FRST 557 – Site-Level

Forest Land Management

Webpage

http://frst557.forestry.ubc.ca/

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.

Bl

Bg

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?