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Timing of resin-tapping operations in maritime pine forests in Northern Spain

Authors:

Abstract

Aim of study: To optimize the timing of resin-tapping activities for maximizing the economic efficiency of resin tapping in Atlantic maritime pine forests. Area of study: Northern Spain. Material and methods: We conducted three small experiments in a mature maritime pine forest aimed to test: i) the impact of groove frequency on resin production, ii) the effect of previous grooves as a driver of temporal patterns of resin production along the seasons and iii) the impact of previous tapping on resin production in the following campaign. Main results: The resin produced decreased as groove frequency decreased, but the reduction was low. Considering that the number of trees that a worker can tap increases with more spaced grooves, higher tapping efficiency can be achieved with monthly grooves. Previous tapping increased resin yield during the following campaign but resin production was not affected by the previous grooves during the current tapping campaign. Research highlights: Responses to wounding seem to require time to be effective and temporal patterns of resin production appear to be driven by weather conditions alone. Keywords: resin yield; Pinus pinaster; seasonality; induced responses; wounding.
Timing of resin-tapping operations in maritime pine forests
in Northern Spain
Roberto Touza1, Margarita Lema2, Rafael Zas3*
1Extracción de Resina. Lugar de Maúnzo 25 Xeve 36150 Pontevedra. 2Department of Functional Biology, Faculty of Biology, Universidad de Santiago de
Compostela, Spain. 3Misión Biológica de Galicia. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientícas. Apdo 28, Pontevedra, 36080, Spain.
Abstract
Aim of study: To optimize the timing of resin-tapping activities for maximizing the economic eciency of resin tapping in Atlantic
maritime pine forests.
Area of study: Northern Spain.
Materials and methods: We conducted three small experiments in a mature maritime pine forest aimed to test: i) the impact of groove
frequency on resin production, ii) the eect of previous grooves as a driver of temporal patterns of resin production along the seasons and
iii) the impact of previous tapping on resin production in the following campaign.
Main results: The resin produced decreased as groove frequency decreased, but the reduction was low. Considering that the number of
trees that a worker can tap increases with more spaced grooves, higher tapping eciency can be achieved with monthly grooves. Previous
tapping increased resin yield during the following campaign but resin production was not aected by the previous grooves during the current
tapping campaign.
Research highlights: Responses to wounding seem to require time to be eective and temporal patterns of resin production appear to be
driven by weather conditions alone.
Keywords: resin yield; Pinus pinaster; seasonality; induced responses; wounding.
Authors’ contributions: RT, ML, and RZ conceived the idea, designed the experiments and provided the founding. RT performed the
eld work and processed the datasheets. ML and RZ carried out the statistical analyses. All authors contributed to the writing through suc-
cessive revisions of the text.
Citation: Touza, R., Lema, M., Zas, R. (2021). Timing of resin-tapping operations in maritime pine forests in Northern Spain. Forest
Systems, Volume 30, Issue 3, eSC05. https://doi.org/10.5424/fs/2021303-18414.
Received: 02 May 2021. Accepted: 21 Sep 2021.
Copyright © 2021 INIA. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Interna-
tional (CC-by 4.0) License.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Correspondence should be addressed to Rafael Zas: rzas@mbg.csic.es
Forest Systems
30 (3), eSC05, 6 pages (2021)
eISSN: 2171-9845
https://doi.org/10.5424/fs/2021303-18414
Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA)
OPEN ACCESS
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Funding agencies/institutions Project / Grant
Regional Government (“RESDRON”, Xunta de Galicia/FEADER) Feader2018/066B
Spanish Government (“ACREMA”, MAPA/AEI-Agri/FEADER, UE) O00000226e2000043659
Introduction
Resin tapping of pine forests does not only provide
valuable economic complements (Susaeta et al., 2014),
but also high-value and broad-scale ecosystems services
(e.g. re prevention and surveillance (Solino et al., 2018),
promotion of rural employment and retention of local po-
pulations (Justes & Solino, 2018), recreation and people
welfare (Heinze et al., 2021), substitution of petroleum
derivatives by renewable bioproducts in the industrial
sector (Rodrigues-Correa et al., 2012)).
Given the multiple direct and indirect benets, resin
tapping activities should be seen as a key tool to rekindle
many pine plantations of southern Europe with low tim-
ber protability and high risk of wildres. However, the
cost eciency of resin tapping is low and often below the
economic minimum for eld workers (Justes & Solino,
2018). In addition, the high volatility of resin price in the
markets, strongly linked to that of petroleum, adds great
uncertainty to the sustainability of resin tapping (Heinze
et al., 2021). This has resulted in drastic swings of the
surface tapped and the number of resin workers in Euro-
pean pine forests during the last decades (Ortuño Perez et
al., 2013).
Two main lines of research are nowadays aiming to
overcome these drawbacks through the quantication of
ecosystem services searching for compensatory measures
(Solino et al., 2018) or the optimization of management
2Roberto Touza, Margarita Lema and Rafael Zas
Forest Systems December 2021 • Volume 30 • Issue 3 • eSC05
operations for maximizing the eciency of working ope-
rations (e.g. groove mechanization (Rodríguez-García et
al., 2016), development of new chemical stimulants (Mi-
chavila Puente-Villegas et al., 2021), genetic improve-
ment (Vázquez-González et al., 2021).
In the present study, we focus on two factors that can
strongly determine the eciency of resin tapping opera-
tions but have received comparatively less attention: the
tapping frequency and the variation of resin production
throughout the season. In Spain, resin tapping has been
traditionally concentrated in the Central Plateau on ma-
ture maritime pine forests growing on sandy and poor
soils under Mediterranean climates with dry and hot sum-
mer seasons. Conventional resin tapping is performed by
doing fortnightly grooves and applying a sulfuric-acid-ba-
sed stimulant paste (Rodríguez-García et al., 2016). To
our knowledge, this periodicity has little experimental
support despite directly determining the number of trees
that a worker can process within a campaign. With more
spaced grooves, a single worker could tap signicantly
more trees with the same eort, maximizing, thus, the
protability of the labor.
