State Forest Service — Assistant Conservator of Forests (state PSC exams) · India · State Public Service Commissions (e.g. TNPSC, MPPSC, UPPSC, HPPSC, KPSC, MPSC)
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersGrowing planted forests for wood, fibre and energy: species choice, intensive establishment and management, productivity, short-rotation coppice and the social and environmental issues of plantations.
In the exams: ICAR AICE-JRF 59 Unit 2 (plantation forestry, industrial and energy plantations); ICAR AIEEA-PG Group 09 (man-made plantations); IFoS Forestry Paper I Section A (plantation silviculture, enhanced productivity)
How our questions for State Forest Service spread across the units of Plantation Forestry & Short-Rotation Crops. Difficulty: 11 easy, 11 medium, 1 hard.
| Spacing, rotation and productivity (mean annual increment) | 4 | |
| Planted forests worldwide: extent and roles | 3 | |
| Species and clone choice for industrial plantations | 2 | |
| Intensive site preparation, fertilisation and weed control | 2 | |
| Pulpwood, sawlog and veneer regimes | 2 | |
| Short-rotation coppice and energy plantations | 2 | |
| Plantation health and monoculture risks | 2 | |
| Plantations and water, soils and biodiversity | 2 | |
| Outgrower and contract-farming schemes | 2 | |
| Bamboo plantations | 2 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
Which group of countries obtains nearly all of its industrial wood from plantations?
D. New Zealand, Chile and Uruguay
New Zealand, Chile and Uruguay rely almost entirely on plantations (mainly radiata pine and eucalypts). Canada, Russia and Finland harvest mainly natural or semi-natural boreal forest, and the Congo Basin and Andean-Amazonian countries draw heavily on natural tropical forests.
Further reading: Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics; FAO FRA 2020; see manual sources
In the taungya system, which spread from Myanmar to much of tropical Asia and Africa, how is a plantation established?
D. Farmers grow food crops between the young trees for the first years in return for planting and tending them
Taungya pairs tree planting with temporary agriculture: cultivators raise crops between rows of young teak or other species for a few years and in exchange plant, weed and protect the trees until canopy closure.
Further reading: Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics; FAO FRA 2020; see manual sources
A region proposes converting species-rich native grassland in a high-rainfall catchment to pine plantations for pulp. Which concerns should weigh most in the assessment?
A. Loss of grassland biodiversity, reduced streamflow and current users' land rights
Afforesting grassland usually reduces streamflow, largest in absolute terms in high-rainfall catchments; native grasslands are ecosystems of their own whose replacement is increasingly recognised as harmful; and land conversion can displace current users.
Further reading: Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics; FAO FRA 2020; see manual sources
Which is an advantage of native over exotic species in plantations?
B. They are adapted to local conditions and carry no risk of becoming invasive
Natives are adapted, support more native biodiversity, are culturally accepted and cannot become invasive. Their usual drawbacks are slower growth, less domestication and less developed markets; they do share habitats with their native enemies.
Further reading: Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics; FAO FRA 2020; see manual sources
Clonal eucalypt forestry is reported to have roughly doubled productivity compared with unimproved seed in some programmes. In which country did this approach begin, in the 1970s?
A. Brazil
Large-scale clonal eucalypt forestry began in Brazil in the 1970s and spread to South Africa, South Asia, China and elsewhere. Australia is the native range of eucalypts but did not pioneer clonal plantations; Portugal and Indonesia have large plantation estates, but did not start this approach.
Further reading: Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics; FAO FRA 2020; see manual sources
A clonal stand yields 120 m³/ha at 6 years, 200 at 8, 240 at 10 and 260 at 12. Of these ages, which rotation maximises mean annual volume production?
C. 8 years
MAI = 120 ÷ 6 = 20.0, 200 ÷ 8 = 25.0, 240 ÷ 10 = 24.0, 260 ÷ 12 = 21.7. The highest MAI is at 8 years. Choosing 12 years because total volume is greatest confuses yield per rotation with yield per year.
Further reading: Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics; FAO FRA 2020; see manual sources
A 50 ha block is to be planted at 3 m × 2 m, with 10% extra plants ordered for replacing failures. How many plants should be ordered?
B. 91,667
Plants/ha = 10,000 ÷ 6 = 1,666.7; for 50 ha = 83,333; plus 10% = 91,667. 83,333 omits the replacements; 61,111 uses 3 × 3 m.
Further reading: Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics; FAO FRA 2020; see manual sources
Why are monocultures of a single species or clone on large, even-aged areas especially vulnerable to pests?
C. Uniform hosts let pests spread with no barriers
Genetic and structural uniformity gives a pest an unbroken supply of susceptible hosts; mixtures, clone mosaics and age-class diversity break up that continuity.
Further reading: Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics; FAO FRA 2020; see manual sources
Some countries regulate the water impact of plantations directly. South Africa, for example, licenses new commercial plantations under its 1998 water law as
B. a stream flow reduction activity
South African water law treats commercial afforestation as a stream flow reduction activity requiring a licence. Elsewhere, zoning and catchment limits on afforestation serve the same purpose.
Further reading: Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics; FAO FRA 2020; see manual sources
Which bamboo is suited to dry areas and widely used for poles in South Asia?
A. Dendrocalamus strictus
Dendrocalamus strictus (solid or 'male' bamboo) tolerates drier sites and gives strong poles. D. giganteus and B. balcooa need humid sites; Phyllostachys edulis is a temperate running bamboo.
Further reading: Evans & Turnbull, Plantation Forestry in the Tropics; FAO FRA 2020; see manual sources
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