Important Terms in Forestry

Some important terms in forestry

1. Tending: Operations carried out for the benefit of a
forest crop at any stage of its life between the seedling
and the mature stages
2. Tending includes weeding, cleaning, thinning, pruning,
climber cutting and girdling
3. Purpose of Tending is producing higher quality timber
and thus maximising income
4. It has to be done several times from seedling to
maturity stage, requires considerable staff and funds
Some important terms in forestry (contd)

• Weeding: a tending operation done in the seedling stage in

nursery and in forest crop that involves removal or cutting of
all weeds
• Objects of weeding is to reduce root competition for
nutrients, moisture, to provide sufficient growing space for
the desired species and to reduce transpiration water loss. It
must be carried out for at least 3years from planting and
should be done before suppression of seedlings by weeds
• Weeding is done in nursery and young plantations
Weeds are controlled by:
• Mechanical methods
• Biological methods
• Chemical methods
Mechanical methods
• In nurseries, we use instrument like khurpas
• Generally uprooting is done and not cutting of weeds in nursery,
otherwise they will sprout again
• In field plantation, like teak and eucalyptus, clearing of about 0.6-1.0
m wide strip is carried out.
• Weeding around the pit is also carried out in some species in many
areas
Weeding (line clearing)
Biological methods
• Use of suitable cover crops, use of insect pests feeding on weed, use
of suitable degree of fire and grazing
• In Karnataka, Amaranthus spp. and tulsi have been found suitable
cover crop in moist deciduous forests of teak
• Tall planting has been reported to be successful in heavy weed
growth areas
• Opuntia spp has been successfully controlled by cockineal insect in
thorn forests of south India
• Lantana bug (Orthezia insignis) has been used in controlling weed
Lantana camara. Still in experimenting stage
Chemical methods
• We use weedicides or herbicides for controlling weeds
• Better use bio weedicides
• Chemicals like 2,4 dichloro phenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D); 2,4,5- trichloro
phenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T), ethyl esters etc.
These herbicides are usually applied on foliage of plant
Cost is very high, hence not become popular in India
Some important terms in forestry (contd)

• Cleaning: A tending operation done in a sapling crop

which involves removal of inferior growth. Carried out
when the inferior crop interfere with the main crop
• Objects include to improve light conditions, to reduce
root competition. Involves cutting of shrubs and
herbaceous growth, climber cutting, cutting back of
malformed or diseased individuals of desired species,
singling of coppice shoots of favoured species
Cleaning – contd.
• In Sal forest, repeated cuttings of Mallotus philippensis, Clerodendron
viscosum, Milletia spp are necessary
• In Coniferous forests like Deodar and Kail, woody shrubs like
Indigoifera, Desmodium, Rubus etc are removed in cleaning
• In wet evergreen forests, spp like Callicarpa, Macaranga,
Strobilanthes etc. interfere with regeneration of important species
like Dipterocarpus, Vateria, Hopea and t/fore in cleaning these
infereior spp are removed.
• In teak forests, competing Lantana camara is removed.
Cleaning
Some important terms in forestry (contd)
• Thinning: A felling done in an immature stand for the
purpose of improving growth and form of trees
• Thinning cycle refers to the planned interval which
elapses between successive thinning in the same area
• Objects include to increase the net yield from a unit area,
to obtain a timber of desired quality and strength, to
maintain hygienic conditions in stand by removing
diseased trees, to ensure decomposition of raw humus in
temperate forests by increasing light and temperature on
forest floor
Some important terms in forestry (contd)
• Example of thinning: In Teak plantation, initial spacing is 1.8 m
x 1.8 m. First mechanical thinning is done when Teak attains
height of 7.5 m to 9 m. In this alternate plants are removed
and total plant population is reduced by 50 % of original. After
5years, again alternate plants are removed and population
again reduced by 50 % and more space becomes available for
Teak plants crown to spread and bole to develop.
• Types of thinning:
• Mechanical thinning (alternate diagonal lines are removed)
• Ordinary thinning (also called German thinning or thinning
from the below)
• Crown thinning (also called French thinning or thinning from
the above)
• Advance thinning (here thinning is carried out before the
competition among individual trees has set in)
German thinning or thinning from the below
Crown thinning or French thinning or thinning
from above
Some important terms in forestry (contd)
• Girdling: Cutting through bark and other living layers of
wood just below bark, in a continuous incision all around
the pole or stem of a tree
• This is an economical method of killing inferior trees in a
forest.
• Girdling of stem restricts flow of photosynthates from
leaves to roots.
• Thus girdling causes death of roots by starvation
• Girdling enhances more fire hazard inside the forests
Girdling
Xylem and phloem
Some important terms in forestry (contd)

• Pruning: Removal of live or dead branches from the stem

of a standing tree mainly for the improvement of timber
or to obtain tree with clean bole
• It may be dry pruning (removing dead branches) or green
pruning (removing green branches)
• These are also called Natural pruning/Self pruning OR
Artificial punning
• Natural/Self pruning is done by natural agencies like
wind, snow, hailstorm etc.
Pruning
Some important terms in forestry (contd)
• Climber cutting or control: Climbers are usually cut
regularly.
• Thin climbers needs complete uprooting
• Thick climbers may be cut at base and one metre above
• Then climbers are removed and burned
• Climbers are particularly harmful when trees are young
• In older trees, they constrict the stem and deteriorate the
value of wood e.g. Bauhinia vahlii, Butea superba, B.
parviflora, Vitis spp, Millettia auriculata, Smilex spp,
Combretum decundrum etc. are important climbers in
moist deciduous forests.
Climber cutting
Some important terms in forestry (contd)
• Cultural operations: Carried out after felling in a forest
area
• It include controlled burning of area
• Main aim is to assist natural regeneration and to
decrease felling damage
• Main difference between Tending and Cultural
operations:
• Main object of Tending is to produce better quality of
timber whereas in Cultural operations main object is
assisting natural regeneration
• Tending operations continue throughout life of plants in a
forest whereas Cultural operations are done only after
fellings
Some important terms in forestry (contd)

• Afforestation: Establishment of forest by artificial means

on an area from which forest vegetation has always or
long been absent.
• In order to attain the 33% national forest cover,
afforestation is inevitable one
Thanks