Another important point that deserves attention is when
and where a pine forest could be tapped. Nowadays, resin
tapping is being incorporated in timber-oriented maritime
pine forests growing under Atlantic climates with much
more humid and fresh summer seasons, and there are
some doubts about whether the tapping period should be
adjusted for this new climatic scenario (Zas et al., 2020a).
Previous investigations have shown pronounced seasonal
patterns of resin production in these Atlantic areas, with
a peak in summer (Zas et al., 2020a) associated to the
increase of mean temperature and water decit (Zas et al.,
2020b). However, seasonal patterns of resin production
are not only determined by weather variation, but also
they can be largely inuenced by the induced responses
of pines to previous and successive wounding (Hood &
Sala, 2015; Rodríguez-García et al., 2014). To avoid con-
founding these two sources of variation, dierent starting
points (within the season) of resin tapping should be com-
pared (Zas et al., 2020a).
Here, we conducted three small experiments aimed to
i) quantify the inuence of groove periodicity on resin
yield and ii) determine the inuence of previous grooves
(within the same campaign and across campaigns) on re-
sin yield along the tapping period. The experiments were
conducted on a mature maritime pine forest located close
to the Atlantic coast of northwestern Spain.
Material and Methods
The study was conducted in a naturally-regenerated
mature maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) forest loca-
ted in Campo Lameiro, Galicia (NW Spain, 42.5566°N,
8.54392°W). The stand has a tree density of 652.5 ± 43.4
trees ha-1 (mean ± s.e.) and a basal area at breast height
of 36.4 ± 2.2 m2 ha-1. Trees were around 25 years-old,
16.5 ± 0.29 m tall and 26.5 ± 0.8 cm in diameter at breast
height (dbh) at the time of experimental setup. Clima-
te in the area is humid and mild, with 13.4 °C of mean
annual temperature, around 1600 and 150 mm of annual
and summer (July-September) precipitation, respectively,
and low temperature oscillation between the mild winters
and the fresh summers (average climate obtained from
www.meteogalicia.gal for the period 2007-2020). Three
independent experiments were conducted between June
2019 and October 2020.
Experiment 1 was designed to test the eect of three
dierent tapping frequencies (weekly, biweekly and
monthly grooves) on resin yield. Twenty-four neighbo-
ring trees were selected within the stand and randomly
assigned to one of the three frequencies. Starting on
February 5, 2020 all the experimental trees were resin
tapped following the conventional method commonly
used in central Spain (Rodríguez-García et al., 2016) but
varying the frequency of the grooves. In all cases, 12-cm
wide and 3-cm high striped wounds (“grooves”) were pe-
riodically made on the southern side of the trunk moving
upwards. Mechanical wounds were enhanced by applying
a strip of stimulant paste in the upper-inside border of the
practiced wound. The paste used is that commonly used
for resin tapping in Spain and is based on sulfuric acid
(see details in Zas et al., 2020a). A total of 8, 16 and 30
grooves were practiced on monthly, biweekly and weekly
frequencies, respectively, with all treatments ending at the
same moment (October 10, 2020). In all cases, wounding
was started at 25 cm from the ground and ended at around
50, 75 and 115 cm for monthly, biweekly and weekly fre-
quencies, respectively. For all treatments, resin ow was
collected in pre-weighed 2-L pots every two weeks (i.e.
just before the biweekly grooves were applied) and the
amount of resin determined gravimetrically (0.1 g).
In Experiment 2 we tested whether previously tapped
trees on the preceding campaign produce more resin than
previously untapped trees. To this end, 16 trees conven-
tionally-tapped during spring-summer of 2018 and 16
nearby untapped trees were selected. All these trees were
tapped following conventional procedures applying bi-
weekly grooves (same details as before) during a whole
year (June 2019 – June 2020). The resin ow exuded after
each groove was determined every two weeks.
Experiment 3 was established to test whether previous
wounds inuenced the resin produced along the resin
campaign or, alternatively, immediate resin ow is only
dependent on tree phenology and weather conditions.
Thirty two previously un-tapped trees were selected and
randomly assigned to each of four treatments correspon-
ding to four dierent dates of initiation of resin-tapping
(10 June 2019, 5 February 2020, 2 April 2020 and 2 June
Forest Systems December 2021 • Volume 30 • Issue 3 • eSC05
3
Timing of resin-tapping
2020). In all cases, trees were tapped since each initial
date, applying biweekly grooves and the same procedure
described before. Resin ow produced after each groove
was collected and weighted every two weeks during the
common tapping period for all treatments (2 June 2020 to
10 October 2020; 8 grooves in total).
In all experiments, immediate resin ow exuded every
ca. 14 days was analyzed with a repeated measures mixed
model in which the treatments (groove frequency (three
levels: every 1, 2 and 4 weeks), previous tapping (two
levels: tapped, untapped) and date of initiation (four le-
vels: Jun19, Feb20, Apr20, Jun20) for experiments 1, 2
and 3, respectively) acted as xed across-subject factors
and the time and the time × treatment interaction as repea-
ted measures within each subject (the individual trees). In
addition, total resin yield across the tapping campaign (or
the common period in experiment 3) was analyzed with
a one-way ANOVA. Dependent variables were log-trans-
formed (log(x+1)) if needed to achieve normality assump-
tions. Heterogeneous residual variances across treatments
were allowed if they signicantly improved the likelihood
of the models.
Results and Discussion
Tapping frequency
Periodicity of grooves signicantly aected total resin
production after a whole tapping campaign (F2,21 = 3.98,
p = 0.034). The more frequent the grooves the more resin
was produced, although dierences were only signicant
between monthly grooves and the other two tapping inter-
vals (weekly and biweekly) (Fig. 1).
Despite the signicantly lower resin production of
monthly grooves, relative resin production eciency was
around 40% higher for monthly grooves than for the con-
ventional biweekly grooves (Fig. 1). In other words, the
reduction in resin production with more spaced grooves
was largely compensated by the fact that a greater number
of trees could be processed if the interventions are less
frequent. This result is of remarkable applied relevance
as, given the current prices of resin in the market and the
economic needs of eld workers, the protability of resin
tapping activities in Spain is strongly compromised by the
eectiveness of the daily labors (Justes and Solino, 2018).
