Abstract

Wood samples were collected from a ten-year old plantation of Pinus caribaea(morelet) in Ijaiye Forest Reserve, 38 km northwest of Ibadan, Nigeria. The wood samples were inoculated separately with two species of white-rot fungi;Corioliopsis polyzona and Pleurotus squarrosulus, and two species of brown-rot fungi; Lentinus lepideus and Gleophyllum, striatum. Wood weight loss due to biodegradation varied from 1.5 – 48.1% for Corioliopsis polyzona, 9.6 – 58.0% forPleurotus squarrosulus, 40.4 – 78.1% for Lentinus lepideus and 6.8 – 49.2% forGleophyllum striatum degrading activities. The mode of wood degradation was peculiar with each fungus. Wood decay varied along the tree bole but was not related to height above the ground. The results indicated that biodegradation by rot fungi differs in intensity according to the fungus species and this suggested that preservative impregnation and retention may be the best way to control the rots to make P. caribaea a utility wood.

Key words: Pinus caribaea, wood decay, wood preservation.