Plantation Silviculture

1 Introduction.- Nature of Plantations.- Plantations Defined.- Monoculture Tree Crops.- Plantations and Long Term Productivity.- Plantations, Economics and Land Use.- Costs and Benefits.- Land as a Resource.- Plantations and Development.- Silviculture as Both Art and Science.- Silvicultural Systems.- 2 Seed Production.- The Need for Good Quality Seed.- The Reproductive Cycle in Forest Trees.- Development of Gymnosperm Seeds.- Development of Angiosperm Seeds.- Factors Influencing Flowering and Seed Production.- Seed Production from the Natural Forest or from Plantation.- Seed Orchards.- Siting of Seed Orchards.- Orchard Establishment.- Orchard Management.- 3 Seed Handling.- Trade in Seed.- Seed Collection.- Pre-collection Planning.- Field Collection Methods.- Precautions at Harvest to Minimise Disease Infection.- Labelling the Crop.- Seed Extraction.- Drying and Storage of Seed.- Seed Quality.- Moisture Content.- Seed Storage.- Seed Testing.- Sampling the Seedlot.- Physical Characteristics of the Seed Sample.- Weight.- Moisture content.- Genuiness and origin.- Seed Germination Tests.- Seed Dormancy and Pre-Sowing Treatment.- Immaturity of the embryo.- Complete inhibition of water absorption.- A state of dormancy in the embryo itself.- Secondary dormancy.- 4 Nursery Practice.- Seedlings for Planting.- The Nursery Site.- Selection of a Nursery site.- Layout of the Nursery.- Bare-Root Seedling Production.- The Nursery Soil.- Texture.- Structure.- Nutrients.- Organic matter.- Soil reaction, or pH.- Mycorrhiza.- Soil Management.- Tillage.- Fertiliser use.- Maintaining soil organic matter.- Adjusting soil pH.- Pest and disease control.- Irrigation.- Seedbed preparation, Sowing and Maintenance.- Sowing.- Weed control.- Pre-emergence weed control.- Post-emergence control.- Interrow Cultivation.- Root Pruning and Root Wrenching.- Nutrient Deficiency in the Seedbed.- Nitrogen.- Phosphorus.- Potassium.- Magnesium.- Lifting, Packing and Transport of Bare-root Stock.- Lifting.- Packing.- Transport.- Production of Container Stock.- Choice of Container.- Cost of the container.- Weight when filled with a growing medium.- Durability.- Effects on the root system.- Choice of Growing Medium.- Fumigation and Sterilization of Potting Mixtures.- Sowing Seed or Pricking out into Containers.- Shading.- Low shade.- High shade.- Disease Control.- Watering.- Hardening-off.- Handling and Transport.- Asexual or Vegetative Propagation.- Propagation by Cuttings.- Grafting and Budding.- Tissue Culture.- Planting Stock Quality.- Nursery Records.- 5 Plantations and Land-Use.- Plantations and Conservation.- Site Evaluation.- Climate.- Soil and Terrain.- Market and Economic Considerations.- Existing and potential markets.- Availability of infrastructure.- Labour supply.- Scale of operations.- Environmental Impacts of Plantation Establishment.- Hazards of fire, wind, erosion and landslide.- Hazards of a biological nature.- Conservation of native plants and animals.- Problems of stream sedimentation and loss of water quality.- Soil compaction and loss of fertility.- Adverse impacts on landscape values.- Adverse impacts on recreational values.- Site Quality.- Plantation Design.- Plantations and Landscape.- Planning the Access System.- Stage construction.- Classification of plantation roads.- Roading density.- Compartment shape.- Non-wood Production Plantations.- Windbreaks and shelterbelts.- Urban forestry.- Farm forestry and agroforestry.- 6 Growth of Even-Aged Crops.- Tree Stands, and Monocultures.- Growth of Single Stems.- Height Growth.- Free or indeterminate growth.- Fixed or determinate growth.- Diameter Growth.- Root Growth.- Tree Form and the Influence of the Tree Crown.- Growth of the Forest Stand.