Introduction to Froestry

Recognizing the Importance of Forests

Microsoft.com

What is a forest?

►a. A forest is a living, complexly interrelated community of trees and associated plants and animals.

►Timberland is forest land capable of producing wood in excess of 20 cubic feet per acre per year and not restricted from being harvested.

What is the importance of forests?

►Trees provide food, medicines, fuel, shelter, protection, shade, tools and other needs.

►Wood is the raw material from which forest industries manufacture countless products for home, factory and office.

►The United States has 540 million acres of timberland and is only producing about half of their biological potential.

►The United States is dependent on wood imports.

What is the importance of forests?

►The social values of forests are the benefits they provide for outdoor recreation activities such as: hunting, fishing, bird watching, nature study, camping, picnicking, hiking and scenic or aesthetic value.

What are the types of forests land?

►Total forest land is the sum of timberland, reserved forest land, and other forest land.

►Through improvement of forest management practices by timberland owners, the United States can become less dependent on other nations for its wood sources.

►Reserved forest land is defined as forest land restricted from harvesting.

►Other forest land has trees but does not meet the minimal required stocking level of timberland.

What are the beneficial influences of trees?

►II. Besides the direct benefits forests provide in the way of products, other values are derived from trees.

Microsoft.com

What are the beneficial influences of trees?

►Over an extended area, forests do not affect climate. However, in a localized area, they do have an effect on climate conditions. Forests influence temperature, humidity, and

wind velocity. The forest canopy is a barrier to direct sunlight

and shades the forest floor, influencing the air temperature, soil temperature and soil moisture.

The leaves and branches of trees break the impact of rain, causing it to drip rather than to reach the earth with force.

Upon reaching the forest floor, rain is absorbed by the ground litter and humus, reducing surface runoff.

What are the beneficial influences of trees?

►The leaf litter and humus keep the soil mellow, porous and permeable, which allows seepage of water into the substratum, where it is stored.

Microsoft.com

What are the beneficial influences of trees?

►The forest soil tends to not freeze as deep, as it absorbs more water from melting snow.

► In forested watersheds, where management is carefully practiced, extremes of water flow in winter and summer are avoided, aiding in flood control. By delaying the melting of the snow and by the

absorption of snow water into the soil, forests prolong the period of runoff, which helps to reduce flooding and to equalize stream flow in the streams and rivers.

What are the beneficial influences of trees?

►Forest vegetation shades water courses from the full heat of the sun preventing excessive stream temperatures and producing clear streams that are ideal for fish life. Forest streams usually have a minimum

amount of sediment, even during periods of high stream flow.

What are the beneficial influences of trees?

► Forests help to reduce wind erosion. The harmful effects of the wind drying out and blowing the soil, protection against drifting snows and shelter crops, livestock, homes and barns from hot or cold winds.

►Many kinds of wildlife are found in the forest, where they obtain food and shelter.

What is the economic importance of forests?

►Timber, grazing, recreation, water, minerals, fish, and wildlife are all examples of income-producing values of forests.

►The greatest economic contribution of forests is the products derived from trees. Ours is a wood-oriented society; wood is a

important part of houses, apartment buildings, many commercial and industrial structures, newspapers, cereal boxes, furniture and sports equipment.

What is the economic importance of forests?

►1. Trees from forests are made into lumber, pulpwood, veneer, poles, railroad ties, and piling.

►a. Lumber is further used to produce furniture and other manufactured items.

What is the economic importance of forests?

►b. Pulpwood is wood cut or prepared for manufacture into pulp, which can be made into paper products.

►c. Veneer is a thin sheet of wood.►d. Piling is a round timber driven into

the ground to support other structures.

What is the economic importance of forests?

►The same income producing resources have certain social values that may not be income producing but still have worth in terms of public good or interest. Social values are generally values related

to aesthetic considerations, such as scenic qualities of a forest area.

What is the economic importance of forests?

►Other social values are concerned with biological aspects, such as the uniqueness of the plants and animals found in the forest.

►Forests with high social values are being reserved for future public and private parks and monuments.

What is the economic importance of forests?

►Some of these areas may have other concurrent uses, such as recreation or establishment of biological preserves.

►Conflict of interests often arise between economic and social uses of forest land.

►An example involves areas that are flooded for water reservoirs or set aside in preserve and can no longer supply timber for wood-using industries.

