Dhaabbata Bosonaa fi Bineensa Oromia Forest and Wildlife

Bosonaa Oromiya Enterprise

SILVICULTURE
TRAINNING

Organized by Oromia
Forest and Wildlife
Enterprise
Alemgena
1
December, 2016
 summery

 Forest plantation is an increasingly important forest

resource world wide.(Australia, New Zealand ,Chile)they
already provide the bulk of wood product.
NO Branch Name Plantation
1 Arsi 11,562.02
2 Bale 1,202.44
3 Borena Guji 3,716.89
4 Finfine 29,411.91
5 Hararge 1,480.74
6 Ilu A/bor 1,587.27
7 Jimma 7,587.98
8 Wallaga 5,857.04
OFWE 62,406.28

2
 Summery contin…
 By 2050 total area of plantation is expected to be
exceed 200 mil ha and owing to their generally
higher productivity than natural forest,
 forest plantation is becoming the main source of
wood products globally.
 Future demand for wood will increasingly be met
from forest plantation.

3
1. Introduction

 Definition of Silviculture
It is defined as theory and practice of controlling forest
establishment , composition, structure, and growth.
It is the backbone of forestry.

Aim of Silviculture
to create and maintain the kind of forest that will best fulfill
the objective (s) of owner and the governing society.
 In generall, the study of silvicultuire helps to attain the
following objectives:
To derive environmnetal benefits/services

4
 Introduction Contd…
To derive environmnetal benefits/services
e.g.; i. Soil and water conservation
ii. Control of air and noise pollution
iii. Wildlife conservation
iv. Ameloration of climatic condition
v. Regulation of hydrological cycle
Raising species of more economic value

 Production of high quality timber

Production of more volume of wood per unit area

Reduction of rotation period

Afforestation of blank areas

5
 2. The purpose of silviculture
Improving on nature through
silviculture
 In silviculture, natural processes are deliberately guided to
produce forests that are more useful than those of nature

Control of stand structure and process

 Because the stand grow and change with time, unlike the
static buildings, and create their own ecosystem, we interfere
with this new ecosystem formation

Control of composition
 Undesirable species or inferior individuals of the desirable
species could be controlled through silvicultural treatments
6
 The purpose of silviculture Contd…
 By controlling stand composition, the forest could be
maintained for economic or biological reasons.
 Direct attacks, such as poisoning, cutting, controlled burning
and letting animals feed on it

 Control of stand density

 Too low density stand is characterized by too much branch
or malformed stem and the unoccupied space may be filled
with unwanted crops
 Too much high density stand can not grow at optimum rate
and lose vigorousness

 Restocking of unproductive areas

7  The stand could be opened due to overgrazing, fires,
8
 The purpose of silviculture
Contd…
 It brings the efficient utilization of the scarce resource-land

 Protection and reduction of losses

 A loss may occur in unmanaged stand due to fire, fungi, insect,
wind or others or through competition of unwanted vegetations
 Salvaging of the part that otherwise be lost substantially
increases the productivity of the site
 Proper protection of forest damaging agencies will also gives a
plus to the productivity of the site
 Damaging agencies often arises from a poor stands that are
given less attention to them which in turn is the cause for the
loss of the good stands
9
 The purpose of silviculture Contd…
Control of rotation length
 Forest is mortal biological entity

 Uses of fertilizer, drainage and reduction of stand density

reduces the rotation period by making the final harvest trees
to grow to the desired sizes at earlier age
 Trees allowed growing beyond the optimum will not keep on
growing (increase in value), hence it is a cost to invest on
them and un-turn the land into other production
 They even decrease in value due to decaying or any other
damaging agencies as the stand is susceptible to them
 But do not forget that stand can be let to die for ecological,
10 wildlife or scenery reasons
 Contd…
Facilitate harvesting
 Managed forest leaves enough space for cutting,
transporting and processing with in the stand itself

Conservation of site productivity

 What matters most in forestry and silviculture in particular

is to attain the productivity of the site
 Site is the combination of animate and inanimate factors
that determines the sought productivity of the site

11
3. Regeneration

Regeneration
 Regeneration is the renewal of a forest crop by natural or
artificial means.

