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Forests
Special Issues
Improving the Service Life of Wood: Durability and Preservation
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Improving the Service Life of Wood: Durability and Preservation

A special issue of Forests (ISSN 1999-4907). This special issue belongs to the section "Wood Science and Forest Products".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 May 2025 | Viewed by 2603

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Grant Kirker

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
USDA-FS Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, WI 53726, USA
Interests: biodeterioration; wood durability; wood protection; treated wood disposal
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability and carbon sequestration are at the forefront of scientific discussion due to increasing concerns over climate change. Wood utilization is key to ensuring a sustainable future as wood is renewable, abundant, and carbon neutral. In fact, wood sequesters carbon in trees and in manufactured materials, which extends the carbon benefit past the rotation age of the tree. Construction materials represent an important carbon sink, and the goal in the field of wood protection is to prolong the useful service life of these forest products through the use of chemical protectants, durability by design, wood modification or the use of the heartwood of naturally durable species. In North America, building codes typically require chemically treated wood when used in ground contact, when critical to the structure or when difficult to replace, which often results in disposal issues with treated wood waste. Strategies that can remediate treated building materials are still needed to ensure that chemically treated wood has a circular life trajectory. The goal of this Special Issue is to collate current research relating to wood protection strategies, end of life disposal, life cycle assessments and how these aspects contribute to the larger goals of sustainability and carbon sequestration.  

Dr. Grant Kirker
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Forests is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • wood protection
  • wood durability
  • carbon sequestration
  • life cycle assessment
  • end-of-life disposal
  • sustainable forest management

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 3774 KiB  
Article
Weathering Resistance of Wood Following Thermal Modification in Closed Process Under Pressure in Nitrogen
by Juris Grinins, Guntis Sosins, Ilze Irbe and Janis Zicans
Forests 2025, 16(1), 132; https://doi.org/10.3390/f16010132 - 12 Jan 2025
Viewed by 493
Abstract
The wood of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), silver birch (Betula pendula), and European aspen (Populus tremula) was thermally modified in nitrogen under pressure. Three commercial linseed oil-based coatings without or with brown and grey pigments were applied [...] Read more.
The wood of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), silver birch (Betula pendula), and European aspen (Populus tremula) was thermally modified in nitrogen under pressure. Three commercial linseed oil-based coatings without or with brown and grey pigments were applied to the specimens. Specimens were placed outside, and weathering stability was assessed for 3 months. The test measured total surface colour change (ΔE) and colonization by wood dicolouring fungi. Following the test, all uncoated specimens demonstrated poor colour fastness and resistance to fungal growth. All tested coatings were unsuitable for protecting untreated wood from dicolouring fungi. The transparent coating was inefficient since it did not significantly prevent untreated or TM wood from fading, and fungal resistance was increased only for a few TM regimes. The colour fastness of specimens with pigmented coatings was enhanced. Specimens with a grey coating exhibited the lowest ΔE and remained consistent throughout the test period. TM specimens with coloured surfaces exhibited greater fungal resistance. However, not all TM aspen and birch regimes had a sufficient growth mark (rating 0 or 1). TM aspen was less resistant to fungi, whereas TM pine displayed very strong fungal resistance across all TM regimes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Improving the Service Life of Wood: Durability and Preservation)
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17 pages, 2344 KiB  
Article
Analysis of Basidiomycete Fungal Communities in Soil and Wood from Contrasting Zones of the AWPA Biodeterioration Hazard Map across the United States
by Grant T. Kirker, Amy B. Bishell, Jed Cappellazzi, Samuel V. Glass, Jonathan A. Palmer, Nathan J. Bechle and William J. Hickey
Forests 2024, 15(2), 383; https://doi.org/10.3390/f15020383 - 18 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1487
Abstract
Wood deterioration due to basidiomycetous decay fungi shortens the useful life span of wood and wood-based materials. Prescriptive preservative treatment is the most effective way to reduce the detrimental effects of these microorganisms, particularly in soil contact and areas of critical use (difficult [...] Read more.
Wood deterioration due to basidiomycetous decay fungi shortens the useful life span of wood and wood-based materials. Prescriptive preservative treatment is the most effective way to reduce the detrimental effects of these microorganisms, particularly in soil contact and areas of critical use (difficult to replace or vital to structure). Current American Wood Protection Association (AWPA) guidelines in the standardized use category system specify 3 zones of severity regarding wood decay fungal hazards but contain very little information on the diversity and abundance of these fungi colonizing soil and wood. In this study, amplicon based sequencing was utilized to compare fungal communities in wood and adjacent soil to provide baseline data on the fungi involved in the process. A thorough understanding of decay hazards is critical for the proper selection and use of wood in soil contact. The goal of this work is to provide baseline data on basidiomycete fungal diversity and species composition in different zones of the existing 3-zone AWPA hazard map as compared to the previous 5-zone hazard map and Scheffer decay indices and discuss the ecological implications for wood decay. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Improving the Service Life of Wood: Durability and Preservation)
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