In addition, more spaced grooves imply lower number of
traumatic wounds along a resin campaign on a given tree,
and thus reduced impact on the trees (e.g. growth, wood
quality, protection from re damage, etc) (Génova et al.,
2013; van der Maaten et al., 2017), or increased number
of years that a tree can be tapped. The nal protabili-
ty of lower groove frequencies (e.g. 4 weeks) must be,
however, carefully estimated, as increasing the number of
working trees implies some extra eld works (e.g. initial
preparation of the trees by smoothing the bark), increased
movements of the workers within the stands, and the need
of more materials (pots, sheets).
We are not aware of previous published studies explo-
ring the resin production eciency of dierent frequen-
cy tapping interventions. Judging from the literature (e.g.
Heinze et al., 2021; Yi et al., 2021), groove frequency lar-
gely varies (ca. from every 2 days to every 3 weeks) depen-
ding on the species, the climate, the stimulant paste used
and, probably, the manpower costs. Results presented here
contrast with previous experimental ndings in Spanish
maritime pine forests, showing that resin ow decreased
exponentially with time since wounding, with most of the
resin ow occurring during the rst week post wounding
(Zas et al., 2020a). However, those results were obtained
through micro-tapping procedures and we cannot dis-
card that resin ow in conventional tapping is maintained
through longer periods because of reduced crystallization
and higher uidity of the resin produced on larger wounds.
Across- and within-years induction
Trees subjected to resin-tapping in the previous
year produced more resin than trees newly tapped,
although the dierences were only marginally signicant
(F1,30 = 3.1, p = 0.087, Fig. 2a). A previous campaign of
conventional resin tapping increased 41% the resin yield
in the following campaign (Fig. 2a). A closer look to the
Figure 1. Resin production (mean ±standard error, gray bars)
after a whole tapping campaign (February to October 2020) as
a function of the periodicity of the grooves (weekly, biweekly
and monthly). The relative eciency (%) in terms of nal yield
per worker for each periodicity in relation to the conventional
biweekly operations is also shown (circles, right axis). Relative
eciency was estimated assuming that the number of trees that
a worker can process with monthly and weekly grooves is 2 and
0.5 times greater than that processed with biweekly grooves,
respectively.
4Roberto Touza, Margarita Lema and Rafael Zas
Forest Systems December 2021 • Volume 30 • Issue 3 • eSC05
temporal patterns indicated that the eect of previous
tapping signicantly interacted with time, with signi-
cant dierences in immediate resin ow after each groove
between previously tapped and untapped trees occurring
only during the rst half of the assessed period, and ten-
ding to dilute thereafter (Fig. 2b). This result is consis-
tent with previous ndings (de Oliveira Junkes et al.,
2019; Neis et al., 2018), and is likely due to the produc-
tion of traumatic resin ducts as a response to wounding
(Rodríguez-García et al., 2014).
Despite the observed eects of previous tapping on re-
sin production in the following campaign, both accumu-
lated resin production at the end of the tapping campaign
(F3,27 = 0.47, p = 0.707, Fig. 3b), and temporal patterns of
immediate resin ow after each groove (F21,196 = 0.15, p
= 0.999, Fig. 3a) were not signicantly inuenced by the
moment when trees began to be tapped within the current
campaign. Pine responses to biotic or mechanical dama-
ge include both increased resin production and ow from
existing resin ducts (Moreira et al., 2012), and the die-
rentiation of new traumatic resin ducts (Vázquez-Gonzá-
lez et al., 2020). Based on these responses, we expected
that resin production would be dependent on the number
of previous wounds practiced on the tree, but this pattern
was only observed at the very beginning of the experimen-
tal period (April 2020, day 15) when resin ow was signi-
cantly lower in those trees with no previous wounds in
relation to trees subjected to previous periodical wounds
(Fig. 3a). However, these dierences quickly disappeared,
and even switched at the end of the experimental period,
with trees tapped for the shortest period (7 grooves since
April 2020) producing signicantly more resin than those
previously tapped for the longest period (31 grooves since
June 2019) (Fig. 3a). This pattern is consistent with a rapid
but timid induction of resin production in preexisting resin
ducts after the rst wounds, with the boost of resin produc-
tion quickly exhausting the resin accumulated in the resin
duct web. On the contrary, responses to wounds involving
dierentiation of traumatic resin ducts would require more
time to be produced (Hood and Sala, 2015; Moreira et al.,
2015), and their eects will be seen only in the following
tapping campaign (Rodríguez-García et al., 2016). Within a
single campaign, temporal patterns of resin ow seem to be
more dependent on other factors (e.g. weather conditions,
Rodríguez-García et al., 2015; Zas et al., 2020b) than to
previous recent wounds. An increase in resin production in
successive resin campaigns should be, however, expected.
Practical recommendations
Three practical recommendations can be derived from
the results presented here. First, the tapping frequency
should be revised as reducing the frequency of interven-
tions may result in increased production eciency. The-
se results should be, however, conrmed with further re-
search, as the power of the experiment presented here is
limited (one single site, one single campaign). Second, as
temporal patterns of resin production are weakly inuen-
ced by previous recent wounds, and are mainly depen-
dent on temperature and water decit (Rodríguez-García
et al., 2015; Zas et al., 2020b), the resin tapping period
should be adjusted according only to the local climatic
conditions avoiding cold and wet periods during the
a) b)
Figure 2. a) Accumulated resin production from June 2019 to June 2020 in previously tapped and untapped
trees. Dierences between both groups were marginally signicant (F1,30 = 3.1, p = 0.087). b) Immediate
resin production (mean ± standard error) after each biweekly groove in previously-tapped and newly-tapped
trees during the assessed period (June 2019-June 2020). Note that signicant dierences (denoted with an
asterisk) between both groups occurred only between the 3rd and the 10th groove and disappeared thereafter.
