Forestry Final Exam

section

1 square mile

1 kilometer is equal to how many meters?

1000m

1 meter is equal to how many feet?

3.28 ft

short cord

4 × 8-foot rick of pieces shorter than 4 feet

forties

40 acres

1 acre is equal to how many square feet and how many square chains?

43,560 ft^2, 10 chains ^2

township

6 square miles divided into 36 sections

1 square mile is equal to how many acres?

640 acres

1 chain is equal to how many feet?

66 ft

1 mile is equal to how many chains and how many feet?

80 chains, 5,280 ft

improvement cutting

A cutting made in a stand pole-sized or larger primarily to improve composition and quality by removing less desirable trees of any species

site index

A measure of actual or potential forest productivity expressed in terms of the average height of a certain number of dominants and codominants in the stand at an index age.

sample plot

A sample unit or element of known area and shape.

Advantages and disadvantages of artificial regeneration?

A- stand establishment may be more reliable, increases chances of prompt reforestation, timing can be planned to coincide with favorable weather conditions D- you may lose good genetics and it takes more physical time from you

what are the advantages and disadvantages of natural regeneration?

A- you get the genetics that are already there D- not as much control over how much is being repopulated

Biltmore stick

An instrument used for measuring the diameter of a tree, height of a tree, and diameter of a log. A Biltmore stick also has board foot tables on it.

Why is it important to estimate the annual growth of timber stands?

It helps to determine when to harvest or how much to thin

What problems would you encounter if you cut all the good trees in an area?

It would degrade the stand and cause the stand to be repopulated with lower quality trees

tree diameter tape

Measure circumference of trees

direct seeding

Putting seeds directly into the forest floor rather than planting seedlings.

How does natural regeneration take place?

Regeneration occurs from whatever is already there such as seeds and sprouts.

mechanical thinning

Remove in rows or strips (Every 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. row)

Bolts

Short logs or sections of a large log, usually less than 8 feet long

release cutting

Silvicultural treatment in which larger trees of competing species are removed from competition with desired crop trees

merchantable height

The distance from the stump height to the top of the merchantable material in the tree and varies depending on the products to be made from the tree, implies the ability to cut lumber, veneer, or other products from the logs.

sample size

The number of subjects used in an experiment or study.

systemic sampling

The process of selecting a sample of subjects for a study by drawing every nth unit on a list (specific intervals)

site quality

The productive capacity of a site, usually expressed as volume production of a given species.

high thinning

The removal of trees from the dominant and codominant crown classes in order to favor the best trees of those same crown classes.

low thinning

The removal of trees from the lower crown classes to favor those in the upper crown classes.

thinning

The timber-harvesting practice of selectively removing only smaller or poorly formed trees

Why measure forests?

To determine how much growth and profit is in a stand.

multiple use

Use of an ecosystem such as a forest for a variety of purposes such as outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed, and wildlife/fish

random sampling

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

standard cord

a stack of 4 by 4 by 8 feet of wood and contain 128 cubic feet of wood, air, and bark

log rules

a table or formula showing the estimated net yield for logs of a given diameter and length

board foot

a unit of measurement for lumber that equals 1'' x 12'' x 12''.

sustained yield

a yield that a forest can produce continuously

quarter section

about 160 acres

Examples of remote sensing

aerial photographs, GIS, google earth

Mortality

all the trees that died during the time interval between surveys

horizontal point sampling

an efficient way of estimating the basal area and volume of forest stands

hypsometer

any of several tools or instruments designed to measure the height of trees. examples include Biltmore stick, clinometer, and height poles

What unit is used for lumber dimensions?

board foot

codominant

canopy trees of average size that receive direct sunlight from above but relatively little light from the sides

What unit is log diameter measured in?

centimeters

What is the difference between a 100% timber cruise and a partial timber cruise?

