Silviculture

Author: Zhao Laizhi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: It is understood that Silviculture, also known as Forest Cultivation, is a fundamental discipline within forestry and a subject with extensive coverage. China and Japan have translated it from German as Afforestation, both meaning forest cultivation. From the term "Afforestation," it only refers to forest construction without implying cultivation. However, cultivation is an essential stage after afforestation and a key method in forest cultivation. Professor Zhao Laizhi's work is divided into four parts, comprising 16 chapters: Forest Habitat, Classification, and Management; Regulation of Tree Growth; Methods and Techniques of Forest Cultivation, etc. The system is complete, the perspective is unique, and the book title is the first to change "Afforestation" to "Silviculture," making it more scientific and reasonable. Colleagues from the Science and Technology Department of Zhejiang Forestry College said that in the information age, readers' time is extremely valuable, yet textbooks or introductory books in silviculture with a certain theoretical depth, clear content, and relevance to current realities are still scarce. This book, with a total of 165,000 words, intersperses charts and text, features fluent writing, and concise narration, making a valuable exploration in readability. It can not only serve as a textbook for undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students in forestry and agriculture-related fields but also as a reference for forestry and agricultural science and technology workers. Forest is a natural process and a natural phenomenon in a specific region, representing the woody plant stage in the regional vegetation succession process. The macroclimate of the region determines the large-scale distribution of forests, forming different regional forest zones. Within these zones, differences in terrain, the initial state of vegetation succession, and the succession process create distinct forest habitats, leading to different climax forests. Natural forest habitats maintain an overlapping structure in vegetation succession, with seeds and seedlings of pioneer, transitional, and climax stages. Therefore, they possess the function of preserving and restoring biodiversity and ecological diversity. This book is a textbook version of silviculture, based on the author's new system and perspectives, which he has been teaching at Zhejiang Forestry College for many years. It is believed that those engaged in teaching, research, and practical work in silviculture will benefit greatly from it. Some economically developed countries have begun introducing cutting-edge technologies, including biotechnology and carbon fiber new material technology, into forestry to transform forest biomass into various useful products. The newly emerging biomass forestry represents a completely new approach to forestry by integrating high technology. This book is written based on the above perspectives, explaining the theoretical principles of cultivating trees within forest ecosystems. The author supports the view that silviculture is an art, and foresters should engage in silvicultural activities with cleverness and creativity, based on understanding and adapting to nature.