The previous-tapping × time interaction was signicant (F22,660 =1.6, p = 0.036).
Forest Systems December 2021 • Volume 30 • Issue 3 • eSC05
5
Timing of resin-tapping
tapping period. Third, pine responses to resin tapping take
time to be eective and may inuence resin production in
successive tapping campaigns. Previous quantications of
resin yield potential based on newly-tapped trees (e.g. Zas
et al., 2020a) may be thus underestimated.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank the Forestry Communities of Cha-
cente and Paredes, the landowners of the experimental
stands for all the facilities. Assistance in eld assessments
by Jacobo Roselló is also acknowledged.
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118351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118351
... Interestingly, besides the positive economic impact of resin in industry, it is known that pine can fix atmospheric carbon usable for resin biosynthesis, favoring the reduction of the greenhouse effect (Rodrigues-Corrêa and Fett-Neto 2013;Neis et al. 2019a); consequently, resin production could be considered as sustainable, eco-friendly, and world-healthy industrial activity (Rodrigues-Honda et al. 2023). Concerning resin production, several scientific studies suggest that numerous factors could influence resin yield, including tree age (Zas et al. 2020), grove frequency on resin production and previous groves (Touza et al. 2021), morphological and growing factors (Coppen and Hone 1995;Rodrigues et al. 2008), biotic or mechanical damages (Franceschi et al. 2005), soil nutrients, sunlight, water availability (Kytö et al. 1998;Petit and Hampe 2006;Gaylord et al. 2007;Rodríguez-García et al. 2015;Suárez-Vidal et al. 2017), or other intrinsic environmental factors from the native vegetal growing zone (Cown et al. 2011) in conordance with the great diversity of Pinaceae family that occur in Mexico. The global resin market is dominated by China, Brazil, Indonesia, India, and Mexico (Cunningham 2012), which provide around 90% of total resin production, and due to well-known resin applications and the current circular bioeconomy importance (Aldas et al. 2020;Ningsih et al. 2023;Pari et al. 2023) new or actualized data aimed to improvement production, quality data acquisition, and resin use has become relevant. ...
... Previously untapped trees were used for this study to diminish the potential effect of previous grooves in resin production (Touza et al. 2021). As seen in P. devoniana var. ...
Article
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Resin from conifers is a sustainable material of human interest. Strategies to increase resin production, including chemical stimulation, are being implemented. This procedure is used in Brazil, India, and Indonesia, dominating countries in global resin production. China and Mexico are also recognized as crucial resin producers. The prime resin production zone in Mexico is Michoacan state, where nearly 90% of Mexican resin is produced, and the native Pinus devoniana var. cornuta and Pinus pringlei are included in the preferred species for this economic activity. Interestingly, chemical stimulation to improve the resin production of these species has not been applied. Consequently, this research aims to evaluate for the first time using chemical stimulation to increase the resin production from P. pringlei and P. devoniana var. cornuta. The stimulation was promoted by applying aqueous benzoic acid/H2SO4 directly on wounds. Analysis of Variance and Multiple Factor Analysis were performed to relate resin yield with chemical stimulation. Climatic factors were also involved in the study, including temperature, radiation, relative humidity, and wind. The influence of chemical stimulation on resin canals and the chemical composition of turpentine was boarded. Results provided exciting conclusions about the relationship between chemical stimulation, environmental impact, and anatomical changes in resin canals on the resination process in pines; in consequence, the chemical stimulation resulted in a potential strategy to increase resin production using P. pringlei and P. devoniana var. cornuta from Mexico.
... Synthetic resins reduced resin tapping exploitations. In the 2000s, the resin tapping sector saw a revival in southwest Europe due to the industry's focus on renewable bioproducts as an alternative for petroleum derivatives and the need to revitalize pine forests economically and environmentally (Touza et al., 2021) [20] . The usage of fossil fuels, which are not replenishable, in many industrial operations has raised environmental concerns. ...
... Synthetic resins reduced resin tapping exploitations. In the 2000s, the resin tapping sector saw a revival in southwest Europe due to the industry's focus on renewable bioproducts as an alternative for petroleum derivatives and the need to revitalize pine forests economically and environmentally (Touza et al., 2021) [20] . The usage of fossil fuels, which are not replenishable, in many industrial operations has raised environmental concerns. ...
Article
Full-text available
Resin tapping in pine trees, a practice with deep historical roots, has significant ecological, economic, and social impacts. This review explores various resin tapping techniques, from traditional methods to modern innovations, and their effects on trees and forest ecosystems. It highlights resin's role as a vital raw material for numerous industries, underscoring its economic importance. Additionally, the article examines the societal benefits of resin tapping, such as job creation, community development, and cultural preservation. It further illustrates diverse resin-tapping methods and emphasizes the necessity of sustainable forest management. These examples show how resin extraction can be conducted in an environmentally responsible manner, balancing resource use with ecosystem health. By analyzing both the benefits and challenges of resin tapping, the review provides a comprehensive understanding of its multifaceted impacts, offering insights into best practices that support both economic growth and ecological sustainability.
... Exploited by humans since ancient times, resin tapping has been a main activity in many rural areas worldwide (Rodrigues-Correa et al. 2013), and has al. 2016a). Indeed, resin tapping is beginning to be seen as an attractive tool to revert the progressive global decay that are suffering many pine forests as a consequence of climate change, rising sanitary risks and fluctuating timber markets Touza et al. 2021). ...
... Resin extraction can not only contribute to the profitability of timber-oriented Atlantic pine forests, but also facilitate their management and conservation through the provisioning of multiple ecosystem services (Palma et al. 2016a;Touza et al. 2021). This study consistently shows that resin yield of both maritime pine and radiata pine was significantly increased by the application of stimulating agents such as Salicylic acid (in SAL paste), Ethephon (in CUN paste) or sulfuric acid (present in all pastes tested at different concentrations). ...
