FOR306 – Advanced Silviculture, Tree Breeding &
Site Management Master Notes (2025 Edition)
Features that relate to forest value - Wood properties, structural grade, fibre properties, root
architecture and wood density
Name some of the factors that log size affects - Logging costs, transport costs, conservation,
clear wood yield, versatility
How are log grades determined - SED, max branch diameter, length, pruning, sweep, and
damage
Name the environmental effects on photosynthesis - Temperature, soil water, VPD, CO2
concentration and nutrition
How does water effect photosynthesis? - small amounts are used for reactions, effects of
deficits on hydration and stomatal closure, governs plant distributions
Water transpiration effects on photosynthesis - Evaporation of water from plants, light,
temperature, vapour pressure deficit, water availability and stomatal opening
Water cycle effects of photosynthesis - Precipitation, interception, soil water,
evapotranspiration, losses and water deficits
What is VPD? - Vapor Pressure Deficit: The difference between the highest temperature and the
lowest temperature.
Main site resources - Light, water, nutrients
What determines a trees competitive ability? - Growth rate, water use, nutrition
Measuring competition within stands - Site occupancy (stand density index and relative
spacing), basal area and stems/ha, measures of canopies
Measuring competition for weed species - % cover, height, site occupancy, LAI
Measuring competition between stands - Experiments, Relative water use, canopy light
interception, process-level models, allelopathy
Types of models - Plot-level, distribution models, individual tree models, matrix
approaches
, Results of increasing model complexity - Sensitive to more variables, increasing likelihood of
recursion, more likely to be biased
Simples models are - More secure, narrow range of questions
Results of increasing spacing between trees - Improving establishment practices, and more
investment in each tree increases growth per tree at the expense of growth per ha
What regimes should low stockings be used in? - Pruned regimes
What are some of the ways of improving corewood quality - Increase initial planting per ha,
using clones more suited to higher stocking and that have better wood quality
Factors that affect decision making - Markets, site productivity, tending regimes, interest rates,
risk and understory development
What is the law of large numbers? - Sampling distributions become less spread the more
samples you have
Variation calculation - (Distance^2 / (sample size -1)
F-ratio calculation - class / residual error
Name the bias' that affect rotation length - Regeneration bias, technical bias, financial bias and
physical bias
Name some of the reasons for pruning - Clearwood, reduce fire risk, improves health
(dothistroma), access, fodder, understory growth, fuel wood, leaf mulch, increases mean wood
density
Tree selection criteria for pruning - Sweep, crook, basket whorls, multi-leaders, ramicorns and
dominance
Factors to consider whilst pruning - Timing of selection, cut flush with trunk, don't damage
trunk or branch swelling, don't use wound sealant, take needles off
Risks of pruning - Large investment, premium for clears, resin pockets
Benifits of thinning - Selection of quality stems, favour crop trees (especially pruned trees),
stand hygiene, promote understory for grazing, capture mortality
Effects of thinning - Reduced competition, less mortality, deeper crowns, crown expansion,
greater basal area growth/tree, increase in taper, increase in branch size, pathogens
Thinning costs - Labour, early investment, growth/ha, weed growth
Site Management Master Notes (2025 Edition)
Features that relate to forest value - Wood properties, structural grade, fibre properties, root
architecture and wood density
Name some of the factors that log size affects - Logging costs, transport costs, conservation,
clear wood yield, versatility
How are log grades determined - SED, max branch diameter, length, pruning, sweep, and
damage
Name the environmental effects on photosynthesis - Temperature, soil water, VPD, CO2
concentration and nutrition
How does water effect photosynthesis? - small amounts are used for reactions, effects of
deficits on hydration and stomatal closure, governs plant distributions
Water transpiration effects on photosynthesis - Evaporation of water from plants, light,
temperature, vapour pressure deficit, water availability and stomatal opening
Water cycle effects of photosynthesis - Precipitation, interception, soil water,
evapotranspiration, losses and water deficits
What is VPD? - Vapor Pressure Deficit: The difference between the highest temperature and the
lowest temperature.
Main site resources - Light, water, nutrients
What determines a trees competitive ability? - Growth rate, water use, nutrition
Measuring competition within stands - Site occupancy (stand density index and relative
spacing), basal area and stems/ha, measures of canopies
Measuring competition for weed species - % cover, height, site occupancy, LAI
Measuring competition between stands - Experiments, Relative water use, canopy light
interception, process-level models, allelopathy
Types of models - Plot-level, distribution models, individual tree models, matrix
approaches
, Results of increasing model complexity - Sensitive to more variables, increasing likelihood of
recursion, more likely to be biased
Simples models are - More secure, narrow range of questions
Results of increasing spacing between trees - Improving establishment practices, and more
investment in each tree increases growth per tree at the expense of growth per ha
What regimes should low stockings be used in? - Pruned regimes
What are some of the ways of improving corewood quality - Increase initial planting per ha,
using clones more suited to higher stocking and that have better wood quality
Factors that affect decision making - Markets, site productivity, tending regimes, interest rates,
risk and understory development
What is the law of large numbers? - Sampling distributions become less spread the more
samples you have
Variation calculation - (Distance^2 / (sample size -1)
F-ratio calculation - class / residual error
Name the bias' that affect rotation length - Regeneration bias, technical bias, financial bias and
physical bias
Name some of the reasons for pruning - Clearwood, reduce fire risk, improves health
(dothistroma), access, fodder, understory growth, fuel wood, leaf mulch, increases mean wood
density
Tree selection criteria for pruning - Sweep, crook, basket whorls, multi-leaders, ramicorns and
dominance
Factors to consider whilst pruning - Timing of selection, cut flush with trunk, don't damage
trunk or branch swelling, don't use wound sealant, take needles off
Risks of pruning - Large investment, premium for clears, resin pockets
Benifits of thinning - Selection of quality stems, favour crop trees (especially pruned trees),
stand hygiene, promote understory for grazing, capture mortality
Effects of thinning - Reduced competition, less mortality, deeper crowns, crown expansion,
greater basal area growth/tree, increase in taper, increase in branch size, pathogens
Thinning costs - Labour, early investment, growth/ha, weed growth
