Table 1.

Summary of the advantages and disadvantages of devices that measure wood decay.

Type of device	Ease of interpreting results	Relative cost	Reliability in Eucalypts	Invasiveness in Eucalypts	Portability
X-ray diffraction	High¹	High¹	High²	High³	Low^1,2,4
Thermal and microwave	High¹	High¹	Probably high¹	Low¹	Low¹
Imaging nuclear magnetic resonance	High¹	Very high¹	Probably high¹	Low¹	Low¹
Imaging neutron imaging	High¹	Very high¹	Probably high¹	Low¹	Low¹
Transmission acoustic devices	Moderate^5–7	Low⁷	Unknown	Moderate^7,8	High^5,7–9
Constant feed drills	High^8,10–12,24	Low¹¹	Probably high²⁴	Moderate^12,13	High^8,10–12
Compression meters	Moderate^10,14,15	Low¹¹	Moderate^16,17	Moderate¹⁵	High^10,15
Electrical conductivity	Moderate^8,10,18	Low¹⁹	Low²⁰	Moderate^8,10	High^8,10,21
Breaking core samples	Low^{22, 26}	Low²²	Unsuitable^3,22,26	High²²	High²²
Computerized tomography	High^1,23,25	High¹	Probably high^1,20,23,25	Low^1,23,25	High^23,25

References: 1. Bucur 2003, 2. Evans et al. 1995, 3. Downes et al. 1997, 4. Bergsten et al. 2001, 5. Ouis 2003, 6. Mishiro 1996, 7. Wade 1975, 8. Nicolotti and Migietta 1998, 9. Smiley and Fraedrich 1992, 10. Seaby 1991, 11. Isik and Li 2003, 12. Rinn et al. 1996, 13. Kersten and Schwarze 2005, 14. Barrett 1987, 15. Cown 1978, 16. Moura et al. 1987, 17. Greaves et al. 1996, 18. Harris 1992, 19. Blazé 1992, 20. Wilkes and Heather 1983, 21. Shigo 1991, 22. Mattheck et al. 1995, 23. Nicolotti et al. 2003, 24. Costello and Quarles 1999, 25. Gilbert and Smiley 2004, 26. Matheny et al. 1999.