Natural durability, physical and mechanical properties of Atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica Manetti) wood from Southern Italy

This paper deals with the technological characterisation of Atlas cedar wood from artificial plantation in South Italy. Atlas cedar seems be one of the most promising species for reforestation in Central-South Italy, due to its ecological adaptability, quality of standing trees, even without thinnings and pruning, and productivity of the stands. From a 30-year-old stand in Sicily 6 trees were selected in order to analyse the natural durability of wood against fungi, according to European Standards, and the main physical and mechanical properties from clear specimens, according to ISO Standards. The heartwood resulted classified from "durable" to "very durable", while sapwood is "not durable". The wood is quite dense, taking into account the fast-grown characteristics of the stand, but the volumetric shrinkage is limited and the ratio between tangential and radial shrinkages is less than 1.5. Mechanical characteristics show a wood with a quite high ratio of static quality. From first results the Atlas cedar seems to be a promising tree species from ecological and silvicultural point of view.