Topic Outline Of Forestry

The following outline is provided as an overview of and guide to forestry:

Below is a structured list of topics in forestry.

Focus of forestry

* Tree – organism, whose species, age, vitality, growth, health, and size, are considered individually or more often, as part of a whole;
:* Forest – defined as either a geographic area or delineated by the general composition of individuals;
::* Biome – ecologically defined by its forest structure, leaf types, tree spacing, and climate

Branches of forestry

* Agroforestry – integration of forests into agricultural systems in order to optimize the production and positive effects within the system and minimize negative side effects of farming
* Boreal forestry – analyzes the particular challenges of forestry in the world's boreal regions
* Close to nature forestry – theory and practice that takes the forest as an ecosystem and manages it as such. It is based on reduced human intervention, that should be directed to accelerate the processes that nature would do by itself more slowly.
* Dendrology – involves the study and identification of economically useful tree species
* Forest ecology – studies the patterns and processes of a forest ecosystem
* Forest hydrology – embodies the effects of changes in forest land use on the movement, distribution, and quality of water in the ecosystem
* Forest pathology – study of diseases of woody plants, and of the interactions between trees and pathogens, pests, and other stressors that affect their health and function.
* Silviculture – is the art and science of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests to meet specific objectives
* Social forestry – addresses human-forest interactions, and the importance of community-based natural resource management
* Sustainable forestry – providing for the needs of society in the form of forest products while maintaining the health of forests and their mitigation of climate change and biodiversity loss through forestry practices that mimic natural patterns of disturbance and regeneration, such as balancing the numbers of trees by age, to provide a layered canopy and sustainable yield as an alternative to clear cutting. Sustaining natural forest habitats also involves preserving their water quality, and protecting them from wildfire, pests, and diseases.
* Tropical forestry – is particularly concerned with management and conservation of forests in the tropics
* Urban forestry – entails the care and management of urban tree populations for the purpose of improving the urban environment

Forest management

Forest management – comprises the overall administrative, economic, legal, and social aspects of forest regulation
* Analog forestry – a management focus that seeks to establish a tree-dominated ecosystem that is similar in architectural structure and ecological function to the naturally occurring climax and sub-climax vegetation community
* Bamboo forestry – farming and harvesting bamboo for commercial purposes such as construction.
* Community forestry – combination of forest conservation with rural development and poverty reduction objectives, accomplished through instating a legal framework that favors profitable and sustainable forest management
* Continuous cover forestry
* Ecoforestry – emphasizes practices which strive to protect and restore ecosystems
* Forest economics – studies the impact of economics on forest management decisions
* Energy forestry – includes specifically managing for the production of energy from biomass or biofuel derived from a fast-growing species of tree or woody shrub
** Short rotation forestry – managing a forest that utilizes fast-growing species as a bio-based energy crop for use in power stations, alone or in combination with other fuels such as coal
*** Short rotation coppice (SRC) – focus on species that are able to naturally regenerate through stump sprouts to maximize economic productivity
* Hardwood timber production – process of managing stands of deciduous trees to maximize woody output
:* Tree breeding – method of genetically modifying/selecting forest stock for improved growth or vigor characteristics
* Forest inventory – incorporates quantitative measurements of the forest stand to determine stand timber volume and productivity/health, and provides a basis off which management decisions can be made
* Mycoforestry – ecological forest management system implemented to enhance forest ecosystems and plant communities through the introduction of mycorrhizal and saprotrophic fungi
* Permaforestry – approach to the wildcrafting and harvesting of the forest biomass that uses cultivation to improve the natural harmonious systems. It is a relationship of interdependence between humans and the natural systems in which the amount of biomass available from the forest increases with the health of its natural systems.
* Sustainable forest management – emphasizes practices that maintain forest biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, and vitality, while continuing to fulfill relevant ecological, economic and social functions
* Tree farming – timber crop production in a privately owned forest or woodland
** Plantation forestry – industrial plantations are established to produce a high volume of wood in a short period of time. Some plantations are managed by state forestry authorities (for example, the Forestry Commission in Britain) and others by paper and wood companies (such as Weyerhaeuser, Rayonier and Plum Creek Timber in the United States, Asia Pulp & Paper in Indonesia).