Article
Full-text available
Pine resin is a valuable non-wood forest product with an increasing interest in multiple industrial sectors. Resin-tapping activities also provide valuable ecosystem services in timber-oriented and highly productive pine forest of Atlantic regions, where little previous experience in resin-tapping is available. The objectives of this study were to determine the efficiency of different stimulant pastes and its variation with pine species, site conditions, seasonality and frequency of tapping interventions. We conducted parallel experiments using both conventional and micro-tapping techniques in mature pine stands in NW Spain. We tested four stimulants (control and Zeta, Cunningham and Salicylic pastes) and two groove frequencies (every 2 or 3 weeks). All stimulant pastes significantly increased resin yield compared to the control, being resin stimulation highly consistent across years, sites and species. In conventional resin tapping, resin yield was maximized with the Cunningham and Salicylic pastes while in micro-tapping Salicylic was the most outstanding stimulant treatment. According to the rapid decay of resin flow after wounding, total resin yield decreased with more spaced grooves. However, the reduction was low, and the global efficiency of the tapping operations are likely maximized with grooves applied every three weeks, which would allow increasing the number of tapped trees. Micro-tapping techniques were valuable for screening stimulant pastes and anticipating variation among sites in resin production. Altogether, the Salicylic paste is recommended, especially at the beginning of the resin campaign, when the effect of the pastes was maximized, and if tapping is conducted using closed atmospheres and containers.
... With tapping grooves made every 15 days, the induced response in P. pinea is perhaps more aggressive compared to P. pinaster, resulting in more resin production. Touza et al. (2021) found that resin production increased with the number of tapping grooves, although the effect was significant only at monthly intervals. However, further studies are needed as our results are based on a single site and a single tapping season. ...
Article
Full-text available
Key message Resin production and growth in Pinus pinaster and Pinus pinea show a trade-off under varying environmental conditions, impacting future resin yields under climate change. Abstract Resin production in pines constitutes an important defense mechanism against biotic and abiotic factors, and it is also an important forestry product. In Portugal, resin is mainly extracted from Pinus pinaster and to a lesser extent from Pinus pinea, the two most widespread pine species in the country. The resin tapping season coincides with the growing season, from spring to autumn. Thus, growth and resin production may compete for carbon, although their response to environmental conditions can differ. This study investigates how the daily growth and biweekly resin production of P. pinaster and P. pinea in a mixed stand respond to environment over the 2021 growing season. During the resin tapping period, growth of both species showed a positive correlation with temperature, soil moisture, air relative humidity and radiation. Resin yield of both species showed a positive relation with soil temperature, and a negative relation with growth, suggesting a trade-off between growth and resin yield. Our results indicate that both growth and resin yield increase with temperature, with growth being more sensitive to soil moisture and relative humidity. Under a scenario of rising temperatures and precipitation reduction, both functions (growth and resin yield) are expected to be affected positively. However, resin production depends on carbon assimilation and allocation, both of which are reduced or altered during periods of extreme drought. This can lead to increasing competition for carbon allocation between growth, storage and resin yield, making resin yield responses to climate change scenarios uncertain.
... Efectos colaterales del aprovechamiento resinero sobre el crecimiento, la reproducción y la sanidad de las masas las que es esperable que los árboles respondan aumentando tanto la diferenciación de estructuras defensivas (e. g. canales resiníferos) como la producción de compuestos químicos defensivos (e. g. resina, fenoles, taninos) (Rodríguez-García et al., 2014). Ello explicaría el aumento de la producción de resina en sucesivas campañas de resinación que se observa habitualmente (Touza et al., 2021). Sin embargo, el aprovechamiento resinero también supone una importantísima retirada de recursos carbonados (Rodrigues-Honda et al., 2023), recursos que son limitados y pueden agotarse, lo que podría limitar a medio plazo la producción de defensas químicas ricas en carbono (Du et al., 2022). ...
Article
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Buscando dar respuesta a la inquietud existente sobre la com-patibilidad de la producción de madera y resina en los pinares atlánticos, dentro del proyecto ACREMA hemos analizado el efecto de la resinación durante varios años seguidos sobre la calidad de la madera y sobre el crecimiento, la reproducción y la sanidad de los árboles. Los resultados sugieren un mínimo impacto del apro-vechamiento resinero sobre las principales funciones del árbol. En particular, el impacto sobre el crecimiento y sobre la inversión defensiva y reproductiva son pequeños y no siempre en sentido negativo. Con este trabajo aportamos conocimientos sólidos que pueden ser importantes para que el sector resinero resurja con fuerza y contribuya al desarrollo económico y social de zonas ru-rales en riesgo de despoblamiento.
... But since 2000 s it has been growing in importance again within the national forestry sector and is expected to continue to grow in the coming years (Gómez-García et al., 2022). This is reflected in the increase in publications on the subject in some regions of Spain in recent years, as in the case of Galicia (García-Méijome et al., 2023;Touza et al., 2021;Zas et al., 2020a,b). This growth is due to its multiple industrial uses, the environmental benefits associated with extraction and the boost the sector is receiving from public and private initiatives (Soliño et al., 2018;Oono et al., 2020). ...
Article
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In southern Europe, especially in Spain and Portugal, maritime pine resin is one of the main non-timber forest products. After suffering a crisis at the end of the 20th century, it is currently a growing sector. In Spain, depending on the area, the management of pine forests is one of the pillars of the national bioeconomy. In addition to timber production, these forests may be oriented towards resin production only, or resin production as a complementary activity to timber production. In both cases, as in any sector, it is essential to have tools to manage and anticipate production, especially in the new context of the bioeconomy. For this reason, the aim of this study is to develop a dynamic model to estimate the accumulated resin yield during the resin production season. For this study, 180 trees from three plots located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula were resin tapped using two extraction methods (non-mechanized and mechanized circular notching) and stimulant pastes. Four base models were used from which eight equations were derived using ADA and GADA techniques. The most efficient equations, both for modelling with the train data and for prediction with the test data, were those derived from the Bertalanffy-Richards model. The RRMSE was 23% for the non-mechanised method and 29% for the mechanised circular method. The results of this study make it possible to add the cumulative annual resin yield of maritime pine to the processes that the Bertalanffy-Richards equation is capable of modelling. Furthermore, the great versatility of these models will be of great use to the forest manager in optimising the annual harvesting season as well as for the scientific community.
