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Theories and Concepts in Individual-Based Forest Management

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Individual-based Methods in Forest Ecology and Management

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Abstract

The academic field of forest management and silviculture has a very rich and long tradition, since this subject area once was the cradle of forestry. The methods used were originally based on experience in agriculture which later gave way to ecological principles and can be described as resource management for the purpose of providing goods and services to human societies. With increasing ecological and physiological knowledge forest management methods have become individual-based and many of them are useful in a wide range of contexts including timber production, production of non-timber forest products, conservation and recreation to name but a few. Generic methods have been developed partly based on research results and partly based on practical experience. This chapter outlines the basic principles of individual-based forest management providing the basis for the subsequent chapters of this book. Innovative methods of individual-based forest management focussing on local neighbourhood relationships have recently been introduced in many countries and are likely to form an important part of future, sustainable forest management.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Köstler (1956) described desirable frame tree characteristics in a commercial scenario as stable trees “with stems running right through with one definitely predominant axis. Such trees should be straight, erect and of circular cross-section. The crowns of frame trees should have a dominant leader. There should be a sufficient branch-free length of high-quality timber. The crown should be finely branched and should display a symmetrical structure, as with a symmetrical crown the stem grows concentrically.”

    Unfavourable tree characteristics in a commercial context include deeply forked stems, heavy and many branches, epicormic shoots, bent-over stems, cracks, spiral grain, broken leaders/tops, harvesting and extraction (bark abrasion) damage, insufficient root spread and anchorage in the soil, swellings, canker and other diseases.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden

    Arne Pommerening

  2. Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Russia

    Pavel Grabarnik

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  1. Arne Pommerening
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  2. Pavel Grabarnik
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Correspondence to Arne Pommerening .

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Pommerening, A., Grabarnik, P. (2019). Theories and Concepts in Individual-Based Forest Management. In: Individual-based Methods in Forest Ecology and Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24528-3_3

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