Types of trees and forests

* Types of trees
** List of trees and shrubs by taxonomic family
*** List of tree species by shade tolerance – tree grouped by shade tolerance, a determinant in successional status
** List of woods – commonly used in the timber and lumber trade
* Types of forests
** By ecological factors (climate, composition, etc.)
*** Boreal forests (taiga) – occupy the subarctic zone and are generally evergreen and coniferous
**** Coniferous forests
*** Temperate forests – forests in temperate zones
**** Broadleaf forests, for example:
***** Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests
**** Evergreen coniferous forests, for example:
***** Temperate coniferous forests
***** Temperate rainforests
**** Broadleaf evergreen forests – supported in warm temperate zones. Examples include:
***** Laurel forests
*** Tropical and subtropical forests
**** Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
**** Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests
**** Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests
*** By physical structure or developmental stage
**** Old growth forest
**** Secondary forest
*** By dominant tree species, for example
**** Ponderosa pine forests
**** Douglas-fir forests
** List of types of formally designated forests – various institutionally designated types of forest areas, generally classified by use or ownership

Geography of forests

* List of countries by forest area – using data from the CIA's ''World Factbook'', presents the total area in km² and the percentage of land covered by forests
* Lists of forests
** List of old growth forests – by continent, country, province; with various descriptive information

Map of biomes

* List of life zones by region

Occupations in forestry

* Arborist – professional responsible for the maintenance of individual trees in an urban forest also called a tree surgeon.
* Donkey puncher was the operator of a small steam donkey, a machine used in logging in the 19th and 20th centuries.
* Fire lookout – person assigned to spot for fires/smoke atop a fire lookout tower
* Forest ecologist – studies patterns, processes, flora and fauna in forest ecosystems
* Forest economist – model and analyze economic aspects of forest growth, utilization, and conservation
* Forest engineer – civil engineer specializing in all aspects of timber and forest operations, including road-building, railways, log transport, etc.
* Forest ranger – responsible for managing and policing human use of the forest; sometimes also acts as educator and interpreter
* Forest sociologist – applied social scientist working with a wide variety of stakeholders interested in forests
* Forest technician – individual primarily responsible for the marking of timber sales and on-ground land management, often requires a two-year Associate of Science degree
* Forester – professional chiefly responsible for the management of forests, requires a Bachelor of Science degree in most countries
** Master forester – forestry expert responsible for forest management and training
* Hotshot crew/Handcrew – a group of wildland firefighters specialized in fire suppression tactics
* Lumberjack – the typical feller of trees and harvester of the lumber, duties can also include:
:* Log bucking – delimbing and partitioning of trees into logs
:* Log driving – transportation of logs on a river or lake downstream to the mill
:* Log scaling – measurement of felled trees to determine the volume of wood going to the manufacturer
* Resin extractor – laborer who extracts resin from pine trees
* Rubber tapper – laborer who extracts natural rubber from tropical rubber trees
* Smokejumper – firefighters who parachute into remote areas to fight wildland fires
* Timber cruiser – responsible for assessing forest growth, health, and valuation
* Tree planters – help reestablish forests after logging, fires, and other events and circumstances

Silvicultural methods

Silviculture – practice of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests to meet diverse needs and values. Silviculture also focuses on making sure that the treatment(s) of forest stands are used to preserve and to better their productivity.