Natural Regeneration
 It is the renewal of a forest crop by self-sown seed or by coppice
or root suckers. It may be obtained from seed and vegetative
parts.

Artificial regeneration
 The renewal of the forest crop by sowing, planting, or other
artificial methods.


12 The artificial regeneration has two major objectives:
 4.Plantation establishment

 Forest establishment ensures new healthy seedlings replace

mature and over mature stands of trees as they are harvested.

Even -aged stand-stand

of trees that are all
relatively the same
age/size

Uneven -aged stand-

stand of mixed age/size
trees
13
 Plantation establishment conti…

14
 Plantation establishment conti…
There is no internationally agreed definition of forest
plantation.
UN Food and Agricultural Organization(FAO), defines
forest plantation is taken to be those planted forest by
origin which still possess features of uniformity, shape
and often intensity of management which readily
distinguish them as artificial.

15
 Plantation establishment contin….

 The first step in plantation establishment is deciding why start a

plantation. Many of the subsequent management decisions will be
based on this initial premise. Both spatial and temporal landscape
characteristics should be considered when planning for potential
plantations. Long-term goals and short-term objectives for the
plantation need to be developed. The more specific the goals and
objectives are, the more useful they will be in fine tuning
management decisions.
 The objective of the plantation determines the rotation age,
stocking, wood volume/ha, stand condition ,species selection.

 Objectively established plantations produce healthy, productive

forests capable of yielding increased volumes of high quality
products
16
 Types of plantation
 Industrial plantation
 Social and community plantation
 Environmental planting and Buffer zones
 Rehabilitating Degraded Land and Restoring Natural
forest
 Enrichment planting
 Carbon sequestration plantation

17
 4.1 Site Preparation/site development

 Carried out to provide access to planting site , remove vegetation

that may compete , provide good rooting conditions for the plants

and creates condition where dangers of fire are kept to a minimum

 To classify the various methods of site preparation,
4.1.1 by complete removal of the vegetation
 A)By felling/clearing site for plantation: Site preparation by
felling and subsequent burning is practical in some cases to over
logged forest or secondary brush by plantations. All vegetation is
cut and allowed to dry, It is burnt just before the first rains are
expected.


18
 Site Preparation contin....

The main advantage of establishing a plantation on

a completely cleared and burnt site is a rapid
development of the plantation, because of little
competition from weeds and a good supply of
plant nutrients through the ashes.
The weeding expenses are generally less than in
those methods, where the vegetation was only
partially cleared.

19
 Site Preparation contin...

 B)By slashing: Site preparation by slashing can give

acceptable results, where exploitation comes to an almost

complete utilization or where pure plantations are
harvested, The remaining herb and brush cover is slashed
to keep it down for the start of the plantation. This very
simple and cheap method of site preparation can only be
employed, where the natural herb and brush cover is very
light, or where extremely fast growing species are planted.
20
 Site preparation conti..

 4.1.2 Site preparation by partial removal

of the vegetation
Clearing strips of forest vegetation is practiced in
enrichment planting to introduce valuable timber
trees in degraded secondary forest or where
natural regeneration has failed.
Strips about 2-5 meters wide are cleared at
intervals of 10 to 20 meters. In the remaining
untouched portion only those trees are girdled
which cast heavy shade on the lines.
21
  4.2 Spacing of Forest Plantations
The decision to adopt a particular spacing can be based on
silvicultural nature and others are dictated by management, finance
and economics.
4.2.1 Aspects to be considered in spacing
 The Site Conditions