... Due to the modulation of precipitation and temperature, resin production has a very strong seasonal component, especially in temperate and mediterranean climates. In these areas, resin tapping is typically carried out in the warmer months of the year, when temperatures are higher and water deficit is moderate Kim et al., 2005;Kolb et al., 2019;Rodrigues-Corrêa and Fett-Neto, 2009;Tisdale and Nebeker, 1992;Touza et al., 2021;Yi et al., 2021). In non-Mediterranean and non-temperate areas, according to Rodrigues-Honda et al. (2023), water availability seems to be one of the most important factor affecting pine resin yield, as the lower the rainfall, the lower the resin yield. ...
... Touza et al. 2021), not only because of the potential contribution to pro tability(Martínez et al. 2019) but also because of the multiple and valuable ecosystem services that resin tapping provides (Demko and Machava 2022;Soliño et al. 2018). With vast extensions of maritime pine (> 400,000 ha) (MAGRAMA 2012) and high net primary production(Martins et al. 2009), Atlantic pine forests may have large potential for resin yield. ...
Preprint
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Selecting the best resin tapping method and stimulant paste in the resin tapping process is crucial. In timber-oriented rainy Atlantic pine forests of north-west Spain, the interest in resin tapping is raising but information on the best tapping methods and pastes is still lacking. In this study, an appropriate experimental design used on five representative plots of Pinus pinaster, allowed us to explore the resin productive differences between two tapping methods (traditional Spanish method and circular groove) and three stimulant treatments (control, Ethephon and ASACIF). The use of a standardized measure of resin yield allowed to adequately compare methods differing in groove length. Results indicated that the standard resin yield was 1.43 times greater with the traditional method than with the circular groove method. The two stimulant pastes drastically increased resin yield (up to 6 fold) in all sites and for all tapping methods. The effectiveness of the paste was also influenced by the tapping method, obtaining greater increases in resin yield after the application of stimulant paste in trees with the circular groove method. Resin yield was only slightly related to the dasometric variables and varied among test sites when no pastes were used, but differences among sites disappeared when stimulant pastes were used. Our results contribute to the understanding of the factors involved in resin performance and the technological development of the sector.
... Este trabajo utiliza datos y resultados de distintos artículos ya publicados (Zas et al., 2020a;Zas et al., 2020b;Touza et al., 2021;Vázquez-Gonzalez et al., 2021). A continuación se describe de forma sucinta la aproximación experimental utilizada para cada uno de los cuatro objetivos planteados. ...
Conference Paper
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La resina producida por los pinos es un recurso renovable con múltiples aplicaciones industriales, lo que ha generado un creciente interés en este producto forestal. La extracción de resina emerge como una actividad económica complementaria a la producción maderera que puede contribuir significativamente a la fijación de población rural y a evitar el abandono de los ecosistemas forestales, ayudando a preservar los servicios ecosistémicos que éstos aportan. El pino marítimo (Pinus pinaster) es la principal especie destinada a la extracción de resina en la Península Ibérica. Sin embargo, poco se conoce sobre los principales factores que determinan la producción de resina en las vastas extensiones que esta especie ocupa en la región Atlántica. Aquí presentamos una síntesis de varios trabajos de investigación recientes realizados en ensayos genéticos forestales y plantaciones de P. pinaster que proporcionan información relevante sobre la variación genética, ambiental y ontogenética que determina la producción de resina en esta especie, con especial énfasis en la región Atlántica de la Península. Nuestros resultados ponen de manifiesto la necesidad de implementar una planificación forestal ajustada a las particularidades ambientales y la oportunidad de desarrollar programas de mejora orientados a maximizar la producción de resina y promover esta actividad forestal en toda la Península Ibérica.
Article
Full-text available
Selecting the best resin tapping method and stimulant paste in the resin tapping process is crucial. In timber-oriented rainy Atlantic pine forests of north-west Spain, the interest in resin tapping is raising but information on the best tapping methods and pastes is still lacking. In this study, an appropriate experimental design used on five representative plots of Pinus pinaster, allowed us to explore the resin productive differences between two tapping methods (traditional Spanish method and circular groove) and three stimulant treatments (control, Ethephon and ASACIF). The use of a standardized measure of resin yield allowed to adequately compare methods differing in groove length. Results indicated that the standard resin yield was 1.43 times greater with the traditional method than with the circular groove method. The two stimulant pastes drastically increased resin yield (up to sixfold) in all sites and for all tapping methods. The effectiveness of the paste was also influenced by the tapping method, obtaining greater increases in resin yield after the application of stimulant paste in trees with the circular groove method. Resin yield was only slightly related to the dasometric variables and varied among test sites when no pastes were used, but differences among sites disappeared when stimulant pastes were used. Our results contribute to the understanding of the factors involved in resin performance and the technological development of the sector.
Article
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The concept of ecosystem services (ES) and related conceptual frameworks like the cascade model, can be relevant to explore the ways through which people and nature are connected and how the benefits of nature, upon which people depend, are realised. An integrated cascade framework was used to study the ES pathway of pine resin, a traded forest product, in a rural mountain community in Mexico. We conducted mixed-methods research, combining participatory tools with measures of service capacity, resin yield, and key farmer endowments. Resin was co-produced by an intricate interaction between the human and natural components of the social-ecological system. Substantial human inputs and coordinated efforts were required to realise resin benefits, and people’s appreciation and plural values emerged along the whole service pathway. Though there were stark differences in natural resource endowments, working farmers gained a high share of resin’s income through labour, labour relations and social networks. But most social conflicts and struggles also occurred over labour relations and organisation, revealing power dynamics. Furthermore, external actors controlled different mechanisms of access, and exerted power over the community’s ability to derive benefits from resin. In resin co-production, values connect people to the landscape, while labour and power mediate the access to nature’s benefits.
