Thanks to all who responded. The problem is not solved, but I have
learned a lot:
1. There is a dichotomy in the field of silviculture among those
who manipulate fundamentally natural forests and those who manage
plantations. Many of the conerns of complex stand development
(multi-species, conflicting values, etc.) seem restricted to those
dealing with 'natural' systems on public land.
2. No single text adequately addresses the above distinction, nor
the combination of forest stand dynamics background, ecosystem
and landscape management, as well as the nuts-n'-bolts of basic
silviculture wrt seedling production, site prep., etc.
The following texts are used or were suggested: (- my comments in bullets)
i) for 'natural' forests:
a) Oliver & Larson 1990 "Forest Stand Dynamics" McGraw-Hill
- 2 votes; good science but perhaps too conceptual
for neophytes grappling with their first prescriptions
- i had already decided to save this for a fourth year
elective class on forest stand dynamics/growth and yield
b) M. Hunter 1990 "Wildlife, Forests and Forestry..." Prentice-Hall
- 2 votes; i never thought of this one, but yes, of course,
it is one of the few to treat both stand and landscape
management; but the tradeoff is a fairly superficial treatment
of techniques and fiber production objectives
- already used as the textbook for a required 3rd or 4th
year course in wildlife management in the UBC Forestry program
ii) for plantations and carefully groomed forests:
a) J.D. Matthews 1989 "Silvicultural Systems" Oxford Univ. Press
- (perhaps not fair to put in this category as it has a global
scope, but still a european forester's perspective)
- nice for impressing that clearcutting need not be considered
the automatic default, but has nothing on seedling production,
site prep., non-timber values, landscape issues; strong on
stand diagnosis and prescription.
b) K.R. Shepherd 1986 "Plantation Silviculture" Martinus Nijhoff
- i haven't seen this one; said to concentrate on radiata pine
c) Lewis and Ferguson 1993 "Management of Radiata Pine" Inkata Press
- (i suppose the name says it all...)
d) J.L. Clutter et al. "Timber management: a quantitative approach" Wiley
- decided fiber emphasis; (imho, i'd be surprised if this could
be used to teach silviculture)
e) assorted regional silviculture guides and handbooks:
e.g., "Wisconsin DNR Silvicultural Handbook"
"B.C. Ministry of Forests Silviculture Manual, 3 Vol."
Barret's (1980) "Regional Silviculture of the United States"
- i see 2 major problems with using these:
firsts, limited geographic scope
second, an emphasis on how things are currently done
rather than on why they are done or could/should be
improved
- perhaps suitable in technical schools or community colleges,
but not for degree foresters, imho.
iii) intermediates:
a) D.M. Smith 1986 "The Practice of Silviculture" Wiley
- had been used/is being used by 3 respondents
- perhaps still has the best balance; covers principles
as well as practices, but needs supplementing in
areas of seedling production and ecosystem and landscape issues.
b) rumour has it that McGraw-Hill is preparing a NEW silviculture text.
- does anyone know who the author(s) is/are? is it a 3rd
edition of Daniel et al. 1979 "Principles of Silviculture"?
- can we find a table of contents for this.
3) My Decision:
I think i will keep my existing texts (Smith 1986, Lavender et
al. 1990) but will let students be more responsible for the material
themselves. I intend to draw much more upon Oliver & Larson 1990,
Hunter 1990, and Matthews 1989 in preparing lectures. I'd like
to rethink the labs accordingly, perhaps with a more problem-based
learning approach.
Many of you seem to share my concerns, so maybe there is a
need to start developing a new textbook: "Ecological Silviculture";
please let me know if you'd like to suggest what should be in such
a course/book.
4) Closing Thoughts:
Much of my frustration stems from our expectation that foresters/managers
be 'trained' at the level of the lowest common intersection of these
various perspectives and sub-disciplines. In my mind, education and
certification for forest management needs to a) be elevated to a
post-graduate level, and b) have room for the recognition of
specialization on the part of practitioners. Then we could cover
silviculture and ecosystem management at a simple but firm conceptual
level for all, and at a more sophisticated level for specialists.
Thanks again to all who participated in this discussion.
Phil Burton
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burton@unixg.ubc.ca
Philip J. Burton, Assistant Professor
University of British Columbia
Department of Forest Sciences tel. 604-822-6020
#270 - 2357 Main Mall fax. 604-822-5744
Vancouver, B.C. Canada V6T 1Z4
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