Fuel wood properties of some oak tree species of Manipur, India

Five indigenous oak tree species, i.e., Castanopsis indica (Roxb. ex Lindl.) A.DC., Lithocarpus fenestratus (Roxb.) Rehder, Lithocarpus pachyphyllus (Kurz) Rehder, Lithocarpus polystachyus (Wall. ex A.DC.) Rehder and Quercus serrata Murray were estimated for their wood properties such as calorific value, density, moisture content and ash content from a sub-tropical forest of Haraothel hill, Senapati District, Manipur. Wood biomass components were found to have higher calorific value (kJ g(-)) than bark components. The calorific values for tree species were found highest in L. pachyphyllus (17.99 kJ g(-1)) followed by C. indica (17.98 kJ g1), L. fenestratus (17.96 kJ g"), L. polystachyus (17.80 kJ g(-1)) and Q. serrata (17.49 kJ g(-1)). Calorific values for bole bark, bole wood and branch bark were found significantly different (F > 3.48 at p = 0.05) in five oak tree species. Percentage of ash on dry weight basis was found to be highest in Q. serrata (4.73%) and lowest in C. indica (2.19%). Ash content of tree components gives a singnificant factor in determining fuelwood value index (FVI). Of all the five oak tree species, Q. serrata exhibited highest value of wood density (0.78 g cm-) and lowest was observed in C. indica (0.63 g cm(-3)). There was significant correlation between wood density (p<0.05), ash content (p<0.01) with calorific value in oak tree species. Fuelwood value index (FVI) was in the following order: C. indica (1109.70) > L. pachyphyllus (898.41)> L. polystachyus (879.02)> L. fenestratus (824.61)> Q. serrata (792.50). Thus, the present study suggests that C. indica may be considered as a fuelwood oak tree species in Manipur.