Resistance of Wood on Subterranean Termites Attack: Relationship Between Wood Price and Natural Resistance Class

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-536-2_22How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Economic aspect; natural resistance; termites; wood price

Abstract

Termite damage poses a significant challenge in Indonesian timber construction. This study examines the economic importance of wood by considering both termite resistance and cost-effectiveness. We evaluate the feeding preferences of Coptotermes curvignathus termites and the natural resistance of various wood species. In single feeding preference tests conducted over 21 days, Merbau and Teak wood were found to be unpreferred by termites, while Sumatran champor, Keruing, and Sengon wood species exhibited weight loss, indicating preference. Pine, Mangium, and Light red meranti wood were highly preferred by termites. The highest termite mortality was observed in Teak wood, while Pine wood had the lowest mortality. In multiple feeding preference tests within colonies (Modified Wood Block Test Standard method, 90 days), we classified wood resistance levels. Merbau was deemed very resistant, Teak as resistant, Sumatran champor and Sengon as moderately resistant, and Keruing, Light red meranti, Mangium, and Pine as poor in resisting termite infestation. Examining the relationship between natural resistance and wood price for the studied species, Merbau emerged as the most economical choice, followed by Sengon, Sumatran camphor, Teak, Pine, Acacia, Light red Meranti, and Keruing. This research highlights that wood resistance class may not always align with the economic value of wood. These findings can inform wood selection in timber construction, balancing termite resistance and cost-effectiveness.

Copyright

© 2024 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Hendra Kurniawan Maury
AU  - Rudi Dungani
AU  - Intan Ahmad
AU  - Ramadhani Eka Putra
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/10/17
TI  - Resistance of Wood on Subterranean Termites Attack: Relationship Between Wood Price and Natural Resistance Class
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Science Technology and Social Sciences – Biology Track (ICONSTAS-BIO 2023)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 264
EP  - 273
SN  - 2468-5747
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-536-2_22
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-536-2_22
ID  - Maury2024
ER  -