 On good sites the seedlings can be wider spaced than on poor

sites, because of faster growth they soon form a closed canopy

and more and make full use of the site potential. On the other

hand, by planting at a wide spacing on an adverse site, the trees

would take a long time to form a close canopy and utilize the site

quality.
22
 Spacing continu…
 Wood quality
 For the production of good quality sawn timber, especially
coniferous species, close spacing to avoid the formation of
strong branches, and a wider spacing combined with artificial
pruning.
 Initial spacing will have an influence on wood quality on the
lower bole particularly in conifers because of effect on the
green crown. At close initial spacing suppression between
adjacent trees will commence much sooner than in widely
spaced plantation. Hence, the lower branches will die sooner
and the green level of the canopy will rise more rapidly at
closer than at wider spacing.

23
 Spacing continu….

 On the other hand, on average the branches will be larger at

wider spacing because the trees are larger, and so the knots
will be larger. The wider the initial spacing the more
important will it become to prune off the lower branches, if
clear wood is to be produced on the butt log. Which to
adopt depends mainly on economic conditions, such as
labour wages, demand for poles, specification of better
timber quality, etc.

24
 Spacing continu….

 The Growing characteristics of the species

In most instances the mean height and diameter of the stand
increases with increasing spacing.
many of the trees at close spacing become suppressed and
remain of small diameter and much of the trees do not reach
the minimum diameter limit. Therefore, Tree species which
grow fast in their early stages can be spaced wider than slow
growing species.
 Market Conditions
Where small wood from thinning can be sold at a profit or at
least at the cost of their removal, close spacing has
silvicultural advantage. If it is uncertain, whether any thinning
would be carried out at all, it would be safer to plant at a wider
spacing.
25
 4.2.3 Effects of Initial Spacing on Costs
 4.2.3.1 Choice of spacing.
Modern practice suggests that a modest wider
spacing is preferable than too dense or too wide
spacing, as too close or too wide spacing
seriously limit the success of a plantation.
Consequently, the following spacing are
practiced in OFWE's plantation:

26
  . Industrial plantations
 Cupressus lusitanica/Pine spp./Grevillea robusta spp
= 2m x 2m(distance b/n plant(D)*distance b/n line(p))
 Eucalyptus species:
 Transmission poles/sawlog ----------------------2m x 2m
 Fuel wood/construction poles --------------1.5m x 1.5m
 The three types of frequently used spacing
 Square
 Rectangle &
 triangle

27
 Types of spacing

28
 4.4. Pitting (Planting hole preparation)

4.4.1Size of planting hole

 The planting hole must be deep enough to allow the top root to
hang down vertically without bending its tip.
 Although older seedlings are growing faster when planted in a
large pit, economic considerations put a limit to the size of the
planting hole.
 It must be realized, however, that a large planting with plenty
of refilled soil helps root development, results in higher initial
growth, increases the survival rate especially on dry sites.
 An area of 60-100cm in diameter is cleared of grass for each
seedling;

29
 4.4.2. Planting depth
The seedlings must be planted in a way that the roots
can reach soil layers, which retain sufficient moisture
during the dry season. And enable to plant to survive.
This can be achieved by digging a deep planting hole
and loosening the soil at the bottom of the hole to
facilitate root penetration.
Stones blocking the way into lower soil horizons have
to be removed.
planting pit can be 30-40cm in diameter and 20-30cm
in depth.

