Introduction to Silviculture in the Tropics

Abstract

This chapter provides an introduction to the book Silviculture in theTropics. The development of the scientific discipline of silviculture isclosely related to the evolvement of the term ``sustainability{''} fromstable provision of wood in the eighteenth century to the provision ofenvironmental services and non-timber forest products nowadays.Silviculture as a scientific discipline aims at mediating betweennatural sciences and societal disciplines. Several definitions ofsilviculture in this context are presented in the text. Many principlesof silviculture in temperate ecosystems are generally valid in thetropics too. However, one main difference from temperate silviculture isthe exorbitant biodiversity of most of the tropical forest ecosystems.This makes silvicultural planning and interventions much morecomplicated, on the one hand, and compatibility with the aims ofconservation of biodiversity much more important, on the other hand.Since many people in the tropics in contrast to those in most countriesin temperate ecosystems depend on forests for their subsistence andlivelihood, silvicultural goals should match the aims of ruraldevelopment and reducing poverty. The second part of this chapterprovides an overview of the chapters in the book, which is subdividedinto eight main parts, each consisting of an introductory overviewchapter, accompanied by some case studies from different tropicalcontinents. Parts II and III set the stage for the following morespecific parts. Part II deals with the different demands of userstowards forests, whereas Part III deals with the multiple new aspects inmodern forestry with strong impact on silviculture, from conservation ofbiodiversity to use of non-timber forest products to modeling approachesin science and practice. Parts IV-VI deal with silviculture in naturalhumid forests, dry forests and special ecosystems such as mangroves andmountains. Parts VII-IX discuss forests with stronger humaninterventions: secondary forests and planted forests for productivepurposes and for restoration. The book ends with a final, concludingchapter.