A forest stand is a contiguous

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s sufficiently uniform in composition, structure, age, size, class, distribution, spatial arrangement, condition, or location on a site of uniform quality to distinguish it from adjacent communities. A

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

is a "collection of stands" also utilizing the practices of

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

. Stand level modelling is a type of modelling in the forest sciences in which the main unit is a forested stand.

Stand description

A forest stand is commonly described as in 10ths or 10%s. Thus a ratio could be given of: 3 Ponderosa pines, 2 mangrove trees, 5 silver spruces. If there was a mixed stand that stand mix could be described as mixed up to 10%, mixed 10–40% and a mixed stand over that amount. The form of mixing of the tree types is commonly given as: * individuals – when there are a few unconnected trees of a type. * troop – up to 5 trees connected of one type. * group – when there are more than 5 trees, but they are shorter than a harvestable tree. * thicket – when there are more than 5 trees, but they are taller than a harvestable tree to around 0.5 ha. * rotten group (cluster) – a packed together standing aggregate of trees, trees in the rotten group have different heights and different depths or a stripwise arrangement. Rotten is from German, ''Rotte'' and means pack. These trees are linked together in small rotten groups separated by bigger interstices. This means they are ideal for mountain afforestation.

Stand spacing

A stand's spacing may be described by the crown cover of the trees. It can thus be delimited as: *Packed – the crowns all overlap when looked at from above *Closed – the crowns all touch, but do not overlap *Light – when there is space between the crowns that is even *Spacey/gappy – when a few trees are close and yet there are many clearings between these little groups

Purpose

Stands are not logical, ecologically defined management units. Instead they have evolved from the Normalwald concept, which was predicated on the idea of harvesting efficiency and thus that forest land was primarily to generate income from timber production. Stands allow easier forest inventory and

planning Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. Some researchers regard the evolution of forethought - the cap ...

. The concept has by way of extension been applied across all forestry practice in the world, but originated in the '' Mitteleuropa'' of the late 18th and early 19th century with the

mercantilist Mercantilism is a nationalist economic policy that is designed to maximize the exports and minimize the imports of an economy. It seeks to maximize the accumulation of resources within the country and use those resources for one-sided trade. ...

tradition, Prussian education and emergence of modern silviculture. Along with the Normalwald concept has come the idea that stands are standardized in terms of size, species mix, age class and other tree metrics and that forestry should aim to impose this on nature where it has not existed up till now.

Alternatives

As stand is from an economic timber forestry perspective, it is very focused on the tree element of forests. It is not considerate of the other elements within a forest such as shrubs, animals or topography and alternative terms may better fit ecological or other land value purposes within forests. The English term grove is one example. Also proposed is ''eco-unit''. Other terms may also work, but be on different scales, such as

copse Coppicing is the traditional method in woodland management of cutting down a tree to a tree stump, stump, which in many species encourages new Shoot (botany), shoots to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest ...

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

. To be useful in

silviculture Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth, composition/structure, as well as quality of forests to meet values and needs, specifically timber production. The name comes from the Latin ('forest') and ('growing'). The study of forests ...

such terms must be clearly defined and consistently applied. Lacking that stand is likely to remain the preferred unit to be used by

forester A forester is a person who practises forest management and forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Fores ...

s and others managing forests, despite its limitations.

References

{{Authority control Forest modelling Forest ecology

Stand description

Stand spacing

Purpose

Alternatives

See also

References