30
 Packing and transporting of seedlings
After a through watering, potted seedlings are lifted from the pot
bed and placed in upright position in wooden boxes, or baskets
specially made for this purpose, or racks constructed on loading
platform of a vehicle.
Another way of packing is simply bundling them in groups of 10-20
depending on the size of pots.
The planting technique
Planting must be carried out at the optimum planting time, i.e. the
beginning of the rainy season.
Failures in plantations can be very high, when planting is done after
the optimum planting time. If the seedlings get a later start, their
roots will not be able to reach layers, which retain sufficient
moisture during the dry season. Failures because of planting too
early are usually less common.
31
 Just before planting, the seedling is removed from the
polyethylene tube.
After planting, the soil around the seedling is
thoroughly tamped to fill all air spaces between the
ball and the sides of the planting hole to avoid
interruptions in the capillary system.
 Where rain-fall is critical, a light depression is
formed around the tree as a catchment to promote
infiltration of rain water.
 Finally some mulch is deposited around the
seedlings in form of grass or litter to reduce
evaporation and to avoid hardening of the top layer.
32
33
 5. Tending operation

5.1 Beating-up
Although wide areas are initially planted to forest trees, a great
percentage of seedlings finally die. Even with most careful
planting techniques there will always be a number of seedlings,
which do not survive. Causes of death can be:
 Improper choice of species, Poor site preparation

 Poor quality of planting stock , Injuries from transport

 Improper planting techniques , Unforseen dry spell after

planting
34
 Beating-up contin....

 Damage by insects or rodents , Suppression by weeds

 Trampling by livestock

 Effect of dry season

Replanting or "beating up" such failures is always more

expensive than first planting. The cost per seedling may double
or triple. Therefore, it is necessary to decide carefully, whether
replanting is required or not based on a small sampling check
to estimate the failure.

35
 Beating-up contin....
 As a very crude guide for sampling it is suggested, that in

areas below 2 hectares every 5th line, ands above 2 hectares

every 10th line is sampled.
 The results can be recorded on Talley sheets by dot and

lines:

36
 Beating-up contin....

 Replacement will be necessary only, if the overall percentage of

failure is above 20 %, but only where at least two successive
seedlings have failed. If the overall rate of failure is below 20%,
replanting will be carried out only where the failures are heavily
concentrated (see Talley sheet).
 On sites where weeding operation has been carried out properly
on time, it is generally sufficient to uproot the grasses around
the seedlings with the hoe when digging the planting hole.
 For replanting the best available seedlings are selected and
planted at the beginning of the rainy season, at the optimum
planting time, and before the new plantations are started.
37
 Beating-up contin....
To avoid that unnecessary time is spent in walking
and searching, all operations of replanting are done by
the same man (one man work unit):
- Detecting the hole
- Digging a new planting hole
- Planting the seedling

38
 5.2 weeding

 Most of the plantations are found in areas of good rainfall and

on quite fertile sites with lush vegetation, often bordering

natural high forests.
 Due to the vigorous weed and climber growth on the fertile

sites, many of the planted seedlings are lost in the critical years
after planting, often resulting in poorly stocked stands.
 One of the main reason for low survival rates in plantations are
mostly caused by insufficient weeding. Due to weed
competition in the first year after planting leads to severe
losses.

39
 weeding contin…
 This cause poorly stocked. Closely associated with this is

often a poor climber control in subsequent years.

Unchecked climber attacks often result in deformed trees
and poor sawlog quality.
 Elimination of competing vegetation thus would greatly
improve the early growth. Weeding by hand methods are,
however, a perfectly acceptable method for the
maintenance of young plantings as screening around the
seedlings not only eliminate weeds but also provides a
modest degree of cultivation.

40
 weeding contin…

A) Cultivation:
 involves turning over the soil using hoe. As total manual

cultivation requires high and costly labour input, the cultivation

is usually confined to a restricted area (spot) around each tree;

but this clear zone should be 80-100 cm in diameter to provide

effective removal of competition.