Article
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Aim of the study: We tested alternative active principles to the most widely used resin tapping stimulant which contains sulphuric acid. We also studied the effect of wounding in five-year-old Pinus pinaster seedlings with a microtapping method.Area of study: The experiment was carried out at the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid in Spain.Material and Methods: The experiment consisted of six treatments: control (no stimulant no wounding), wound (no stimulant), and pines stimulated with sulphuric acid, ethrel, salicylic acid and citric acid. We evaluated the resin yield differentiating between released resin and internal resin (resin retained within the xylem), and the physiological status of the tree.Main Results: Wounded plants produced on average three times more resin than control plants. Plants stimulated with salicylic and citric acids showed the highest resin yield and produced on average 15% more resin than those stimulated with sulphuric acid, mainly because the released resin was higher. Tree diameter affected resin yield and thicker trees produced more resin. We did not observe any significant effect of the treatments on stomatal conductance and only a marginal significant effect (p<0.10) on water potential.Research highlights: Salicylic acid and citric acid seem to be promising stimulants for the resin tapping activity to be further tested in field experiments with adult trees.Keywords: sulphuric acid; ethrel; pine resin; microtapping; wounding; water potential; stomatal conductance.Abbreviations used: TR: total resin content; RR: released resin; IR: internal resin; gs: stomatal conductance; Ψleaf: midday leaf water potential.
Article
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Background: In the German Democratic Republic (GDR), resin tapping in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forests was a major economic activity, and resin-tapped stands are frequently found up until this day. In this study, we investigate how the mechanical damage caused by resin tapping affects the growth and climate sensitivity of Scots pine using a dendroecological approach. Methods: Tree-ring samples were collected from resin-tapped and non-tapped trees in two forest areas in northeastern Germany, and tree-growth patterns were analyzed. For elucidating effects of resin tapping on the climate sensitivity of pine growth, climate-growth relationships and pointer years were studied. Results: We observed that resin tapping positively affects tree growth at breast height, likely as wood formation is concentrated on the living part of the bole (i.e. after tapping there is no growth taking place on the tapping face due to the mechanical damage done to the cambium). We observed no differences in the climate sensitivity of tapped and non-tapped trees, nor in the occurrence of extreme growth responses. Conclusion: Our results highlight that resin extraction is, apart from inflicting mechanical damage, not altering the sensitivity of Scots pine growth to climatic conditions.
Article
In pine species, resin ducts are the specialized secretory structures to synthesize and store resin. Resin terpenes finds broad applications in pharmaceutical, chemical, biofuel, and food fields. Previous slash pine (Pinus elliottii Engelm.) breeding programs mainly focused on improvements in growth and wood properties in China. The incorporation of resin production into selective slash pine tree breeding occurred rarely, as standard tapping method to identify high-resin yield (RY) individuals is time-consuming, laborious, and expensive. The objective of this study was to identify high-RY slash pine trees with the method of resin flow rate (RFR) in a short timeframe in three plantations of southern China. The comparison of chemical profile between high- and low-yield individuals was also conducted. Moreover, the structural basis referred to resin secretion was studied by investigating the relationship between resin duct characteristics and RY. The phenotypic and genetic correlation coefficients between RY and RFR at all three sites were 0.44−0.85 and 0.58−0.71 respectively, which indicated that RFR measuring technology was reliable for tree breeders to select slash pine trees with high RY for breeding purpose. Resin component analysis revealed that the relative contents of β-pinene were higher in more productive trees; however, for α-pinene, the relative contents were significantly lower. Seasonal variation was low for most resin components and highly consistent across resin yielding classes and test sites. There were strong relations between RY and resin duct size and area at all three sites. High-yield individuals were always characterized by larger duct sizes and larger total areas when compared with low-yield trees. The RFR, certain resin components such as β-pinene, and most resin duct characteristics could be useful criteria for evaluating resin production in slash pine and could be applied to improve tapping management and breeding programs.
Article
Pine resin is a highly valuable and sought-after non-timber forest product with multiple uses in many industrial sectors. Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait.) is the main tapped species in Europe, where resin tapping activities are concentrated in only a few specific Mediterranean regions. Although maritime pine also occupies vast extensions under Atlantic climates, the resin tapping potential of these forests remains unexplored. The objectives of this study were to determine the main factors driving resin yield under Atlantic conditions and to adapt extraction practices to these regions. Resin yield was assessed in two naturally regenerated maritime pine forests in NW Spain. The effects of tree age, inter-tree competition, dendrometry, seasonality and wounding time on resin production were tested. The feasibility of a simple and rapid microtapping procedure to predict resin yield was also assessed. Tree age was identified as the main factor driving resin production, which increased considerably with tree age. Tree slenderness, tree size and inter-tree competition also significantly influenced resin production, although the effects were lower and likely mediated by age variation. Resin yield followed marked seasonal patterns, with maximum production in late summer and minimum production in winter. Resin flow decreased rapidly with time after wounding. More than 95 % of resin yield flowed in the first week after trees were wounded. The proposed microtapping procedure, which estimates resin flow from small wounds in just a few days, was shown to be a useful and reliable tool both for phenotyping and to predict resin yield in new stands. The results confirm the high potential for resin tapping in Atlantic maritime pine forests, although tapping should be restricted to stands older than 30 years and a season should be delimited for this activity in the region studied. Additionally, the periodicity of grooves (typically fortnightly) may need to be increased.
