EXAM 1 FORESTRY Flashcards
How was fire used historically by Native Americans
Native Americans used controlled fire as a way to create cleanings for their villages and farms
What attitude did settlers have 400 years ago about forests.
The settlers saw all the resources as their own and took as much as they wanted with little thought about how it will effect them later on.
What is Plymouth Colony 1967, Pennsylvania 1681 and Broad Arrow 1691?
They are some of the first restrictions on over harvesting trees.
What is public domain and why did the federal government develop it?
The US government created public domain to promote settlement west wards. They sold the land for a cheaper price as an incentive to move west. The money earned was used to pay back the debt of the Revolutionary War.
Homestead Act 1862
The government wanted settlers to move out west so the sold settlers 160 acres for a small filling fee of $18 if they promised to live there for 5 years
Morrill Land Grant Act 1862
The government set aside federal lands to create colleges to benefit the agricultural and mechanical arts
Timber and Stone Act 1878
The US sold land that wasn’t suitable for farming for $2.50 an acre
Forest Reserve Act 1891
allowed presidents to remove forests from public domain into forest reserves
Organic Act 1897
provides for the management of forest reserves
McSweeney-McNary Forest Research Act 1928
established inventorying and monitoring activities of the Forest Service
Multiple Use/ Sustained yield Act 1960
federal forests are to be managed under principals of multiple use and to produce a sustained yield of products and services
What are some important environmental variables of forest biomes?
climate and sills, geography, ecophysiology factors (water, nutrient, solar radiation, temperature)
What is physiognomy?
similar climates have similar vegetation appearances
Boreal Forest, Northern Coniferous Forest
- Vegetation: spruce, fir, pine, birch, aspen, willow
- Climate: rather cold, long and harsh winter, 5-7 months of winter, short growing season
- Soils: young, and slow to develop, nutrient limiting as the soil is developing
Eastern Mixed Forest, Northern Hardwoods
- Vegetation: maple, hemlock, beech, basswood, birch, oak, hickory
- Climate: 4-5 month winter, favorable to spring, summer bring moisture stress
- Soils: highly variable(some rich, others are not), glaciation, uplifting, bedrock exposure
Pacific Coast (Coastal) Forest
- Vegetation: douglas-fir, western hemlock, spruce, fir, redwood
- Climate: temperate especially near ocean, variable from temperate rainforest to woodland to Boreal, a lot of moisture
- Soil: possibly deep and high organic matter at surface, highly variable
Rocky Mountain (Evergreen) Forest
1.Vegetation: Pine, spruce, Douglas-fir, aspen, maple, oak
2. Climate: cool and temperate due to elevation, relatively short growing season
Eastern Deciduous, Central Broad-Leaved Forest
- Vegetation: central hardwoods: oak, hickory, tulip poplar, sugar maple, buckeye
- Climate: not to hot not to cold, favorable growing season, net primary production is high
South-Eastern Mixed/Evergreen Forest
- Vegetation: yellow pine, oak, hickory, maple
- Climate: mild winters, hot summers, late summer moisture stress
- Soils: old/aged, nutrient challenged
Tropical Forest
- Vegetation: many broad-leaved evergreens, deciduous as rainfall decreases
- Climate: Hot and humid
- Soils: old/ages, nutrient challenged
Prevalent forest types in Wisconsin
- 2.8 million acres of aspen
- 1.5 million acres of oak and hickory
- 1.4 million acres of maple and basswood
- 670,000 acres of red pine
What percentage of the land mass in Wisconsin is forested
approximately 45%
Range
current natural location
habit
plant form
habitat
site conditions found on
autecology
environmental factors important to explaining where trees grow
What is a stand of trees and how is it defined
uniformity in age class, composition, structure, continuous grouping
Ways to define forest structure
- even aged (mostly similar aged)
- uneven aged (several age classes, 3 or more)
- diameter distributions are used to infer about age class
Ways to define forest composition
- pure (one species)
- mixed (2 or more species)
What is the function of the pith
central core of the boles, branches, twigs and some roots. First year of growth, soft tissue
What is the function of the xylem
water conducting tissue, supports structure, stores nutrients
Result of primary growth
elongation
Result of secondary growth
radial growth
autecology
species and the environment
synecology
all organisms, complex interaction and the environment
Sexual regeneration by seeds
wind, animals, and mechanical
Asexual regeneration
fragments of roots, sprouts, stumping, sprouting
What is an environmental gradient
a bell curve graph, environmental conditions best suited for species
Succession
replacement of vegetation and other organisms, primary based on shade tolerance, leads to climax vegetation, disturbance changes the game
primary succession
starting from nothing, bare rock, severely disturbed soil
secondary succession
from a setback or a disturbance
disturbances
fire, wind, floods, ice storm, moisture stress, insects and diseases, wildlife, humans
Ways to measure diameter at DBH
outside bark diameter, measured at 4.5 feet above ground
measured with a DBH stick, calipers, Biltmore stick
Basal Area
outside bark, cross sectional area measured 4.5 feet above ground, expressed sq ft/acre
Height
distance from the ground to the tree top
measured with a clinometer, vertex hypsometer, or estimated with a trained eye
Tree diameter classes
seedling- less than 4.5 feet tall
sapling- 0”<DBH<5.5”
Pole or Pulpwood:
hardwood- 5.6”<DBH< 11.5”
softwood- 5.6”<DBH< 9.5”
saw timber:
hardwood- DBH>11.6”
softwood- DBH>9.6”
cull
a non-merchantable living tree
snag
a standing dead tree
Fixed radius plot sample
measuring circular plots that are usually some fraction of an acre
point sampling
use a prism to determine which trees to measure
Board foot
most common measure of a saw timber value
1 board foot is equivalent to a plant that is 1” by 12” by 12”
Cords
the most common measure of pulpwood volume
1 cord is equivalent to 128 cubic feet of stacked pulpwood (4ft x 4ft x 8ft)