 Spot weeding can eliminate competition in the root zone by

uprooting the weeds and doing some cultivation around the

seedlings.
41
 weeding contin…
B) Slashing: is cutting back the computing weeds/vegetation
between seedlings close to the ground using cutting tools.
Any weeding must be done early enough; otherwise, the
seedlings may get suppressed and consequently they may
suffer severely from sudden exposure. Proper timing of
weeding is, therefore, a decisive factor for the success of the
plantation.
 Weeding intensities after planting are recommended as
follows:-
Three weeding during the first year.
Two weeding during the second year.
One weeding during the third year.
42
 weeding contin…

C) Climber cutting
 Climber cutting is a very important tending operation

particularly in the moist areas of Oromia. Severe infestation of

climbers can completely cover and deform small trees of
sampling size.
 The control of climbers is often more of a problem than the

control of herbaceous weeds and grasses. Because of their

buried and surviving seeds. There are generally more climbers
on a forest soil than on a grassland site.
43
 weeding contin…
 Most climbers however, are very light demanding, they disappear

as soon as the plantation forms a closed canopy and the conditions

for their germination become unfavourable.

 When a tree is completely covered by creepers, one has to use a y-

shaped stick and push the vine up, because by pulling it down one
would easily break the branches or the top of the tree. The vines
thus removed from the tree are not cut, but curled up and deposited
at the base of tree. This weakens their vigour more than cutting.

44
 6.0Tending and intermediate cuttings

6.1 Thinning
 It is the removal of trees that are growing close together

 modify an existing stand of trees but not to replace it with a

new one.

 Common modifications are in species composition, age

distribution and tree density.

 Other intermediate cuttings are pruning, salvage,

sanitation and release.
45
 Tending and intermediate Contd..
 The purpose of intermediate cutting is generally to increase
the growth of retained trees and the value of the final
product harvested.

Thinning enables:
Wildlife hazard reduction
Enable the trees to better withstand insect and disease
attacks and periods of drought
Increases plant diversity as it opens a forest canopy
Improve wildlife habitat as it creates a richer source of
food and improve aesthetics
 improve diameter and as a result volume increament

46
 Tending and intermediate Contd..

Selecting trees to be thinned out

 Spacing for tree thinning is commonly based on
leaving a certain no. of trees/ha
 Trees to be thinned out at early stage are depending
on
 Spacing
Position in the canopy
Insect and disease damage
Poor form
Live crown ratio less than 40%
Species (mixed) prone to pest, fire and etc.

47
 Tending and intermediate Contd..
Poor form
 From a forest mgmn’t perspective, poorly formed trees are
less valuable
 Poor trees represent hazards and should be considered for
removal in thinning

Live crow ratio less than 40%

 Trees with a live crown ratio less than 40% generally are less
vigorous and less able to tolerate environmental pressures
Species
 For stands containing more than one species, thinning of a
species prone to hazards such as fire or pest is/are of priority.
 In pure stands, we depend on the first five criteria by
48
excluding this one
 Tending and intermediate Contd..
Position in the canopy
 Trees growing under the canopy of larger trees may not
receive adequate sunlight for good growth
 Trees growing beneath the canopy of larger ones also
provide a “ladder” for fire to move from the ground into
the crowns of large trees

Insect & disease damage

 Trees with signs of insect attack on trunk, bark or/and
leaves should be thinned out

49
 Tending and intermediate Contd..

Types and age of thinning

 Many forest growers decide to leave their plantations
unthinned as the 1st thinning from the cost wise point
 This may be true fro a cash flow perspective but it is not
the way to maximize the overall return from the plantation
 It all depends whether current investment is worth paying
than retaining the trees to be thinned out
 Thinning often involves compromise
Thinning too soon may eliminate future crop & reduces
the potential benefit
Thinning too late allows between tree competition that
slows the growth of the best trees
50
 Tending and intermediate Contd..
In general, three thinning schedules recognized in forestry
depending on the species and objective of the plantation. These
are:
First thinning-eight years
Second thinning-12 years
Third thinning-25 years
 Clear felling at age of 18-25 years

The no. of trees to remove depends on objective of the plantation

For timber production; thinning should reduce stand density to

a level that maximizes individual growth without sacrificing net
volume/ha/year
Thus, it should leave enough space to maintain an adequate live
51 crown ratio with out reducing the total yield of the stand
 Tending and intermediate Contd..

