APPLIED ECOLOGY 317 



come a respected profession as the necessity for scientific manage- 

 ment has become apparent. An important part of a forester's train- 

 ing is forest ecology, or silvics, in which he learns the scientific 

 background upon which silvicultural practices are based. 



A generally accepted definition of silviculture states that it is 

 that branch of forestry dealing with the establishment, develop- 

 ment, care, and reproduction of stands of timber. 254 More often 

 than not, the silviculturist aims to control the establishment and 

 development of forests so that they will be made up predomi- 

 nately of economically desirable species or so that merchantable 

 timber will be produced in a minimum of time. Or, he may be 

 interested in results not directly related to the production of 

 lumber. Cultural operations may point to erosion control, water- 

 shed protection, dune stabilization, game encouragement, or rec- 

 reational purposes, 244 or, if in the West, to a better balance be- 

 tween timber production, watershed control, and use of the forest 

 for range purposes. If his methods are scientific, they will be 

 based upon reasons derived from silvics. Consequently, the more 

 completely forest ecology is understood, the more successful 

 should be its application in silviculture. 



Since the practice of silviculture almost invariably involves at- 

 tempts to control forest communities and their development, a 

 knowledge of successional trends and the climax of the region is 

 all important. Knowing the principles of succession, it should be 

 obvious that the simplest form of management would be one that 

 least modifies the natural development of vegetation. To main- 

 tain a successional community indefinitely requires considerable 

 effort, if it can be done at all, but the nearer the desired forest type 

 is to the climax, the easier it should be to maintain it. These may 

 seem to be obvious generalizations, but they have not been, and 

 are not, fully appreciated or applied. 



In the past, artificial forest types have been attempted under a 

 great variety of conditions. Species have been planted outside the 

 limits of their natural ranges, even including several introduced 

 from other continents. Often such trees are grown in pure stands 

 or, if not, then in combination with native species to make quite 

 unnatural communities. Even more common have been the at- 

 tempts to grow species on sites to which they are not naturally 



