Silvicultural SystemsThere is a rapid rate of forest clearance in many tropical countries. This problem is becoming more serious as the rising world population increases demand for fuelwood and timber. The reduced area of forest must be treated so as to produce the highest possible sustained yield of suitable timber compatible with protecting the environment and water supplies, conserving wild life, enhancing attractive scenery, and giving opportunities for recreation. In Europe complete regimes for regenerating, tending, and harvesting forests called "silvicultural systems" have provided effective solutions to these problems. These are being used successfully in temperate, sub-tropical, and tropical forestry, often under conditions very different from those in which they originated. This book describes the theoretical basis and practical application of 20 silvicultural systems so that foresters and other land managers, ecologists, and landscape designers can select and use those best suited to their needs. |
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
The protective functions of managed forests | 22 |
Protecting forests against damage | 30 |
The relation of silviculture to forest management | 49 |
The clear cutting system | 65 |
Shelterwood systems | 90 |
The uniform system | 98 |
The group system | 126 |
The selection system | 163 |
The group selection system | 174 |
Accessory systems | 183 |
The coppice system | 190 |
The coppice selection system | 213 |
Conversion | 225 |
Agroforestry systems | 240 |
Appendices | 258 |
Common terms and phrases
advance growth animals applied artificial regeneration beech broad-leaved canopy clear cutting system clear felled climate compartment conifers controlled burning conversion coppice shoots coppice with standards crowns cultivars cultivation cutting sections diameter direct seeding Douglas fir established Europe European larch even-aged favourable final felling fire forestry gaps ground group system growing stock harvesting height high forest improve increment insects larch Meliaceae method mixture natural regeneration Norway spruce nutrients old crop overwood periodic blocks planting principal species produce protection reduce regeneration fellings regular stands removed retained Roe deer roots rotation Scots pine secondary fellings seed bearers seeding felling seedlings shade-bearers shelterwood system Silver fir silvicultural systems Sitka spruce slash slopes stems stools strip fellings strip system sustained yield Sweet chestnut terrain thinning timber tree crop tropical tropical moist forest uniform system usually vegetation weeds Western hemlock windthrow young crop young trees