Related Research Articles
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. The science of forestry has elements that belong to the biological, physical, social, political and managerial sciences. Forest management plays an essential role in the creation and modification of habitats and affects ecosystem services provisioning.
Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used narrowly to describe the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard. In common usage, however, the term may cover a range of forestry or silviculture activities.
Coppicing is the traditional method in woodland management of cutting down a tree to a stump, which in many species encourages new shoots to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest or grove that has been subject to coppicing is called a copse or coppice, in which young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level. The resulting living stumps are called stools. New growth emerges, and after a number of years, the coppiced trees are harvested, and the cycle begins anew. Pollarding is a similar process carried out at a higher level on the tree in order to prevent grazing animals from eating new shoots. Daisugi, is a similar Japanese technique.
Thinning is a term used in agricultural sciences to mean the removal of some plants, or parts of plants, to make room for the growth of others. Selective removal of parts of a plant such as branches, buds, or roots is typically known as pruning.
Coarse woody debris (CWD) or coarse woody habitat (CWH) refers to fallen dead trees and the remains of large branches on the ground in forests and in rivers or wetlands. A dead standing tree – known as a snag – provides many of the same functions as coarse woody debris. The minimum size required for woody debris to be defined as "coarse" varies by author, ranging from 2.5–20 cm (1–8 in) in diameter.
Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth, composition/structure, as well as quality of forests to meet values and needs, specifically timber production.
An old-growth forest, also known as a "virgin forest", is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations defines primary forests as naturally regenerated forests of native tree species where there are no clearly visible indications of human activity and the ecological processes are not significantly disturbed. One-third of the world's forests are primary forests. Old-growth features include diverse tree-related structures that provide diverse wildlife habitats that increases the biodiversity of the forested ecosystem. Virgin or first-growth forests are old-growth forests that have never been logged. The concept of diverse tree structure includes multi-layered canopies and canopy gaps, greatly varying tree heights and diameters, and diverse tree species and classes and sizes of woody debris.
Clearcutting, clearfelling or clearcut logging is a forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, it is used by foresters to create certain types of forest ecosystems and to promote select species that require an abundance of sunlight or grow in large, even-age stands. Logging companies and forest-worker unions in some countries support the practice for scientific, safety and economic reasons, while detractors consider it a form of deforestation that destroys natural habitats and contributes to climate change. Environmentalists, traditional owners, local residents and others have regularly campaigned against clearcutting, including through the use of blockades and nonviolent direct action.
In forestry, fishing and mining, high grading refers to the selective harvesting of goods to keep only the most valuable items. The term is frequently associated with fraud, especially in mining.
Articles on forestry topics include:.
Selection cutting, also known as selection system, is the silvicultural practice of harvesting trees in a way that moves a forest stand towards an uneven-aged or all-aged condition, or 'structure'. Using stocking models derived from the study of old growth forests, selection cutting, also known as 'selection system', or 'selection silviculture', manages the establishment, continued growth and final harvest of multiple age classes of trees within a stand. A closely related approach to forest management is Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF), which makes use of selection systems to achieve a permanently irregular stand structure.
Patch cuts are logging cuts too small to be considered clearcuts, and are instead considered a form of selection cut. A typical patch cut might be 2-3 tree lengths. Below a certain size, seedling regeneration advantage shifts from the shade intolerant species favored in clearcuts to the shade tolerant species favored by selection harvests.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and guide to forestry:
Logging in the Sierra Nevada arose from the desire for economic growth throughout California. The California Gold Rush created a high demand for timber in housing construction, mining procedures, and building railroads. In the early days, harvesting of forests were unregulated and within the first 20 years after the gold rush, a third of the timber in the Sierra Nevada was logged. Concern for the forests rose and created a movement towards conservation at the turn of the 19th century, leading to the creation of state and national parks and forest reserves, bringing forest land under regulation. Between 1900 and 1940, agencies like the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service regulated the use of the Sierra Nevada's resources. The economy boom after World War II dramatically increased timber production in the Sierras using clear-cutting as the dominant form of logging. In addition, the California Forest Practice Act, or the Z'Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act was enacted in 1973 to regulate private timberland holdings.
Even-aged timber management is a group of forest management practices employed to achieve a nearly coeval cohort group of forest trees. The practice of even-aged management is often pursued to minimize costs to loggers. In some cases, the practices of even aged timber management are frequently implicated in biodiversity loss and other ecological damage. Even-aged timber management can also be beneficial to restoring natural native species succession.
When logging began in British Columbia, Canada, in the late 19th century, the overriding concern was to harvest timber in the most economical fashion. Reforestation, aesthetics and protection of fish and wildlife habitat were not issues of great concern.
Close to nature forestry is a management approach treating forest as an ecological system (ecosystem) performing multiple functions. It is developing in the peri-alpine coutries of Europe for more than 70 years, based on certain sustainable forest management practices from the late 19th century. Close to nature silviculture tries to achieve the management objectives with minimum necessary human intervention aimed at accelerating the processes that nature would do by itself more slowly. It works with natural populations of trees, ongoing processes and existing structures using cognitive approach, as in the case of so called selection forest or other types of uneven-aged forests. Its theory and practice takes forest as a self regulating ecosystem and manages it as such.