What are the major parts of a tree and their functions?

►A tree is a woody plant having one well-defined stem and a formed crown.

►There are three major parts to a tree.►They are the roots, the trunk, and the

crown.

Roots

►The roots are the part of the tree typically found below the soil surface. The root system serves to anchor and

support the tree. Roots take water and nutrients from the

soil for plant growth.

Roots

►Roots also act as a storehouse for manufactured food for the plant.

►There are two basic types of tree roots.

►They are tap and fibrous.►A tap root system has one large root

with a number of small roots.►A fibrous root system has many roots

that spread and branch in the soil.

Trunk

►The trunk of the tree serves to conduct nutrients and water from the roots to the manufacturing portion of the tree, represented by the crown.

Trunk

►The trunk also produces the bulk of the useful wood in a tree.

►The trunk is comprised of a series of rings.

►Under normal conditions, one ring is produced each year.

Trunk

►Each section of the ring has a specific purpose in the life of the tree. In large trees, the center portion of the

trunk is darker-colored and is known as heartwood.

Here the cells have ceased to function.

Trunk

In other words, the wood in this portion of the tree is dead.

The heartwood provides strength to the tree and keeps it upright.

Trunk ►Outward from the heartwood is the

lighter colored wood known as sapwood, or xylem. This is the living portion of the

tree. It is the means by which raw

nutrients and water are carried from the roots to the crown.

The sapwood also serves as the storage area for some of the food made in the leaves.

Trunk

►Outside the sapwood is the cambium. This active layer of cells is responsible for

the growth of the tree. Each year the cambium forms a new

annual ring. This is how trees grow in diameter.

Trunk

►Immediately outward from the cambium are the living cells called the inner bark or the phloem. The tissue carries food made in the leaves

down to the branches, trunk, and roots. The phloem is protected by dead,

nonfunctioning outer bark.

Trunk

►The bark, which protects the trunk of the tree, is formed by the cork cambium, a thin layer of cells between the phloem and the bark itself.

Crown►The crown of the top part of the

tree that includes branches, twigs, buds, and leaves. A major role of the crown is to hold

leaves to collect sunlight so photosynthesis can occur.

It is also in this section of the tree that seeds, fruits, nuts, and berries are produced.

The crown can also served as a nesting site for wildlife such as squirrels and birds.

What Are Some Of The Most Important Chemical

Processes That Take Place Within a Tree?►Like any other type of plant, trees

require several chemical processes to occur within the plant for survival.

►These reactions allow the plant to produce food, expel waste, and regulate plant temperature.

►Three of the most important reactions that occur within a tree are photosynthesis, respiration, and transpiration.

Photosynthesis►Photosynthesis is a series of

complex chemical reactions in which carbon dioxide from the air and water from the soil are converted into carbohydrates (starches and sugars), with oxygen as a by-product.

►Nutrients and water from the roots are carried to the leaves by the xylem.

Photosynthesis

►The carbohydrates manufactured by the leaves are transported and used throughout the tree as the food materials for life support, growth, and reproduction.

Respiration►The process of consuming

carbohydrates and oxygen to obtain energy for the biological processes of life support, growth and reproduction is called respiration.

►Although a growing tree uses oxygen in respiration, the amount of oxygen consumed is much less than the amount of oxygen produced in the separate process of photosynthesis.

Transpiration►The loss of water vapor in plants

is called transpiration.►This occurs as a product of the

process of respiration.►Most of the water vapor escapes

through structures in the leaf called stomata, which are located on the underside of the leaf. The primary function of the stomata

is to regulate the exchange of carbon dioxide and water vapor with the atmosphere.

How Do Trees Reproduce?►There are two methods by which

trees reproduce: seed reproduction and vegetative reproduction (sprouting, suckering, and layering).

►Most trees reproduce by seed, but many can also reproduce vegetatively.

►Broad-leaved trees will usually sprout from cut stems, but most needle-leaved trees, or conifers, will not sprout.

Reproduction►Suckering is the sending up of

shoots from underground roots.►Layering occurs when the lower

branches of a tree touch the ground and the branch tips become covered by plant and leaf litter.

►A branch tip then develops roots extending into the soil and eventually a new tree grows from the branch tip.

Seed Reproduction►Seed reproduction is the most

common method of reproduction utilized by trees.

►There is a series of stages that the tree goes through in the development of seeds.

