The ecology and silviculture of oaks

"The current trend in managing forests and forested landscapes is away from a narrow focus on sustaining timber and other commodity outputs and toward a broader philosophy of sustaining desired ecosystems. This shift has been wrought by, and is consistent with, changing social values, scientific advances in ecology and society's increasing awareness of environmental problems.". "Consistent with the new paradigm, this book is designed and intended not so much as a how-to-do-it management manual as it is a source of ideas on how to think about oak forests as responsive ecosystems. Divided into three sections, the book focuses on oak ecosystems in the United States, as well as providing application to other regions, such as Europe and the Mediterranean. The first section includes chapters on the ecological characteristics and distribution of oak species and the various kinds of oak forests, differences between them and how they have been classified, their natural development, and the relation of oak forests to environment and related environmental concerns. The second section includes chapters on site productivity and stand development, and the third section covers silviculture and the growth and yield of oak forests.". "This book is aimed at forest and wildlife managers, ecologists, silviculturists, environmentalists and students of these disciplines."--BOOK JACKET.