually required to achieve a diagnostic identification. Different
features of interest in this scenario include cell size, arrangements of different elements,
cell proportion and most importantly, specific gravity.
There are thousands of species of trees fi:om which timber can be obtained, each
with different rates of growth, structural properties and degrees of durability. Some
timbers are highly decorative, some are very strong, some have good resistance to rot
- in fact almost every species of wood has features that can be good in some uses, but
not so good in others. Therefore, knowing what type of wood you have in fi-ont of you
can be extremely important, either because you may have paid a lot of money for
something you didn't actually get, or maybe because the wood you've got is unsuitable
for the job you have in mind for it. Timber identification is a skill that must be gained
with practice and with a bit of extra help from a skilled wood scientist.
The lAWA (International Association of Wood Anatomists) List of
Microscopic Features for Hardwood Identification is an important standardized list of
characters and terminology that can be used in descriptive wood anatomical studies
and identification obtained through comparison to reference materials.. The commonly
used keys for wood identification are the dichotomous key, perforated card key and the
computer aided identification key. Dichotomous keys are the most simple and easy to
use keys. These types of keys have been used for over centuries in biological
identification. The multiple entry perforated card type of key was introduced by the
Forest Products Research Laboratory in 1936, when a key for the identification of
hardwoods based on microscopic features was conducted.
Hence, the preparation of anatomical key is very important in the field of wood
industries for the identification of the suitable material or the tree. Anatomical keys of
different timbers assists in a large way do away with the confusion in the identification
of timbers. The anatomical keys can also support the molecular studies like DNA bar
coding, molecular markers etc. Wood anatomical analysis is the most frequently used
method for taxonomic identification, both on the front-line for screening purposes, and
in the laboratory for diagnostic identification.
In this study, 20 species of trees were considered in the preparation of anatomical
keys for identification. The species of trees used for the study are Acacia
auriculiformis, A. Cunn. Ex Benth. , Acacia mangium Willd.. , Albizia lebbeck (L)
Benth. , Albizzia odoratissima (L.f) Benth. , Artocarpus heterophyllus Lamk.
Artocarpus hirsutus Lamk. , Dalbergia latifolia Roxb. , Dalbergia nigra Fr All
Hevea braziliensis (H. B. K.) M.A., Hopea parviflora. Bedd., Intsia bijuga (Colebr.)
, Ocotea rodiaei (Schomb) Mez. , Peltogyne paniculata Benth. , Pterocarpus
marsupium Roxb., Pterocarpus dalbergioides Roxb. ex DC., Santalum album Linn
Swietenia macrophylla king. , Tectona grandis Linn. , Xylia dolabriformis Benth
Xylia xylocarpa (Roxb.) Taub.