- Competition, Tolerance, Dominance and Crown Class.- Competition.- Tolerance.- Dominance and crown class.- Height Growth.- Diameter Growth.- Root Growth.- Stand Growth and Stocking Density.- Biomass Production.- 7 Planting, Site Preparation and Maintenance.- Silvicultural Decisions.- Site Preparation Methods.- Clearing the Land.- Broadcast felling and burning.- Felling, windrow clearing and burning.- Drainage and Mounding.- Drainage.- Mounding.- Deep Ripping the Planting Site.- Ploughing and Screefing.- Weed Control on the planting Line.- Fertilizing at Planting.- Benefits of adding fertilizers.- Forms of fertilizer used at planting.- Economics of fertilizer use at planting.- Legumes as a source of nitrogen.- Maintaining Site Productivity.- Loss of Nutrients.- Direct loss of nutrients in harvested biomass.- Indirect loss of nutrients from the site.- Water Relations and Second Rotation Sites.- Improving the water holding capacity of the soil.- Increasing tree crop water usage.- Soil Compaction.- Managing the Nitrogen Supply.- 8 Planting and Early Maintenance.- Choice of Species.- Purpose of the Plantation.- Plantings primarily for wood production.- Plantations for protection.- Plantations for fuelwood and fodder.- Amenity and urban planting.- Site and Climate.- Use of Indigenous Species.- Use of Exotic Species.- Choice of Espacement.- Espacement, Tree and Stand Growth.- Mortality.- Height.- Diameter growth.- Stem form.- Branch size.- Volume production.- Wood quality.- Effects of Initial Espacement on Costs.- Planting.- Timing of Planting Operations.- Special Forms of Planting.- Agro-forestry.- Taungya, or trees with food crops.- Line planting, or line enrichment planting.- Urban plantings.- Planting Methods.- Protection and Early Maintenance.- Protection from Vermin.- Watering and Water Conservation.- Minimising Competition from other Vegetation.- Applicatiion of Fertilizer.- 9 Pruning.- Reasons for Pruning.- Natural Pruning.- Artificial Pruning.- Methods of Pruning.- Axe pruning.- Saw pruning.- Shear pruning.- High pruning.- Mechanical pruning.- Timing and Intensity of Pruning.- Pruning and Wood Quality.- 10 Thinning.- Thinning and Growth of Stands.- Objectives of Thinning.- National or Organisational Objectives.- Financial Considerations.- Integration of Forest and Industry.- Biological Considerations.- Thinning Methods.- Commencement of Thinning.- Type of Thinning.- Low thinning.- Crown thinning.- Selection thinning or thinning from above.- Mechanical thinning.- Free thinning.- Thinning Interval.- Thinning Intensity.- Severity of Thinning.- Thinning, Harvesting and the Environment.- Wind Stability and Thinning.- Thinning and Wood Quality.- 11 Silvicultural Management.- Tactics and Strategies in Silviculture.- A Silvicultural Regime.- Shorthand Notation for a Silvicultural Regime.- Factors Influencing a Choice of Regime.- Silvicultural Prescriptions.- Use of Systems Analysis to Determine Regimes.- Recognition.- Definitiion of the extent of the problem and its boundaries.- Identifying the hierarchy of goals and objectives.- Generation of solutions.- Modelling.- Evaluation of potential courses of action.- Implementation of the results.- Models for Evaluating Silvicultural Alternatives.- The Data Base.- Data for building a model.- Data for using a model.- Yield Simulation Models.- Economic Analysis of the Results of Simulation.- Present net value.- Internal rate of return.- Benefit cost ratio.- Seeking Optimum Management Strategies.- Silvicultural Regimes to Suit Different Management Objectives.- Maximum Production Regimes.- With a small wood market.- With no small wood market.- Maximum Value Regime.- An Agro-forestry Regime.- A Regime for Windy Climates.- Plantations and the Future.- References.