The effect of wood moisture content (MC) and outdoor exposure of southern pine lap-joint components on dynamic MOE values was investigated. The use of dynamic MOE as a method of measuring progressive biodeterioration of above ground test samples shows promise, but the accuracy of this method for evaluating test samples subjected to fluctuating environmental conditions has not been reported. The results of this study show that fully water saturated samples had consistently lower MOE values than those obtained at lower MC levels. After the MC was reduced from saturation by about 30%, variation in MOE with changes in MC down to the fiber saturation point were minimal. Outdoor exposure of the test samples also influenced the MOE. After an initial period of outdoor exposure, slightly lower MOE values were obtained for all of the test samples. However, subsequent MOE measurements after additional outdoor exposure were fairly consistent and did not show a trend towards either lower or higher values. For some test samples it was not possible to obtain reliable frequency measurements, resulting in their exclusion from the study.

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