Article
Pine trees produce large amounts of oleoresin to defend against biotic threats. Resin is highly costly to produce and investment in its production must be accurately optimized in relation to allocation to other life functions such growth. As a result of these costs, resin production is highly variable both genetically (among and within species) and plastically (across temporal and spatial environmental heterogeneity). The relative contribution of these sources of variation is, however, far from being completely understood. Besides being a main defensive mechanism, pine resin is also a valuable non-timber forest product that is regaining attention as a renewable resource for different industrial sectors. Improving our knowledge on the main drivers of resin production is vital to fine-tune resin-tapping management, especially in regions with little tradition in resin-tapping such are the Atlantic areas of the Iberian Peninsula. Here, we assessed resin flow and growth in a network of seven Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) provenance tests established in North West Spain to explore the within species variation in resin flow, the plasticity of resin flow across sites and across the season and the (phenotypic and genotypic) relationships between resin flow and tree growth. Resin flow was assessed in three contrasting Maritime pine populations at three times within the season using a micro-tapping procedure that predicts well the resin yield potential for exploitation purposes. Results supported the theoretical predictions as resin flow significantly varied among populations, with populations from more favorable environmental conditions producing less resin than those from harsher conditions. Resin flow was positively correlated with tree size at the phenotypic level. However, the genetically-based relationship between growth potential and resin flow was markedly negative. Fast growing populations produced less resin than slow growing origins. Resin flow was also highly plastic across sites and across seasons, with resin flow consistently increasing towards the end of the growing season. Temperature and water deficit immediately before sampling emerged as main drivers of the observed variation in resin flow across sites and seasons. Results are valuable to understand the extremely large variation in defensive investment on resin-based defenses in conifer species, to model the potential of Atlantic Maritime pine forest for resin tapping, and to fine-tune the resin-tapping management of these forests.
Article
Conifers have evolved different chemical and anatomical defenses against a wide range of antagonists. Resin ducts produce, store and translocate oleoresin, a complex terpenoid mixture that acts as both a physical and a chemical defense. Although resin duct characteristics (e.g., number, density, area) have been positively related to biotic resistance in several conifer species, the literature reporting this association remains inconclusive. Axial resin ducts recorded in annual growth rings are an archive of annual defensive investment in trees. This whole-life record of defense investment can be analyzed using standard dendrochronogical procedures, which allow us to assess interannual variability and the effect of understudied drivers of phenotypic variation on resin-based defenses. Understanding the sources of phenotypic variation in defenses, such as genetic differentiation and environmental plasticity, is essential for assessing the adaptive potential of forest tree populations to resist pests under climate change. Here, we reviewed the evidence supporting the importance of resin ducts in conifer resistance, and summarized current knowledge about the sources of variation in resin duct production. We propose a standardized methodology to measure resin duct production by means of dendrochronogical procedures. This approach will illuminate the roles of resin ducts in tree defense across species, while helping to fill pivotal knowledge gaps in plant defense theory, and leading to a robust understanding of the patterns of variation in resin-based defenses throughout the tree's lifespan.
Article
Pine resin, a natural source of industrially relevant terpenes, is a major non-wood forestry commodity. Resin is obtained by wounding the bark of adult trees and applying stimulant pastes with different adjuvants on the wound. Identifying new adjuvants and high resin producing trees in adult forests often requires long time and intense labor. Microtapping, i.e. use of young plants of Pinus elliottii var. elliottii cultivated in greenhouse to extract resin, was evaluated as an alternative to carry out these activities. Compounds with known effect in adult plants (ethrel, benzoic acid and potassium sulfate) and molecules involved in the transduction of defense signals (methyl jasmonate, salicylic acid, linolenic acid and isoleucine) were evaluated in young plants. One, two and three-year-old plants consistently increased resinosis when treated with potent adjuvants, mainly methyl jas-monate. The more lignified basal stems produced more resin than apical ones in the 1-year-old plants. Resin yield increased after the second year. All plants were responsive to successive stimuli, just as adult plants. High resin-yield individuals were identified by microtapping, and this phenotype was further supported by terpene-related gene expression studies associated with resinosis. Therefore, microtapping can be used for early, rapid, and simple identification of adjuvants with high resin induction capacity and of putative elite individuals for field evaluation, breeding, and clonal propagation.
Article
Biomass of pine resin finds several applications in the chemical, pharmaceutical, biofuel and food industries. Resin exudation after injury is a key defense response in Pinaceae since this complex mixture of terpenes has insecticidal, antimicrobial and wound repair properties. Resin yield is increased by effectors applied on the wound area, including phytohormones and metal cofactors of terpene synthases. The interaction of resinosis mechanism effectors is not fully understood, particularly in adult forest setups under natural environmental variations. The aim of this work was to determine how resin exudation by wounded trunks of adult P. elliottii responded to combined chemical effectors involved in different regulatory pathways of resinosis (metal cofactors of terpene synthases, benzoic acid and plant growth regulators) and whether seasonal and tree distribution variations affected these responses. Symmetrically planted and scattered trees regenerated from the seed bank had similar resin biomass yields, suggesting that the homogeneity in development and spatial arrangement were not significant factors in resin yield. This new finding is of practical importance with the used tapping system since costs of implanting forests by regeneration can be advantageous compared to planting. In addition, it was shown for the first time that the salicylic acid precursor benzoic acid and the auxin naphthalene acetic acid promoted resin exudation when individually applied to wound sites. Both these adjuvants are two orders of magnitude less costly compared to the conventionally used ethylene precursors, besides facing less environmental and health restrictions for use. Most adjuvant-treated trees showed higher resin flow in the second year, indicating mechanisms of response build up. Overall, temperature was more important than rainfall as environmental parameter affecting resin biosynthesis, which was higher in the warmer months of spring and summer. The combination of resinosis stimulant effectors from different signaling pathways showed no significant synergistic or additive effect, suggesting possible converging signaling pathways and/or limitation of common intermediate transducing molecules.
Article
Since ancient times, Mediterranean pine forests have been habitat for human activity, providing a wide range of goods such as timber, seeds, resin and derived products. Among them, tar and resin have played an historical role on the interaction between human activity and forests. In Spain, the resin played an important role in the economic and social development in rural areas during 20th century. But after 1980, resin production plummeted and the virtual disappearance of resin tapping caused the abandonment of traditional forest activities and the subsequently losses of ecosystem forest services (provision, regulation and cultural). This paper deals with some of the ecosystem services provided by resin tapped pine forests and shows how the abandonment of this traditional forestry activity would lead to a loss of social welfare beyond the economic activity. Among these ecosystem services, special attention is paid to the biodiversity of the pine forests. For that purpose, a stratified vegetation sampling was conducted in the leading resin-tapping Spanish region. Ecological analysis was therefore compared with the social preferences for several attributes associated to resin-tapped pine forests in Spain, including the biodiversity of flora.