Silviculture in BSc agriculture

1. Dr Pawan Kumar Poonia
Assistant Professor (Forestry)
CCS HAU Hisar-125004
pooniaforestry@gmail.com

2. Forest and Forestry
 The word forest is derived from latin word “foris” means outside
the village boundary or away from inhabited land.
 Legally, forest is an area of land proclaimed to be a forest under
forest law (IFA,1927).
 Forest defined as an area set aside for the production of timber
and other forest produce, or maintained under woody vegetation
for certain indirect benefits.
 Forestry is defined as the theory and practice of all that
constitutes the creation, conservation and scientific
management of forests and the utilization of their resources.
 Forestry has a very wide scope and silviculture is only one of its
branches.

3. Silviculture
Silviculture is that branch of forestry which
deals with the establishment, development,
care and reproduction of stands of timber.
According to Indian forest and forest product
terminology silviculture is defines as the art
and science of cultivating forest crop.

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Silviculture is defined as the process by which the
crop constituting a forest are tended, removed and
replaced by new crops, resulting in the production
of wood of a distinct form.
---- RS Troup, 1928
Silviculture is that branch of forestry, that deals with
the establishment, development, care and
reproduction of stands of timber.
---- James W Tourney and Kortian, 1937

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Methods of raising tree crops and their growth
and care upto the time of final harvesting.
----- Champion & Griffith, 1938
 Silviculture in English commonly refers only
to certain aspects of the theory and Practice
of raising forest crops.
---- Champion and Seth, 1962

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Science of cultivation of Forest crop.
---- Frod Robertson, 1971
Crops constituting forests are tended, harvested and
replaced by new crops of distinctive forms.
---- Prakash and Khanna, 1979

7.  It include both silvics and its practical
application.
 Silvics is the study of life history and general
characteristics of forest trees and crops with
particular reference to environmental factors,
as the basis for the practice of Silviculture.
 The practice of Silviculture is applied silvics.
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8.  Silviculture is the application of the principles
of forest ecology to a stand of trees to help
meet specified objectives.
 Objectives can include income, wildlife
habitat, water quality, recreation, or any other
value a forest is capable of providing.
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9. Silviculture Silvics
Silviculture is that branch of forestry
which deals with the establishment,
development, care and reproduction
of stands of timber
It is science dealing with both theory
and practice
It is broader term
It deals with procedure of obtaining
natural regeneration under various
system and methods of tending of
young crop
It is the application of silvics
Silvics is the study of life history and
general characteristics of forest trees
and crops with particulture reference
to environmental factors
It is basic theory upon which
silviculture stands
It is part of silviculture
It deals with study of tree and forest
as biological units, laws governing
the growth and effect of environment
on vegetation
It is principle for silviculture

10. The objectives of Silviculture studies are
 The object of study and practice of silviculture is to
produce more useful and valuable forests to meet
our multifarious requirements, than nature would
do and that too, in a shorter time.
 Its helps in :
 deriving environmental benefits
 Raising species of more economic value
 Production of plants of high quality timber species

11.  Production of more volume per unit area
 Reduction of rotation period
 Afforestation of blank areas
 Creation of plantation
 Introduction of exotics
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12.  Employment potentials
 Increased production of fuels and fodder quality
 To increase raw materials for forest based
industries.
 Studies on NTFPs
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13. Relation with forestry and its branches
 Forestry is defined as the theory and practice of all
that constitutes the creation, conservation and
scientific management of forests and the utilization of
their resources.
 Forestry has a very wide scope and silviculture is only
one of its branches.
 Silviculture deals with the cultivation of crops and
forestry deals with cultivation,protection,
mensuration, management, marketing etc.

14. Relation with forestry and its branches
Forest
Mensuration
Forest
Management
Forest
Protection
Forest Finance
Forest
Economics
Forest
Utilization
Silviculture

15. Silviculture and Forest Protection
 Silviculture is concerned with the raising of forest
crop, forest protection is concerned with its
protection against various sources of damage.
Silviculture and Forest Economics
 Silviculture is concerned with the cultivation of forest
crop, forest economics works out the cost of
production including rental of land and compound
interest on capital spent in raising the crop and
compares it with the sale proceeds to decide whether
raising of crop is economically profitable or not.

16. Silviculture and Forest Mensuration
 Silviculture deals with raising of forest crop and
Forest mensuration deals with the determination of
dimensions, form, volume, age and increment of logs,
single tree, stands or whole woods.
 Silviculture deals with raising of forest crop and
Forest utilization is concerned with the harvesting
and disposal of crops so produced.
Silviculture and Forest Utilization

17. Silviculture and Forest Management
 Silviculture deals with raising of forest crop, forest
management manages that crop according to the
dictates of the forest policy.
 Silviculture deals with techniques and operation
which results in development of forest and forest
management prescribes the time and place where the
silviculture techniques and operations should be
carried out so that the objects of management are
achieved.

