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Range Forest Officer recruitment Principles of Silviculture: practice questions

Range Forest Officer recruitment (state exams) · India · State Public Service Commissions and state forest departments (e.g. MPPSC, UKPSC, UPPSC)

Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papers
10worked here, free
51written to this exam in this subject
10syllabus units

What this subject covers

The ecological basis of growing and tending forests: site factors, tolerance, natural and artificial regeneration and the objectives a silviculturist works toward.

In the exams: IFoS Forestry Paper I Section A (general silviculture); ICAR AICE-JRF 59 Unit 2; ICAR AIEEA-PG Group 09 (silvicultural practices, natural regeneration); PRC Forest Resource Management; Korea Forestry Engineer written subject Silviculture

Where the 51 questions fall

How our questions for Range Forest Officer recruitment spread across the units of Principles of Silviculture. Difficulty: 22 easy, 20 medium, 9 hard.

Artificial regeneration: direct seeding and planting8
Site factors: climatic, edaphic, physiographic, biotic6
Regeneration by coppice and root suckers6
Stand structure: even-aged and uneven-aged stands6
Definition, objects and scope of silviculture5
Light and shade tolerance; crown classes5
Natural regeneration: seed supply, germination, establishment5
Site quality and its assessment4
Choice between natural and artificial regeneration4
Stand dynamics: stand initiation, stem exclusion, understorey reinitiation, old growth2

10 practice questions, worked

Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.

1 · Light and shade tolerance; crown classes · hard

A crown classified as codominant:

  1. Extends well above the general canopy, with full light from above and from the sides
  2. Forms the general canopy level, with full light from above but little from the sides
  3. Lies wholly below the canopy, receiving no direct light at all
  4. Is crowded into the canopy, with little direct light from above or the sides
Answer and working

B. Forms the general canopy level, with full light from above but little from the sides

Codominants form the main canopy level. Dominants project above it; intermediates are crowded and receive little light from above; suppressed trees are overtopped.

2 · Natural regeneration: seed supply, germination, establishment · easy

The stages of natural regeneration from seed, in order, are:

  1. Germination, seed production, establishment, dispersal
  2. Dispersal, establishment, seed production, germination
  3. Seed production, dispersal, germination, establishment
  4. Establishment, germination, dispersal, seed production
Answer and working

C. Seed production, dispersal, germination, establishment

Seed must be produced, dispersed to suitable ground, germinate and then establish. Failure at any stage stops regeneration.

3 · Regeneration by coppice and root suckers · medium

In good coppice practice, stumps are cut:

  1. Low, clean and sloping so water runs off
  2. High, ragged and flat so that rain soaks in
  3. At breast height so shoots are out of reach of goats
  4. Flush with the soil and then covered with earth
Answer and working

A. Low, clean and sloping so water runs off

Low stumps produce well-anchored shoots from basal buds; a clean sloping cut sheds water and limits rot. Cutting at about 2–3 m is pollarding, used where browsing is severe.

4 · Regeneration by coppice and root suckers · medium

Felling for coppice generally gives the best sprouting when done:

  1. In the middle of the growing season, when leaves are fully expanded
  2. Immediately after the first heavy monsoon flush of leaves
  3. In the dormant season, when root reserves are high
  4. At any time, because season has no effect on sprouting
Answer and working

C. In the dormant season, when root reserves are high

Carbohydrate reserves in the roots are highest at the end of the dormant period, supporting vigorous sprouting. Mid-season cutting after reserves are spent on leaf growth gives weaker regrowth.

5 · Artificial regeneration: direct seeding and planting · easy

How many plants per hectare does a rectangular spacing of 3 m × 2 m require?

  1. 2000
  2. 1667
  3. 1111
  4. 833
Answer and working

B. 1667

10 000 ÷ (3 × 2) = 1666.7, so about 1667 plants. 1111 is 3 m × 3 m and 833 is 3 m × 4 m.

6 · 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
Answer and working

A. 4.6 kg

Per hectare: 9259 ÷ 20 000 = 0.463 kg; for 10 ha, 4.6 kg. 0.46 kg is for one hectare only; 46.3 kg is a factor-of-ten slip.

7 · Choice between natural and artificial regeneration · medium

Why does natural regeneration of many species fail in heavily grazed forests even when seed is plentiful?

  1. Grazing animals eat all the seed before it ripens on the tree
  2. Grazing adds too much nitrogen for any seedlings to survive
  3. Seedlings are browsed and trampled before they establish
  4. Grazed forests receive less rain than ungrazed forests
Answer and working

C. Seedlings are browsed and trampled before they establish

Plentiful seed and germination are wasted if establishment fails under grazing. Closure, fencing and grazing control are preconditions for natural regeneration in such areas.

8 · Stand structure: even-aged and uneven-aged stands · easy

A stand is best defined as:

  1. Any area of forest larger than 100 hectares held under a single owner or lease
  2. A single tree left standing after clear felling for seed
  3. The whole forest managed under one working plan
  4. Trees uniform enough in composition, age, structure and site to be treated as one unit
Answer and working

D. Trees uniform enough in composition, age, structure and site to be treated as one unit

A stand is the basic unit of silvicultural treatment, distinguishable from neighbouring stands. Size and ownership do not define it.

9 · Stand structure: even-aged and uneven-aged stands · medium

In a balanced uneven-aged stand with q = 1.5 and 10-cm diameter classes, there are 30 trees per hectare in the 50-cm class. How many trees per hectare are expected in the 40-cm class?

  1. 45
  2. 20
  3. 31.5
  4. 60
Answer and working

A. 45

Each smaller class has q times as many trees: 30 × 1.5 = 45. Dividing gives 20; adding 1.5 gives 31.5; doubling gives 60.

10 · Stand structure: even-aged and uneven-aged stands · medium

Uneven-aged structure generally suits which kind of species best?

  1. Shade-tolerant species able to regenerate under canopy
  2. Strong light demanders needing full overhead light
  3. Species that regenerate only after severe fires
  4. Species that regenerate only after severe, stand-replacing fires
Answer and working

A. Shade-tolerant species able to regenerate under canopy

Selection and uneven-aged management keep a canopy over regeneration, which tolerant species survive. Light demanders and fire-dependent species suit even-aged systems.

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Read the subject

Principles of SilvicultureThe full study manual, free Range Forest Officer recruitmentFormat, sections and how it has changed

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Principles of Silviculture for other exams

State Forest Service · IndiaIndian Forest Service Examination · IndiaICAR AICE-JRF/SRF · India

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