►In broadleaved trees, seeds are produced when then fertilized ovules, which are found in the ovaries of the flower, ripen.

►In most instances, the fruit of broad-leaved trees matures one year from the time it was fertilized.

Seed Reproduction►Seed production occurs

differently in conifers.►In these needle-leaved trees, the

ovules are born naked on cone scales and are not enclosed in an ovary.

►At pollination time the female cone (containing the ovules) scales spread apart for a short period of time.

►At this same time, male cones produce pollen.

Seed Reproduction

►It is hoped that when the scales of the female cone is spread apart that some of the pollen will fertilize the ovule.

►Upon ripening, the cone dries out, the scales come apart, and the winged seeds are dispersed by wind.

Common Tree Seeds

Naturalist.com

What are the national policies that impact wildlife conservation?

►National Park Service Enacted in 1916. Federal agency responsible for the

care of the national parks.

What is the history of wildlife conservation?

►Yellowstone National Park First national park in the world. Its purpose was to preserve the natural

resources of the area. 1872 Located in Idaho,

Montana & Wyoming 3,472 sq. miles 2,221,773 sq. acres

Historical People in Wildlife Conservation

►John Muir (1838–1914) Partly responsible for the development of

Yellowstone and Sequoia National Parks. Encouraged President Roosevelt to establish

these parks. Started the Sierra Club. California forest named after him.

Historical People in Wildlife Conservation

►Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) Known as the “Father of the Conservation

Movement”. Passed legislations to help protect natural

resource.

Historical People in Wildlife Conservation

►Gifford Pinchot (1865–1946) One of the first leaders of what is now

known as the U.S. Forest Service. Wrote a book called The Fight for

Conservation. His efforts focused on the conservation of

forests.

National Forest Service

►I. There are 191 million acres within the nation forests of the United States which are under the control of the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service.

►II. The Forest Service manages public lands, known collectively as the National Forest System, located in 44 States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.

National Forest Service

►The lands comprise 8.5 percent of the total land area in the United States.

►The natural resources on these lands are some of the Nation’s greatest assets and have major economic, environmental, and social significance for all Americans.

►Forest Service manages the forest in a way that allows people to share and enjoy the forest, while conserving the environment for generations to come.

The Forest Service accomplishes this task through five main

activities:►1. Protection and management of natural

resources on National Forest System lands.

►2. Research on all aspects of forestry, rangeland management, and forest resource utilization.

►3. Community assistance and cooperation with State and local governments, forest industries, and private landowners to help protect and manage non-Federal forest and associated range and watershed lands to improve conditions in rural areas.

The Forest Service accomplishes this task through five main

activities:►4. Achieving and supporting an effective

workforce that reflects the full range of diversity of the American people.

►5. International assistance in formulating policy and coordinating U.S. support for the protection and sound management of the world’s forest resources.

The Forest Service uses prescribed fire to manage

forests►A prescribed fire is a managed,

intentional fire set by humans for a specific purpose.

►A prescribed fire is usually controlled and contained within a specific area.

►A properly controlled prescribed fire produces several benefits for the forest, wildlife, and people.

Some of the benefits are:

►1. Reducing the hazard of wildfire by removing fuel from the forest floor.

►A wildfire is a fire that endangers people or property, which is not within an area designated to be managed by the use of fire, or that, in conjunction with weather or other conditions, may threaten to expand, thus endangering people, property, or non fire-management areas.

Benefits of a Prescribed Fire

►2. Preparing sites for seedlings and planting. A prescribed burn can remove other

plants that will act as competition for nutrients and water to the new trees.

►3. Removing undesirable trees and brush cluttering the forest understory.

Benefits of a Prescribed Fire

►4. Assist in controlling forest diseases.

►5. Improves the quality of grass for grazing by removing brush and dried weeds.

Different Types of Forest Fires

►II. The USDA Forest Service categorizes forest fires into three general types: surface, ground, and crown fires.

►More than one of these types of fires may occur within the same forest fire.

Sources of Forest Fires

► Forest fires can be natural, often by lightning strikes.

►However, people cause the majority of forest fires.

►Some of the major sources of forest wildfires are: Incendiary – purposefully set (Arson) Debris Burning – gets out of control causing

damage Smokers – dropping a still burning match or

cigarette Lightning – Electrical storms w/o rain produce

9% of forest fires