Method of Thinning
 There are no standardized thinning treatments or residual
densities for all places and there is no single thinning method
that satisfies all needs.
 In general, there are four distinct thinning methods in
forestry

 Low thinning
 Removes trees from the lower canopy position to make
room for taller, large crowned trees to grow

 Eliminates the trees least likely to grow into the dominant

& codominant crown classes
52
 Tending and intermediate Contd..
 Crown thinning
 Removes middle & upper crown classes to favor the most
promising trees of the same classes, with adequate regard to
spacing
 Favors the same trees as low thinning but focuses more on
removal of competing trees in the dominant and codominat
classes
 Free Thinning (Crop tree release or selection thinning)

 Crop trees that meet the required standards are released by

removing competing trees
 It leaves crop trees that do not affect the crop trees

53
 It combines the low thinning and crown thinning methods
 Figure : This illustration shows the relative positions of trees in the
different crown classes
Dominant (D): Dominant trees have crowns extending above the
general level of the crown cover, and receive full light from above and
partly from the side. Dominant trees are larger than the average trees in
the stand, and have well-developed crowns that may be somewhat
crowded from the sides.
Codominant (C): Codominant trees have crowns forming the general
level of the crown cover, and receive full light from above but
comparatively little from the sides. These trees usually have medium-
sized crowns that are often crowded on the sides.
54
 Intermediate (I): Intermediate trees are shorter than
dominant and codominant, but have crowns extending
into the crown cover formed by codominant and
dominant trees. Intermediate trees receive a little direct
light from above, but none from the sides. They
usually have small crowns that are considerably
crowded on the sides.
Overtopped (O): Overtopped, also called suppressed,
are trees with crowns entirely below the general level
of the crown cover. Overtopped trees receive no direct
light either from above or from the sides.

55
 Tending and intermediate Contd..
Thinning schedule
 The timing of the 1st and subsequent thinning depends on the
productivity of the plantation
 In areas where yield class is identified, it helps to identify the
potential growth rate of the plantations
 The higher the yield classes, the greater the growth rate and
the shorter the rotation and the earlier the age of the 1st
thinning
 A yield class of 20 for example means the crop has the
potential to produce 20 m3/ha over a full rotation

56
 Tending and intermediate Contd..
Pruning is a silvicultural technique, typically applied to improve timber quality and value.
It is The removal of live or dead branches from standing trees
Two types
 Natural pruning or self pruning the natural elimination of branches.
It is a slow process that varies by species, tree vigor, and stand
density.
 Artificial pruning is where people are paid to come and cut the
branches.
 The main reasons for pruning trees includes:
 Safety
 Improving the health or appearance of a tree increase its
commercial value
 Stimulate fruit production
 Improves value by increasing production of high grade clear
wood and reducing stem taper
 improve aesthetics, or
57  improve accessibility.
 Tending and intermediate Contd..
Types and Age of pruning
 Pruning of branches before they become large in diameter
that enhances wound closure and minimize knot size
 Since the bottom log of a tree can contain as much as 1/3 to
over ½ of the tree’s merchantable volume, pruning is
typically restricted to the height of the 1st full log (17 feet)
 To have a knot free logs:
Access pruning is performed at the age of 5 years
First pruning is carried out at the age of 8 years
Second pruning at the age of 12 years

58
 Tending and intermediate Contd..
Pruning Schedules
Live or dead branches can be pruned from a tree at any
time of the year

Tips when pruning trees:

 Prune live branches during their fall
 Prune at times where there is no insect damage to the wound
formed
 Never remove more than 1/3 of the live crown of the tree
 Pruning during the dormant season is beneficial because there
is no stress
 The potential value of the tree crops can be greatly increased by
pruning
59
 It is generally not profitable to prune trees that will be removed
in intermediate thinning
60
 THE END

GALATOOMA !