FRST 557 – Site-Level
Forest Land Management
Course Description
Design and implementation of site-level
plans that integrate ecological, social and
economic components.
Includes topics from silviculture, forest
operations and forest health.
Course Objectives
• Students will learn the theory and practice
of site (stand) – level decision making.
• Students will apply the knowledge gained
from classroom instruction and readings to
develop a silviculture prescription,
operational plan and business plan for a
forested site at the Malcolm Knapp
Research Forest.
Learning OutcomesStudents will:
• know how to diagnose site and stand conditions and assess
operability;
• know how to design site level plans that integrate ecological,
economic and social criteria, and that account for uncertainty;
• know how to use stand growth and yield and visualization tools
to project future stand conditions;
• understand that site-level decisions occur within the context of
landscape-level plans;
• understand the considerations in choosing appropriate
techniques and equipment for implementation of silviculture and
harvesting plans;
• be able to prepare operational and business plans for forest-
based activities.
Grading
See Introductory Handout
Schedule
See Schedule Handout
Site PlanObjectives of this exercise
• role of site-level plans
• integrate and apply knowledge of data
acquisition, analysis, forest ecology, forest
health, silviculture and operations.
• challenges of managing forests on the urban
interface
• design defensible plan
• professional accountability and interpersonal
skills.
What is silviculture?
Silviculture is the theory and practice (also art and science) of managing forest vegetation community establishment, composition and growth.
Silviculturists use their knowledge of ecosystem
processes, silvics and cultural techniques to move
stands from their current condition towards target
stand conditions.
Applied Ecology
• Tree physiology
• Soils
• Climatology
• Ecology
Silviculture Prescription - a fundamental planning tool in
which multiple objectives for a site are integrated with site
capability by identifying:
• current site/stand conditions;
• the target stand characteristics;
• the silvicultural system and treatment regime needed to
produce the target stand.
Steps in developing a Silviculture Prescription:
1. Evaluate management objectives from higher level plans.
2. Evaluate site capability and constraints.
3. Identify target stand.
4. Determine silviculture system and treatment regime.
5. Prepare document and maps.
Successional windows and silviculture treatments
Succession following similar kinds of disturbance on
similar sites is often similar and therefore predictable.
There are periods during succession which provide
windows for efficient silvicultural interventions.
Silviculture
prescriptions can be
highly efficient if they
mimic natural
disturbance and
recovery processes.
While each prescription uniquely addresses local site
conditions and management objectives, it is useful to
group and name prescriptions with similar properties to
assist communication.
Silviculture system - a planned program of treatments
throughout the life of the stand including harvesting,
regeneration and stand-tending phases. It covers all
activities for the entire length of a rotation or cutting cycle.
Silviculture system names - systems are named based
on the regeneration strategy and the condition of the
stand following the initial entry, e.g.
Clearcut, Patchcut, Shelterwood, Seed Tree, Selection,
Retention.
Scope of Regeneration Silviculture
Regeneration silviculture covers the period from pre-harvest
assessment to free growing stand.
Physiological and ecological principles of regeneration
Successful regeneration requires:
• Suitable genetic material (species and provenance
adapted to local and microsite conditions).
• Viable seeds or seedlings (planting, natural regeneration).
• Suitable microsites (site preparation).
• Good initial establishment (planting, natural regeneration).
• Unencumbered growth (vegetation and pest management).
Silvicultural interventions change the genetic composition
of populations of trees and the micro-environments of
individual trees.
Regeneration forester must know:
1. Conditions required for growth of desired species
2. How to determine conditions present on a site
3. When and how site conditions can be modified if they
are not suitable.
Tree growth is a permanent increase in size. Individual tree
survival and growth requires the expression of genetic
potential through physiological functioning in the
environment.
Growth environment -
the above and below
ground abiotic and biotic
factors which affect the
growth and survival of a
tree, including:
precipitation, light, wind,
temperature, soil
moisture and nutrition,
competition and
predation.
Growth environment -
the above and below
ground abiotic and biotic
factors which affect the
growth and survival of a
tree, including:
precipitation, light, wind,
temperature, soil
moisture and nutrition,
competition and
predation.
Net
Psyn.
For each environmental factor there is a non-lethal
range, and an optimal range:
Different species and provenances have adapted to
and tolerate different levels of environmental factors.
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Environmental factors vary in space and time.
Three spatial scales are of interest: regional, site and
microsite.
Regional - geographic unit with particular climate (e.g.
BEC subzone) on scale of 10’s - 100’s of kilometres.
Site - local unit (e.g. stand or BEC site series level) with
particular climate, topography, soils and overstory
conditions, on scale of 10’s - 1000’s of metres.
Microsite - small portion of a site with particular
microtopography, soil, and microclimate; in regeneration
silviculture: the immediate zone of influence around a plant
including below and above ground site factors. On a scale
of 10’s - 100’s of centimetres.
Environmental conditions and consequently plant growth
patterns vary diurnally ...
and annually,
Mar July Nov
During the year, plants go
through a series of
physiological states and
morphological forms.
These ‘phenological’
phases enable them to use
site resources in favourable
periods and have increased
stress resistance during
unfavourable periods.
For cool temperate trees, the annual growth cycle is simplified as follows:
Species selection is a key silvicultural decision.
Why is species selection important in regeneration silviculture?
Why wouldn’t you just use species present in original stand?
Steps in selecting species during prescription development:
Tolerance and optimal conditions:
Shade tolerance
Frost, heat tolerance
Drought tolerance
Optimal moisture/nutrient range
Regeneration strategy:
Seed periodicity
Dispersal mechanism
Dispersal distance
Seedbed preference
Vegetative reproduction potential
Early growth rate
Learn autecology (silvics) of crop trees and non-crop
competitors. Consider:
Vulnerability to damage:
Pests at regeneration stage
Browse or grazing
Snow damage
Pests at sapling-mature stage
Response to prescription design:
Regeneration with overstory
Regeneration in large opening
Growth rate relative to other crop species,
or non-crop competitors
How can you evaluate in the field: the relative survival and growth rates of local
species under different levels of overstory influence?
Rel. Ht. Growth
Fd
Hw
Ba
Following the evaluation species are ranked according to their productivity,
reliability and feasibility under conditions on site.
Consider whether they are suitable for major stand component, or a minor
component.
Preferred species are those which management activities are primarily designed
to establish and grow through to crop trees for timber or other objectives.
Acceptable species are those which are acceptable on the site for minor crop or
non-crop objectives, management activities are not aimed at establishing them
and they contribute less than some maximum percent (e.g. <20%) of stocking.
Why are species mixes often desirable?
What are some management challenges with species mixes?
Recap …
Successful regeneration requires:
• Suitable genetic material (species and provenance
adapted to local and microsite conditions).
• Viable seeds or seedlings (planting).
• Suitable microsites (site preparation).
• Good initial establishment (planting, N).
• Unencumbered growth (vegetation and pest
management).
Using questions to guide silviculture decision-making:
1. What is the principle goal of this phase of silviculture?
2. What decisions need to be made at this phase?
3. What criteria will you use to judge whether the outcome
of this phase is successful?
4. How would you define ‘quality’ at this phase?
5. What are the key phase-specific questions that you need
to answer?
6. What do you need to know about the biology of the plant
material that you are working with?
7. What do you need to know about the site?
8. What materials/resources will you need to implement this
phase?
9. What information sources/approaches can you use to
answer their questions?
Diagnostic questions…
How can silviculturists assess microsite suitability for tree
establishment and growth?