WOOD PROPERTIES OF FOUR TROPICAL SPECIES FROM MINING AREAS IN AMAZON, BRAZIL, PART 1: ANATOMICAL CHARACTERIZATION

Mining is an essential economic activity in Brazil, but it causes several negative impacts, including deforestation. Vegetation suppression is a common activity in mining areas, and it generates large volumes of discharged logs from excavation activity. In most cases, these logs are stacked and stored in open-air yards, as a result, the material is exposed to conditions that favor the degradation process. To minimize these impacts, the goal of this research was to anatomically characterize and determine some of the physical properties of wood species that are species wasted in open mining areas and to evaluate their potential uses. Due to the lack of anatomical information of the species studied, the objective of Part 1 of this study was to characterize the anatomical features of tropical species stored in bauxite mining areas located in the Amazon rainforest. Wood samples were identified and collected in Paragominas (Para =), Brazil, during five different exposure periods (0, 1, 4, 6, and 8 yr of exposure). The species identified and studied were Jacaranda copaia, Astronium lecointei, Caryocar villosum, and Protium altissimum. Three logs were collected from each species and each year of exposure, totaling 54 specimens used for the anatomical analysis of the microstructure of the species studied. Anatomical structures were characterized, and degradation signs were also observed in some species, where Jacaranda copaia, a lower-density species, showed higher levels of degradation.