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 papersThe 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
State Forest Service (ACF) and Range Forest Officer exams, India
Definitions, classification of site factors, regeneration methods, coppice technique, and numericals on planting density and seed requirement.
How our questions for State Forest Service spread across the units of Principles of Silviculture. Difficulty: 11 easy, 17 medium, 9 hard.
| Artificial regeneration: direct seeding and planting | 6 | |
| Site factors: climatic, edaphic, physiographic, biotic | 4 | |
| Light and shade tolerance; crown classes | 4 | |
| Natural regeneration: seed supply, germination, establishment | 4 | |
| Regeneration by coppice and root suckers | 4 | |
| Stand structure: even-aged and uneven-aged stands | 4 | |
| Definition, objects and scope of silviculture | 3 | |
| Site quality and its assessment | 3 | |
| Choice between natural and artificial regeneration | 3 | |
| Stand dynamics: stand initiation, stem exclusion, understorey reinitiation, old growth | 2 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
A crown classified as codominant:
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.
The stages of natural regeneration from seed, in order, are:
C. Seed production, dispersal, germination, establishment
Seed must be produced, dispersed to suitable ground, germinate and then establish. Failure at any stage stops regeneration.
Advance regeneration is:
A. Seedlings and saplings already present under the canopy before regeneration felling
Advance growth, especially of tolerant species, can form the next stand immediately if protected during harvest.
In good coppice practice, stumps are cut:
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.
How many plants per hectare does a rectangular spacing of 3 m × 2 m require?
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.
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?
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.
Why does natural regeneration of many species fail in heavily grazed forests even when seed is plentiful?
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.
A stand is best defined as:
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.
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?
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.
Uneven-aged structure generally suits which kind of species best?
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.
Ten here, 37 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to State Forest Service in this subject, marked as you go, with timed papers, a jump-to-unanswered list and a certificate when you pass at 70 per cent.
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