SAF Forest Resource Management & Planning 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which silvicultural system retains a portion of the overstory after harvest to provide seed and modify microclimate for natural regeneration?
- Clearcutting
- Shelterwood (Correct answer)
- Selection system
- Coppice system
Correct answer: Shelterwood
The shelterwood system removes the overstory in sequential cuts, leaving seed trees and canopy cover to facilitate natural regeneration.
Question 2: A forester calculates a stand's basal area at 180 sq ft/acre. Using a stocking guide, this stand is most likely:
- Understocked
- Fully stocked
- Overstocked (Correct answer)
- At minimum stocking
Correct answer: Overstocked
Most eastern hardwood and conifer stocking guides identify full stocking around 80–120 sq ft/acre, so 180 sq ft/acre typically indicates overstocking.
Question 3: What is the primary purpose of a forest management plan's 'allowable cut' calculation?
- Maximize short-term timber revenue
- Ensure long-term sustained yield from the forest (Correct answer)
- Determine logging road placement
- Estimate recreational visitor capacity
Correct answer: Ensure long-term sustained yield from the forest
Allowable cut calculations are designed to sustain timber yield over time by balancing growth with harvest so the resource is not depleted.
Question 4: In even-aged management, the rotation age is typically set to coincide with:
- The age at which trees first produce seed
- The culmination of mean annual increment (CMAI) (Correct answer)
- The point of maximum basal area
- The age of maximum stand density
Correct answer: The culmination of mean annual increment (CMAI)
Rotation age in even-aged management is classically set at the CMAI, the point where average volume growth per year is greatest.
Question 5: A forest resource inventory uses a systematic grid of sample plots. What is the chief advantage of systematic sampling over simple random sampling in forests?
- Lower variance when the population has spatial gradients (Correct answer)
- Eliminates all sampling bias
- Requires fewer plots to achieve results
- Guarantees statistical independence of samples
Correct answer: Lower variance when the population has spatial gradients
Systematic sampling spreads plots evenly across a forest, capturing spatial variation and typically yielding lower variance than simple random sampling when gradients exist.
Question 6: Which planning framework requires federal agencies to analyze and disclose environmental impacts of major actions, including large-scale timber sales?
- Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act
- National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (Correct answer)
- Endangered Species Act
- Clean Water Act
Correct answer: National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
NEPA mandates that federal agencies prepare Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) or Environmental Assessments (EA) for major federal actions affecting the environment.
Question 7: In forest planning, 'adjacency constraints' are used primarily to:
- Limit the total acres harvested per decade
- Prevent harvesting adjacent stands simultaneously to protect wildlife and aesthetics (Correct answer)
- Mandate buffer strips along all roads
- Require equal harvest across all age classes
Correct answer: Prevent harvesting adjacent stands simultaneously to protect wildlife and aesthetics
Adjacency constraints in harvest scheduling prevent clearcutting adjacent units at the same time, reducing large contiguous openings for wildlife habitat and visual concerns.
SAF Forest Resource Management & Planning 2
Which silvicultural system retains a portion of the overstory after harvest to provide seed and modify microclimate for natural regeneration?