Site preparation
* Controlled burn – use of fire in order to eliminate weeds, brush, or slash, or to release on-site seeds of fire-dependent species
* Stump harvesting – removal of tree stumps either for biomass or to free up space in the soil
* Drum chopping – knocking down small trees and brush to clear the ground for planting
Planting
* Broadcast seeding – scattering of seed either by hand or mechanically over a relatively large area
* Aerial seeding – dispersing of seed from an aircraft, used especially in mountainous areas
* Treeplanting – transplanting of juvenile seedlings into the ground at a predetermined spacing
Intermediate treatments
* Weeding – removal or reduction of herbaceous or woody species around seedlings
* Cleaning – removal of competing saplings of similar age in order to favor saplings of desirable growth characteristics
* Liberation cutting – removal of older and established overtopping trees from desirable saplings
* Thinning – removal of trees to favor the growth of select trees in order to maximize timber production
* Ecological thinning – removal of trees to favor the growth of select trees in order to favor the development of wildlife habitat
* Pruning – removal of the lateral branches on the trees in order to improve wood quality
* Pollarding – annual removal of lateral branches or main stem in order to encourage growth of branches to provide for firewood, or fruit production
Harvest rotations
* Even-aged timber management
:* Clearcutting – harvesting of all stems in a given area regardless of species and size
:* Coppicing – cutting vigorous juvenile trees near the ground, regeneration comes from new shoots coming up from the stump
:* Seed-tree – cutting of all trees save widely spaced residual trees, which will provide natural seedstock for the following generation and are later cut
* Uneven-aged timber management
:* Selection – harvesting of selected trees in a stand, removing either merchantable timber or to favor the growth of desirable individuals (a thinning)
:* Shelterwood – removal of merchantable trees in succession, establishing a multiaged stand
:* Variable retention – removal of trees of varying density across a landscape, in order to retain structural diversity
*Other
:* Salvage logging – harvesting of trees killed by natural disturbances in order to maximize economic returns that would otherwise be lost
:* Sanitation harvest – removal of individual trees affected by a pathogen in order to diminish the possibility the entire stand being affected
:* Biomass harvest – harvesting of small wood for energy purposes, either following a commercial harvest or for its own sake, such as in energy forestry
:* Underwater logging – harvesting of trees from underwater forests flooded during construction of artificial dams or reservoirs

Environmental issues pertaining to forests

* Afforestation – the process of establishing a forest on previously unforested land, for reasons of timber harvesting, conservation of biodiversity, or soil decontamination, among many
* Biodiversity conservation – examines forests broader role in supporting a variety of (socio)ecological systems
* Carbon sequestration – focus on forests' broader ecological functioning in consumption of carbon dioxide
* Conservation – focus on sustainability of forest resources and preservation of forest-based biodiversity
* Deforestation – the removal of trees in a forested area without sufficient regeneration, resulting in desertification in arid areas and loss of habitat and biodiversity
** Deforestation by region
* Ecological restoration – the role of trees in restoring degraded natural and built environments
* Flood control – addresses forests ecological role in natural regulation of rainfall
* Forest dieback – where trees on the periphery of a stand are killed by acid rain or parasites
* Forest fragmentation – occurring when forests are cut down in a manner that leaves relatively small, isolated patches of forest, resulting in high amounts of edges and subsequent loss in wildlife habitat and biodiversity
* Forest transition – shift from a period of net forest area loss (deforestation) to a period of net forest area gain (afforestation) for a given region or country
* High grading – type of selective logging that removes the highest timber quality trees, resulting in poor genetic stock for subsequent generations
* Illegal logging – the unlawful harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber, contributing to deforestation, corruption, and destabilization of international markets

Forest resource assessment

Forest inventory – systematic collection of data and forest information for assessment or analysis. An estimate of the value and possible uses of timber is an important part of the broader information required to sustain ecosystems.