Deforestation in British Columbia has resulted in a net loss of 1.06 million hectares of tree cover between the years 2000 and 2020. More traditional losses have been exacerbated by increased threats from climate change driven fires, increased human activity, and invasive species. The introduction of sustainable forestry efforts such as the Zero Net Deforestation Act seeks to reduce the rate of forest cover loss. In British Columbia, forests cover over 55 million hectares, which is 57.9% of British Columbia's 95 million hectares of land. The forests are mainly composed of coniferous trees, such as pines, spruces and firs.
Continuous cover forestry is an approach to the sustainable management of forests whereby forest stands are maintained in a permanently irregular structure, which is created and sustained through the selection and harvesting of individual trees. The term "continuous cover forestry" does not equate exactly to any one particular silvicultural system, but is typified by selection systems. For example, coppice with standards and Reiniger's target diameter harvesting are also continuous cover forestry. Different existing forest stands may require different silvicultural interventions to achieve a continuously productive irregular structure. Crucially, clearcutting and other rotational forest management systems are avoided.
The Maybeso Experimental Forest is an experimental forest on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska. It is located near Hollis, Alaska within the Tongass National Forest and is administered by the United States Forest Service. The area of the forest is approximately 1,101 acres (446 ha), with a peak elevation of 2,953 feet (900 m). The forest was established in 1956 to examine the effects of large-scale clearcut timber harvesting on forest regeneration and anadromous salmonid spawning areas. The Maybeso Experimental Forest is the site of the first large-scale clearcut logging operation in Southeast Alaska, and nearly all commercial forest was removed from the area between 1953 and 1960. Presently, the forest is an even-aged, second-growth Sitka spruce and Western hemlock forest.
References
- ↑ Franklin, J.F., Berg, D.R., Thornburgh, D.A. & Tappeiner, J.C. (1997). Alternative silvicultural approaches to timber harvesting: Variable retention harvest systems. In textbook: Creating a Forestry for the 21st Century: The Science of Ecosystem Management. (eds K.A. Kohn & J.F. Franklin), pp. 111. Island Press, Washington, D.C.
- ↑ Franklin, J.F.; Spies, T.A.; Van Pelt, R.; Carey, A.B.; Thornburgh, D.A.; Berg, D.R.; et al. (2002). "Disturbances and structural development of natural forest ecosystems with silvicultural implications, using douglas-fir forests as an example". Forest Ecology and Management. 155 (1–3): 399–423. doi:10.1016/s0378-1127(01)00575-8.
- ↑ Mitchell, S.J.; Beese, W.J. (2002). "The retention system: Reconciling variable retention with the principles of silvicultural systems". Forestry Chronicle. 78 (3): 397–403. doi:10.5558/tfc78397-3. hdl: 10613/2698 . http://hdl.handle.net/10613/2698.
- ↑ Smith, Nicholas J.; Beese, William J. (2012). "Effects of Low Levels of Dispersed Retention on the Growth and Survival of Young, Planted Douglas-Fir". Forests. 3 (2): 230–243. doi: 10.3390/f3020230 . hdl: 10613/2717 . http://hdl.handle.net/10613/2717.
- ↑ Beese, W J; Dunsworth, B G; Zielke, K.; Bancroft, B. (2003). "Maintaining attributes of old-growth forests in coastal B.C. through variable retention". The Forestry Chronicle. 79 (3): 570–578. doi: 10.5558/tfc79570-3 . hdl: 10613/2701 . ISSN 0015-7546. http://hdl.handle.net/10613/2701.
- ↑ Fedrowitz, Katja; Koricheva, Julia; Baker, Susan C.; Lindenmayer, David B.; Palik, Brian; Rosenvald, Raul; Beese, William; Franklin, Jerry F.; Kouki, Jari (2014). "REVIEW: Can retention forestry help conserve biodiversity? A meta-analysis". Journal of Applied Ecology. 51 (6): 1669–1679. Bibcode:2014JApEc..51.1669F. doi:10.1111/1365-2664.12289. hdl:10613/2719. ISSN 1365-2664. PMC 4277688 . PMID 25552747. http://hdl.handle.net/10613/2719.
- ↑ Beese, William J.; Deal, John; Dunsworth, B. Glen; Mitchell, Stephen J.; Philpott, Timothy J. (2019). "Two decades of variable retention in British Columbia: a review of its implementation and effectiveness for biodiversity conservation". Ecological Processes. 8 (1): 33. Bibcode:2019EcoPr...8...33B. doi: 10.1186/s13717-019-0181-9 . hdl: 2429/71085 . ISSN 2192-1709.
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(June 2009) |
- Mendocino Redwoo Company: Silviculture and Harvesting Methods
- Manomet Forest Conservation Program: Patch Retention Project
- Certified Sustainable Wood, Reforestation, Western Red Cedar Suppliers
- Maguire, Douglas A.; Halpern, Charles B.; Phillips, David L. (2007). "Changes in forest structure following variable-retention harvests in Douglas-fir dominated forests". Forest Ecology and Management. 242 (2–3): 708–726. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2007.02.004.