18. Growth of vegetation
 Different places have
 Different plant species
 Different growth rate for same species
 Different forms of crown, stem, branching etc
 There are factors that influence the growth and
composition of forest crop
 Factors are known as factors of locality

19. Locality factors
 The effective climatic, edaphic, topographic and biotic
conditions of a site, which influence the vegetation of
the locality
 Classification:
 Climatic factors
 Edaphic factors
 Topographic factors
 Biotic factors

20. Climatic factors
Climatic factors that influence the vegetation are
 Light:
 Responsible for chlorophyll formation in plants
 Photoperiod affects the growth, breaking of dormancy,
germination, leaf-fall and flowering.
 According to light requirement plants are classified into
▪ Light demander: Pinus roxburghii, Pinus wallichiana, Cedrus deodara,
Shorea robusta, populus ciliata etc.
▪ Shade bearer: Picea smithiana, Quercus spp., Toona ciliata, Dalbergia
latifolia, Cupressus torulosa etc.
▪ Shade demander: Abies pindrow, Taxus baccata, Mallotus
philippinensis etc.

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 Atmospheric temperature :
 Atmospheric temperature affects the activities of shoots
while soil temperature influences roots of plants.
 Helps in physiological activities like transpiration,
photosynthesis, respiration etc.
 Classification of vegetation on basis of temperature:
zone Mean annual temperature
1 Tropical Over 24oC
2 Sub
tropical
17o to 24oC
3 Temperate 7 o to 17 o C
4 Alpine Under 7o C

22. Low temperature causes
Frost:
 Radiation frost: occurring on nights with clear sky,
produced by loss of heat by radiation.
 Pool frost: occur due to accumulation, to a considerable
depth, of heavy cold air flowing down into natural
depressions from adjoining higher areas. Also called
convection frost. Common in Dehradun.
 Advective frost: Transportation of chilled air from other
places for e.g. winter chilled air of north India
Losses due to frost: Death of the seedlings/plants and trees,
frost cracks, frost canker

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 Classification of vegetation :
 Frost hardy: Acacia catechu, Dalbergia sissoo,
Madhuca indica, Pinus roxburghii, etc.
 Frost tender: Tectona grandis, Terminalia arjuna,
Terminalia alata, Garuga pinnata, Azadirachta
indica, etc.
At higher altitude, snow occurs which is both harmful
and beneficial to plants
 Acts as blanket and prevents further decrease in
temperature.
 Cause breaking of branches, soil erosion, etc.

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 High temperature results
 In deficiency of moisture and may kill plants by
surface heating.
 In excessive transpiration.

25. Rainfall & Humidity
 Rainfall & Humidity influence growth of the tree as well as
biodiversity. More rainfall zones like tropical rain forests have
big & taller trees with more diversity as compared to less
rainfall zones.
 Humidity affects on vital activities of trees viz. turgidity,
mineral absorption, respiration, regeneration & soil
formation.
 Wet areas: Rainfall more than 2500 mm annual. Wet evergreen
forests – Western Ghats & North East part of India.
 Humid areas: Less than 2500 – more than 900 mm annual.
Semi-evergreen, moist & dry deciduous forests. (Western &
Eastern Ghats, North-East, Central and Siwalik & Himalayan
forests)
 Dry areas: Rainfall less than 900 mm. Low –grade dry-
deciduous, dry and inferior forests. (Rajasthan, parts of
Andhra, Punjab, Tamilnadu, M.P., Haryana, Guajrat,
Karnataka, Orissa & UP)

26. Moisture:
 Water forms about 90-95% constituent part of the cell wall and
80% part of the protoplasm.
 It is one of the raw material required for photosynthesis,
respiration and translocation of food and minerals.
 Classification of vegetation on basis of rainfall:
Total rainfall Name of zone Nature of vegetation
2500mm or more wet Wet evergreen
<2500mm to > 900 mm Intermediate Wet semi evergreen
Moist deciduous
< 900 mm Dry Dry deciduous
Desert and semi desert thorn
forest and scrub

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Wind:
 Affects form of tree as well as their
distribution.
 On exposed side it reduces the height and
increase the taper.

28. Topographic factors
 Altitude: affects vegetation through its influence on
temperature and rainfall.
 Slope: affects runoff and drainage.
 Aspect and exposure:
 Determine the amount of insolation received by
hill slope.
 Southern aspect are warmer and drier than
northern aspects.

29. Edaphic factors
 Defines as ecological influences characteristic of the
soil brought about by its physical and chemical
characteristics.
 It provides environment to roots.
 Provide nutrients, water to the plants
 Affects size as well as rate of growth of trees, yield of
trees and their natural regeneration.

30. Biotic factors
 Influence of living organisms both plants and animals.
 Biotic factors include:
 Influence of plants:
 Parasites: Loranthus viscum, Cuscuta spp etc
 Epiphytes: Pipal, bargad, orchids
 Climbers: Dioscorea, Bauhinia vahli etc
 Harmful weeds
 Influence of wild animals:
 Sambhar and Chital population reduces regeneration
 Porcupine, wild boars and hare damage bamboos, khair,
simul etc
 Elephants remove trees and scrub the bark of standing trees

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 Influence of insects:
 Useful :
 Laccifer lacca- produce lac
 silkworm
 Harmful :
 Hyblaea puera feeds on teak leaves
 Sal borers
 Termites

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 Human Impact:
 Tree felling
 Lopping
 Encroachment
 Fire
 Grazing etc