Acacia mangium

Black wattle
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Caesalpinioideae
Clade:	Mimosoid clade
Genus:	Acacia
Species:	A. mangium
Binomial name
	Acacia mangium; Willd.
	Occurrence data from AVH
Synonyms
	Acacia glaucescens sensu Kaneh. & Hatus.; Mangium montanum Rumph.; Racosperma mangium (Willd.) Pedley;

Acacia mangium is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to northeastern Queensland in Australia, the Western Province of Papua New Guinea, Papua, and the eastern Maluku Islands.^[3] Common names include black wattle, hickory wattle, mangium, and forest mangrove. Its uses include environmental management and wood.^[2]

It was first described in 1806 by Carl Ludwig Willdenow, who described it as living in the Moluccas.^[4]^[5]

Cultivation

Acacia mangium grows up to 30 metres (98 ft), often with a straight trunk. A. mangium has about 142,000 seeds/kg.^[6] To break down dormancy mature seed requires pre-germination treatments, such as mechanical scarification (scratching the surface) or boiling water. This treatment leads to a fast germination and typically exceeds 75%.^[7] Like many other legumes, it is able to fix nitrogen in the soil.^[8] A. mangium is a popular species for forest plantation and agroforestry projects. In mixed cultures, plants can profit from shading by A. mangium and its nitrogen fixation.^[9] A. mangium will tolerate low fertility soils with impeded drainage, but prefers fertile sites with good drainage. Soil depth and topographic position can influence yields. With respect to distance from the equator, there are significant differences in performance under cultivation. A mean annual height increase of about 3 to 4 m is usual near the equator, whereas in areas further from the equator growth is slower.^[7]

Uses

Timber

Acacia mangium trees produce sapwood and heartwood. The heartwood's colour is brownish yellow shimmery and medium textured. Because the timber is extremely heavy, hard, very strong, tough, and not liable to warp and crack badly, it is used for furniture, doors and window frames. The glossy and smooth surface finish after polishing leads also to a potential for making export-oriented parquet flooring tiles and artifacts.^[10]

Pulp and paper

A. mangium has been recognized as an excellent source of short cellulose fibers for papermaking. It is grown in plantations in Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia.^[11]

Soil management and ecological restoration

Because Acacia mangium trees increase the turnover rate of nitrogen in the topsoil, it can improve the nitrogen availability in soils in mixed cultures.^[12] Due to the fact that it is a very fast growing tree, it develops an intensive rooting system, particularly in low fertility soils.^[13] This helps to recover degraded tropical lands.^[12] The tree is widely used in Goa, India, in the mining industry for rehabilitation of waste dumps, as it is a drought-resistant species and binds sterile mine waste consisting of lateritic strata.^[6] In Colombia, it has been used for restoring wasteland created by open-pit gold mining.^[14]

Chemistry

The gum contains 5.4% ash, 0.98% N, 1.49% methoxyl, and by calculation, 32.2% uronic acid.^[15] The sugar composition after hydrolysis: 9.0% 4-0-methylglucuronic acid, 23.2% glucuronic acid, 56% galactose, 10% arabinose, and 2% rhamnose.

Gallery

Cultivation in Africa
Trunk in Kolkata, India
Tree in Kolkata, India.
Leaves with fruit pod at canopy
Leaves and pods
Old bark
Leaves in young tree

References

^ Arnold, R.; Thomson, L. (2019). "Acacia mangium". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T18435820A18435824. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T18435820A18435824.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Acacia mangium – ILDIS LegumeWeb". ildis.org. Archived from the original on 6 April 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
^ Francis, John K. (1 January 2003). "Acacia mangium Willd". Tropical Tree Seed Manual. Reforestation, Nurseries & Genetics Resources. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
^ "Acacia mamgium". Australian Plant Name Index, IBIS database. Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research, Australian Government.
^ Willdenow, C.L. (1806). "Acacia Mangium". Species Plantarum Edn. 4. 4 (2): 1053.
^ ^a ^b "Growing Process of Tropical Trees-(Compiled version)". ftbc.job.affrc.go.jp. Archived from the original on 12 April 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
^ ^a ^b "Discover Life/ Royal Botanical Gardens". Archived from the original on 20 January 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
^ "Acacia mangium". hort.purdue.edu. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
^ Jeyanny, V.; Lee, SS; Rasidah, K Wan (2011). "Effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal inoculation and fertilisation on the growth of Acacia mangium seedlings". Journal of Tropical Forest Science. 23 (4): 404–409.
^ Sharma, S. K.; Kumar, P.; Rao, R. V.; Sujatha, M.; Shukla, S. R. (2011). "Rational utilization of plantation grown Acacia mangium Willd". Journal of the Indian Academy of Wood Science. 8 (2): 97–99. doi:10.1007/s13196-012-0035-x. S2CID 37543199.
^ "Short Review: The Chemistry and Pulping of Acacia" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^Voigtlaender M. et al. (2012). Introducing Acacia mangium trees in Eucalyptus grandis plantations: consequences for soil organic matter stocks and nitrogen mineralization. Plant and Soil 352(1–2):99–111 doi:10.1038/511155d
^ Kadir W.R, Kadir A.A., Van Cleemput O., Zaharah Abdul Rahman. 1996. Field grown Acacia mangium: How intensive is root growth? Journal of Tropical Forest Science 10(3): 283–291 (1998)
^ Thomas, Evert (2014). "Gold rush: Forest devastated by mining is reborn". Nature. 511 (7508): 155. Bibcode:2014Natur.511..155T. doi:10.1038/511155d. PMID 25008512.
^ Anderson, D.M.W. (1978). "Chemotaxonomic aspects of the chemistry of acacia gum exudates". Kew Bull. 32 (3): 529–536. doi:10.2307/4109654. JSTOR 4109654.