clearcutting removes all trees while partial leaves at least 5-10% of the trees

uneven-aged stand

completely different ages in the same spot

sampling error

dependent on uniformity

clinometer

determine a tree's height or percent grade on a slope

DBH

diameter at breast height

what are the different crown classes?

dominant, codominant, intermediate, and surpressed

What are the purposes of silviculture?

enhance timber production, wildlife habitat, streamflow, and the aesthetic quality of the forest

timber cruise

estimate of volume of timber

What unit is tree and log length measured in?

feet

Ingrowth

growth in new trees that were not present in the original survey and trees that were too small to be tallied

sapling stand

have trees taller than 1 meter and range in stem diameter up to 10 cm

How do you determine forest growth

ingrowth + survivor growth - mortality - cut

dendrometer

instrument for measuring the height and diameter of trees

overmature stands

large proportion of the trees are becoming senescent; losses from mortality often exceed additions from volume in growth

pole stands

made up mostly of trees between 10 and 25 cm in diameter

Sawlogs

mature, high-quality trees that are removed for sale

increment borer

measure tree age/growth

What unit is distance measured in?

meters

metes and bounds system

natural features were used to demarcate irregular parcels of land

Gross scale minus scale defects equals

net scale

multiple use interactions

neutral- interactions that don't affect one another compatible- interactions that benefit each other noncompatible- interactions that don't work well at all

dominant use

one particular use of the forest is given relative priority over others

forest resource manager

optimizes the supply of ecosystem-based resources relative to the demand for them, and it concurrently ensures a perpetual supply of resources with minimal conflict in using one or another of them

indirect seeding

plants started indoors that will be transplanted

forest sampling

process of selecting representative samplings

Pure stand vs. mixed stand

pure- everything is the same species, administrative ease, lower cost of cultural treatments and harvesting mixed- multiple species and sometimes ages, more aesthetically pleasing, may have greater capacity for wildlife, more resistant to insect and disease outbreaks

seedling stand

recently disturbed stands in which the regeneration is less than 1 meter

remote sensing

refers to any method employed to study the characteristics of objects from a distance

stocking

refers to the adequacy of a given stand density to meet some management objective

baselines

runs east-west

principle meridians

runs north-south

even-aged stand

same age (about 2-3 years)

gross scale

sawlog volume obtained with a log rule or cubic volume formula

mature stands

size varies greatly according to species and location; in temperate regions usually includes trees between 25 and 60 cm in diameter

Chips

small- to medium-sized pieces of wood formed by cutting or chipping larger pieces of wood

sampling unit

that element or set of elements considered for selection in some stage of sampling

rotation age

the age of the stand at which a harvest is planned, usually a few years prior to becoming an overstocked stand

silviculture

the art of producing and tending to a forest; the theory and practice of controlling forest establishment, composition, and growth

forest growth

the change in volume that occurs over an interval of time

monoculture

the cultivation of a single crop in a given area.

scaling

the determination of the gross and net volume of logs

Survivor growth

the difference in timber volume of the trees that survived since the original survey

Cut

the measurement taken from the stumps of harvested trees

forest management

the process of organizing forest stands so that they produce a continuous stream of whatever resources are desired from that forest (timber, wildlife, aesthetic experiences, etc.)

sampling method

the process used to choose the sample from the population

dominant

trees that project somewhat above the general level of the canopy, having crowns that receive direct sunlight from above and some from the side

surpressed

trees with crowns completely overtopped by surrounding trees so that they receive no direct sunlight except occasional "sun flecks" penetrating small gaps in the foliage above

intermediate

trees with crowns extending into the canopy layer but crowded on all sides so that only the top of the crown receives direct sunlight

tree caliper

used to measure tree diameter

rectangular survey system

uses carefully established baselines and principle meridians as reference for land location

forest yield

volume of timber in a forest at a specific point in time

how does artificial regeneration take place?

we pick what we want and plant it

initial point

where baseline and principle meridian cross

height pole

works if the tree isn't super tall