Talk:Silviculture

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

	Agropedia Portal This article is within the scope of the WikiProject Agriculture, which collaborates on articles related to agriculture. To participate, you can edit this article or visit the project page for more details.
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the quality scale.
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the importance scale.
Assessment comments This article has not been rated for quality and/or importance yet. Please rate the article and then leave comments here to explain the ratings and/or to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the article.

14:25, 9 October 2007 (UTC)Grebber==Silviculture vs. Forestry==

I don't really understand how silviculture is different from forestry. Could someone who knows put in a sentence about it in the intro? The forestry article has a sentence, but it doesn't really make the difference clear, at least for me. Are they similar enough that we should think about merging? --Allen 16:35, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

As I understand it, forestry is a much more general term than silviculture and may include wildlife & fire management, harvesting and eco-tourism. However I'm an ecologist not a forester! Jppigott 05:46, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

That makes sense; thanks! --Allen 14:46, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Forestry and silviculture are exactly the same thing. Modern silviculture takes care of wildlife, fire management and all the others. The articles should be joined, and the title should indicate Forestry, also callled silviculture. It is just as if you tried to make a theory about an Ear-Nose-Throat Doctor and an Otorhynolaringologist and there are numerous other examples of the same notion having english and latin names.

Afil 17:27, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

I respectfully disagree forestry "involves the science, business, art and practice of purposefully organizing, managing and using forests and their resources to benefit people. Siliviculture deals with the methods for establishing and maintaining healthy communities of trees and other vegetation that have value to people." Nyland, Ralph D., Silviculture: Concepts and Applications, 2nd Ed. (2002) Basically silviculture is practiced at the forest stand level and forestry involves a group of forest stands that compose a forest. I am a forester that practices silvics at the stand level that in total is my practice of forestry. I work differently in a lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) stand than I would in a Jeffrey pine (Pinus Jeffreyi) stand. Both stands can be present in a single forest. The difference is in scale. SierraSkier 21:15, 4 February 2007 (UTC)SierraSkier

To chime-in, I think that Silviculture is more limited than forestry. My brief personal notes on the topic are at Forests are not a renewable resource. In that page, I touch-upon that "forests" are not really trees. Trees are just one aspect of forests. Silvicuture would probably be less developed from the angle of recreation, camping, etc.. From my reading, I don't find Silviculture and Forestry to be equal or identical. Very similar, but not equivalent.Mdvaden 06:55, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

To add my little bit, and echo some of the points made,

Forestry "The profession embracing the science, art, and practice of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources for human benefit and in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs and values. The broad field of forestry consists of those biological, quantitiatve, managerial, and social sciences that are applied to forest management and conservation; it includes specialized fields such as agro-forestry, urban forestry, industrial forestry, nonindustrial forestry, and wilderness and recreation forestry." Dictionnaire de la foresterie, Cote, Marc 2000.

Silviculture "The art and science of controlling the establishment, growth, compostion, health, and quality of forests and woodlands to meet the diverse needs and values of landowners and society on a sustainable basis." Dictionnaire de la foresterie, Cote, Marc 2000.

Comparing these definitions, silivculture is a tool used by and seperate from forestry. I say this because forestry is not limited to silviculture. Forestry is a profession which encompasses more than just cutting and growing trees. It has to do this ethically and legally. Forestry also(at least in Ontario) requires; continuous learning, public consultation, legal obligations, social initiative (i.e. jobs) in all facets that Forestry is made up of. In short, Forestry is a social, science and economic profession, silviculutre is one of the tools used by a Forester.

______

I am not an expert on this subject but have worked as a tree planter and it seems to me that the aspect of actively planting trees to replace cut timber is missing from this page. In Canada it plays a huge role as both clearcuts (both new and historical) as well as unsightly burns in highly visible areas are planted. This planting usually aims to replace the original species with seeds collected from the cut trees or nearby stands. Could someone with more expertise address this in the article? Neiler 19:37, 10 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sustainable

I agree with the explicit implication that silviculture, to be truly effective, should have sustainability as its goal. This is surely however a point of view. Silvicultural methods can be used in a non-sustainable way, it relies on the practicioner or controlling organisation and their management ethos (amoung other things) to determine sustainability. For example, establishing large scale plantations of productive exotic species on land recently cleared of native species will employ a wide range of silvicultural techniques but could be questioned on grounds of sustainability.The Boy that time forgot 23:32, 10 November 2006 (UTC)

Accountants can also hide millions of dollars in losses through fraud, but by definition that is not the practice of accounting, that is the practice of fraud. Silviculturists that practice unsustainable forestry are by definition practicing something other than silviculture. The biological and ecological sciences are the foundation of silviculture and economics is only a consideration. SierraSkier 21:22, 4 February 2007 (UTC)SierraSkier

If I plant a stand of trees I will use silvicultural techniques, if I manage the stand to produce high quality sawlogs (cleaning, thinning, high pruning, etc) I will use more silvicultural techniques. If my descendants then clearfell the stand and sell the land for development all the sustainability that I had intended vanishes. Perhaps my definition of what is sustainable is too rigorous, or perhaps I'm plain wrong. I accept what you say, however I would argue that silviculture is a toolbox of techniques, the sustainability comes from the ethos of the practicioners.The Boy that time forgot 22:07, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

I think you have put the point perfectly. As foresters we can only do what we can do. A couple of years ago I was having lunch with my marking crew and we were talking about what the next generation of forester would think of our work. I am trying to entice businesses to invest in low ground pressure equipment for use in Lake Tahoe, but it is difficult, sustainability is expensive, so is unsustainability. If we regulate landowners in California too much we certainly will be establishing condominiums. It is a balancing act with no correct answers. SierraSkier 03:21, 6 February 2007 (UTC)