ICAR AICE-JRF/SRF Principles of Silviculture: practice questions

1 · Definition, objects and scope of silviculture · medium

Why are silvicultural objectives often said to conflict?

1. Silviculture has a single objective, timber, so conflict arises only from budget cuts
2. Volume favours dense uniform stands; biodiversity favours mixed, complex stands
3. Objectives conflict only in plantations; natural forests have no competing objectives
4. Biodiversity and volume are always maximised by exactly the same stand structure

2 · Site factors: climatic, edaphic, physiographic, biotic · hard

Afforestation of a long-treeless grassland with an exotic pine fails even though climate and soil appear suitable. Which biotic factor is a well-known cause?

1. Excess soil nitrogen from the grassland, which pines can never take up at all
2. The grass's high albedo, which reflects light away from pine seedlings
3. Absence of the mycorrhizal fungi the pine needs, supplied by inoculation
4. Lack of root nodules, since all pines depend on nitrogen-fixing bacteria

3 · Site quality and its assessment · medium

The forest site-type method developed by Cajander in Finland classifies site quality by:

1. The depth of the water table measured in wells across the forest
2. The basal area of the overstorey trees measured with angle gauges
3. The composition of the ground vegetation under mature forest
4. The age at which trees on the site first produce seed

4 · Site quality and its assessment · hard

A demanding species is planted on a shallow, dry site because it grew well on a deep alluvial soil elsewhere. The most likely outcome is:

1. Faster growth than on alluvium, because shallow soils warm up sooner
2. Identical growth, because site affects only natural regeneration
3. A slow-growing, stunted stand that never reaches the expected yield
4. Good growth after the first rotation, because the species improves the soil

5 · Light and shade tolerance; crown classes · hard

A stratified mixture of oak over beech is possible mainly because:

1. Light-demanding oak occupies the upper storey; tolerant beech grows beneath it
2. Both species are equally tolerant, so they share the canopy evenly
3. Beech is a light demander that must stay above oak to survive
4. Oak and beech root at the same depth, so they never compete

6 · Natural regeneration: seed supply, germination, establishment · hard

A soil seed bank of pioneer species is characteristic because such species often:

1. Have seeds that stay dormant in the soil until a canopy opening triggers germination
2. Have recalcitrant seeds that die within weeks of falling onto the forest floor
3. Regenerate only from root suckers and never produce any viable seed at all
4. Germinate only under a closed, deeply shaded canopy

7 · Regeneration by coppice and root suckers · hard

A disadvantage of repeated short-rotation coppice over many cycles is that:

1. Each cycle produces larger timber than the last, flooding the market
2. Stools decline, genetic gain is impossible and nutrient removal is high
3. Coppice cannot be harvested by hand and needs heavy machinery
4. Coppice shoots are always slower than seedlings in the first years

8 · Artificial regeneration: direct seeding and planting · hard

A direct-sowing plan needs 9259 seeds per hectare. The seed lot has 20 000 seeds per kilogram. How much seed is needed for 10 ha?

1. 4.6 kg
2. 0.46 kg
3. 46.3 kg
4. 0.05 kg

9 · Choice between natural and artificial regeneration · hard

Planting seed of a provenance from a distant, warmer region on a cold site carries which main risk compared with natural regeneration?

1. Poor adaptation, such as frost damage or mistimed growth
2. Faster growth and better form than local trees in every case
3. Inability of planted trees to produce any seed later
4. Guaranteed resistance to all local pests and diseases