Acacia auriculiformis is increasingly used as timber in Benin, while little is known about its wood characteristics and the factors affecting such characteristics in the country. The determination of these characteristics is necessary for understanding the functioning of this species and its uses. The aim of this study was to evaluate anatomical and physico-mechanical properties of Acacia auriculiformis in relation to age and soil type in Benin, West Africa. Nine different age plantations (young 6–7 years old, middle-aged 9–11 years old, aged 15–29 years old) were sampled on three soil types (ferruginous, sandy and vertisol). In total, 30 trees were felled for determination of vessel diameter and vessel frequency from pith to bark, basic density, density at 12% moisture content, tangential and radial shrinkages, fiber saturation point, anisotropy of shrinkage, modulus of elasticity, compression strength, and bending strength. Age is the main factor influencing the physico-mechanical characteristics of the species and Acacia auriculiformis could be exploited at 15 years old for use as timber. Still, a high deformation ratio is noted on ferruginous soil. Besides, wood density is negatively correlated with anisotropy of shrinkage, which is an asset for the use of high density wood for structures. In contrast, the parameters of the vessels are weakly correlated with wood density. Further studies are necessary to understand the densification process of Acacia auriculiformis wood in order to optimize the production of high-density wood of the species, which is important for the use of wood as timber.

中文翻译：

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西非贝宁相思木的解剖和物理力学特性与年龄和土壤的关系

金合欢在贝宁越来越多地被用作木材，但对该国的木材特性以及影响该特性的因素知之甚少。这些特征的确定对于理解该物种的功能及其用途是必需的。这项研究的目的是评估相思金合欢的解剖和物理力学特性与西非贝宁的年龄和土壤类型有关。在三种土壤类型（铁质，沙质和粉刺）上对九​​个不同年龄的人工林（年轻的6-7岁，中年的9-11岁，年龄15-29岁）进行了采样。总共砍伐30棵树，以确定从髓到树皮的容器直径和容器频率，基本密度，水分含量为12％时的密度，切向和径向收缩率，纤维饱和点，收缩率各向异性，弹性模量，抗压强度，和弯曲强度。年龄是影响该物种和相思金合欢的物理机械特性的主要因素可以在15岁时用作木材。仍然在铁质土壤上发现了很高的变形率。此外，木材密度与收缩各向异性成负相关，这是将高密度木材用于结构的一项资产。相反，器皿的参数与木材密度之间的关系很弱。需要进一步的研究来了解相思木的致密化过程，以优化该物种的高密度木材的生产，这对于使用木材作为木材非常重要。