Unit Code: FES402

Unit Name: Silviculture

Description: This course is designed to give the students an understanding of silviculture and its place in forestry, thinning and their effect on growth and yield, methods and application of thinning, pruning, release cuttings, herbicides, cleaning, types of vegetation removed, cutting as a method of cleaning, foliage spraying, basal spraying, stump spraying, application of herbicides to the soil, liberation cutting, method of liberation cutting, application of liberation cuttings, the control of cutting & its use for improvement & salvage, preparation of site for planting, development of silviculture systems & methods of reproduction, the clear cutting method, planting, the seed-tree method, the shelter wood method, the selection method, the control of cutting and its use for improvement & salvage. introduction, definition scope and purpose of plantations; history of plantations- plantations before 1900; 1900 -1945; 1945-1965; 1965- 1980 - developments since 1980; choice of species and sites- selecting the species, land availability, site productive capacity, site classification approaches; plantation establishment-factors determining the seedling and growth; planting weed control and coppice; nutrient management- early growth and nutrient supply, long term and later age fertilization; stand density and initial spacing: maximum density and stand development; mixed species plantations - growth and examples of mixed-species plantations; multiple role of planted forest - economic role and environmental role; social role of planted forest; policy institutional and ownership issues of plantations.

Learning Target Outcomes:

Prerequisite: N/A

Prerequisite Sentence: Student must be enrolled in the programme.

Credit Point: 12

Offered In: Semester 1