Timber metrics

:* Diameter at breast height (DBH) – measurement of a tree's diameter standardized at 1.3 meters (about 4.5 feet) above the ground
:* Basal area – defines the area of a given section of land that is occupied by the cross-section of tree trunks and stems at their base
:* Tree taper – the degree to which a tree's stem or bole decreases in diameter as a function of height above ground
:* Girard form class – an expression of tree taper calculated as the ratio of diameter inside the bark at 16 feet above ground to that outside the bark at DBH, primary expression of tree form used in the United States
:* Quadratic mean diameter – diameter of the tree that coordinates to the stand's basal area
:* Leaf Area Index – the ratio of total upper leaf surface of the forest canopy divided by the surface area of the land on which the vegetation grows
:* Tools
::* Biltmore stick – utilizes ocular trigonometry to quickly measure diameter and height
::* Diameter tape – cloth or metal tape that is wrapped around the bole, scaled to diameter
::* Caliper – two prongs connected to a measuring tape are placed around the most average part of the bole to determine diameter
::* Relascope – multiple-use tool that is able to find tree height, basal area, and tree diameter anywhere along the bole
::* Clinometer – common tool used to measure changes in elevation and tree height
::* Cruising rod – similar to a caliper, calculates the number of pieces of lumber yielded by a given piece of timber by measuring its diameter
::* Hemispherical photography – estimates solar radiation and characterize plant canopy structure/density using photographs taken looking upward through an extreme wide-angle lens

Surveying techniques

:* Traversing – method of surveying used to establish sampling plots along a line or path of travel
:* Chain – equivalent to 66 feet, widely used distance in surveying practices in the United States and other countries influenced by imperial Great Britain
:* Line plot survey – plots taken at a regular predetermined distance along the traverse path
:* Tools
::* Pacing – quick method used to survey in the field, requiring calibration of one's "paces" (pair of footsteps) to a known distance (often a chain)
::* Hand compass – a compact magnetic compass with a sighting device used to determine the location of plots for a given bearing
::* Wedge prism – optical instrument typically made of glass ground at slight angles to refract light passing through it from the smaller width side of the prism to the thicker width side of the prism, calibrated to a desired plot size (basal area factor)
::* Angle gauge – similar in principle to a wedge prism, although it must be held a fixed distance from the eye
::* GPS – global satellite navigation systems used to determine the position of oneself and plots
::* GIS – an information system capable of integrating, storing, analyzing, and displaying forest geographic information collected in the field

Timber volume determination

:* Site index – a species specific measure of site productivity and management options, reported as the height of dominant and co-dominant trees ( site trees)in a stand at a base age such as 25, 50 and 100 years
:* Stocking – a quantitative measure of the area occupied by trees relative to an optimum or desired level of density which varies according to management purpose even on the same site
::* Stand Density Index – a measure of the stocking of a stand of trees based on the number of trees per unit area and DBH of the tree of average basal area
:* Volume table – a chart based on volume equations that uses correlations between certain aspects of a tree to estimate the standing volume
:* Stand density management diagram – model that uses current stand density to project future stand composition
:* Units of measurement
::* Cord – very common measure, equivalent to , corresponding to a pile of wood, bark, and air 4 feet wide by 4 feet high and 8 feet long
::* Stère – invented in France, equivalent to a cubic meter of cut wood with space for air
::* Board foot – specialized unit of measure for lumber in North America, equivalent to the volume of a one foot length of a board one foot wide and one inch thick

Stand growth assessment

:* Increment borer – specialized tool used to extract a section of wood tissue from a living tree with relatively minor injury to the tree, used often for tree growth analysis
:* Mean annual increment (MAI) – refers to the average growth per year a tree or stand of trees has exhibited at a specific age
:* Periodic annual increment (PAI) – describes the average annual change in tree diameter between the beginning and ending of a growth period, used more often than MAI for percental growth
:* Ecological yield -the amount of wood volume in any given year whose harvesting would be considered sustainable
:* Growth and yield modelling – entails the creation of models of prospective tree growth and harvest yield for management purposes
* Economics
:* Stumpage – the price charged by a land owner to loggers for the right to harvest standing timber on that land
:* Optimal rotation age – the age at which the harvesting of stumpage will generate the maximum revenue or economic yield

Harvesting

Logging

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