Summary NR326 Final Exam

NR326 Final Exam - Applied forest ecology - The science and art of growing and tending forest crops - classic definition - The art and science of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests and woodlands to meet the diverse needs and values (objectives) of landowners and society on a sustainable basis silviculture. The study of how trees grow and reproduce, as well as ways that the physical environment influences their physiology, and the general interactions of the character of a forest community and the physical environment Silvics A forest tree that can survive and prosper under a forest canopy is considered... understory tolerant A forest tree that can thrive only in the main canopy or in the open is considered... understory intolerant A conceptual framework that describes the long-term plan for managing an individual stand to sustain a particular set of values of interest (Nyland 1996). This planned series of treatments includes tending, harvesting, and re-establishing a stand. The name of the system is based on the number of age classes (even-aged, two-aged, uneven-aged) or the regeneration method (shelterwood, group selection, etc.) silvicultural system Any relatively discrete event in time that disrupts ecosystem, community, or population structure and changes resources, substrate availability, or the physical environment disturbance The process whereby one plant community replaces another, with conditions of the physical environment, growth characteristics of the different plants, effects of herbivory and other biologic factors, and the available sources of regeneration determining the species that become established and eventually dominate a site. succession the process by which a series of different plant communities and associated animals and microbes successively occupy and replace each other over time in a particular ecosystem or landscape location following a disturbance to that ecosystem. Includes the accompanying change in the nonliving environment (soil and microclimate). ecological succession The development of vegetation (stands) over time is known as... vegetation (stand) dynamics - A spatially contiguous group of trees and associated vegetation having similar structures and growing under similar soil and climatic conditions - Communities or groups of trees that grow together at a particular place, and that foresters can effectively manage as a unit - Communities or groups of trees with some unique vegetal characteristic that landowners can maintain by a particular series of treatments. stand An extensive area, landscape, or ecosystem dominated by trees and other woody vegetation growing closely together - in other words, a collection of stands forest A collection of trees that grow in a single stand, and that have about the same age is considered one ____ ________ age class A group of trees developing after a single disturbance, commonly consisting of trees of similar age, although it can include a considerable range of trees that predate the disturbance is called a _________ of trees. cohort the portion of the resources of the site (light, water, nutrients, etc.) available and utilized by a tree growing space A measure of the degree of crowding of trees within stocked areas commonly expressed by various growing space ratios, e.g., height/spacing stand density - This is a qualitative descriptor. An indication of growing space occupancy relative to a pre-established standard. Common indices include basal area, relative density, stand density index (SDI), and crown competition factor stocking An area's potential for tree growth, usually incorporating an area's soil and climatic conditions site The productive capacity of a site, usually expressed as volume production of a given species site quality A species-specific measure of actual or potential forest productivity expressed in terms of the average height of trees included in a specified stand component at a specified index or base age. Used as an indicator of site quality site index This term refers to the horizontal and vertical distribution of components of a forest stand including the height, diameter, crown layers, and stems of trees, shrubs, herbaceous understory, snags, and down woody debris stand structure A category of tree based on its crown position relative to those of adjacent trees crown class Trees with crowns extending above the general level of the crown cover and receiving full light from above and partly from the sides; larger than the average trees in the stands and with crowns well developed but possibly somewhat crowded on the sides are classified as ____________ crown class. dominant