Spatiotemporal variation and covariation of heartwood color in planted teak wood from Ghana

Heartwood color is a complex trait that affects the economic and aesthetic value of the wood but is highly variable. How the color of the heartwood varies spatially and temporally is poorly understood. To illustrate how heartwood color varies within a tree, two opposite aspects of wood within the same tree, representing differential growth rate, were used to model the long-short axis system jointly. The color of the heartwood on the long and the short axis was considered to be two different traits. By jointly modeling the long and short axes, the correlation was examined between aspect (spatial) and contemporaneous correlations (within aspect). Spatial and temporal correlations and their interactions describe the indirect physiological, genetic, and environmental changes in wood formation with time and position in the trunk. Spatial correlations were consistently lower than temporal correlations but were positive and significant. Between the heartwood color parameters, b* showed a relatively higher spatial correlation. The results suggest that there is a spatial correlation in the long-short axis for all color parameters and in the two surfaces. Variations between aspects were not statistically significant for any color parameter. The bivariate mixed model method revealed hidden physics behind heartwood color formation. Models need to be developed to account for both spatial and temporal dependence in studies of wood property change.