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. Consistent with the new paradigm, this book is designed and intended not so much as a how-to-do-it management manual, as a source of ideas on how to think about oak forests as responsive ecosystems. Divided into two sections the book focuses on oak ecosystems in the United States as well as providing much application to othe regions such as Europe and the Mediterranean. the first section includes chapters on the ecological characteristics and distribution of oak species and teh various kinds of oak forests in the United States, differences among them and how they have been classified. the second section includes chapters on site productivity, stand development, silviculture, and growth and yield.