Effect of the lunar cycle on the insect infestation in wood and water content in trees

Abstract

In Turkey especially in rural areas, there is a common belief among forest villagers and carpenters existing about effects of the tree-felling date on the some properties of wood in usage areas. According to the belief; there is an appropriate time for harvesting of trees, if trees harvested at the waning moon phase, the wood is less likely to be attacked by insects. The aim of this study was to test this belief by using scientific methods. In this study, three different tree species (Cedrus libani A. Rich, Populus nigra L. and Pinus brutia Ten.) were investigated at three different areas in Isparta. The results showed that water ingredients of trees generally found higher in waxing period than waning ones and similar results found for insects’ attacks for these periods. Although some supportive results of the belief obtained in this study, according to our knowledge, there are few studies on this subject, and for now rather than very precise judgments we prefer to say these findings need to be supported with future detailed researches.

Keywords

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• ay döngüsü
• odun
• su içeriği
• böcek saldırısı