With increasing and conflicting demands on forests there is a growing need for information for decision making. Forest biometry may provide this information.
Forest biometry applies the principles and practice of statistics to forestry. Sampling for stand and tree attributes, modeling individual tree growth and yield, and using multivariate methods for ordination, analysis, and interpretation are all part of biometry.
At MSU, graduate students and faculty in forest biometry concentrate on research problems in modeling growth and yield, sampling issues, and multivariate methods. Recent projects have included developing and testing individual tree growth models, using multivariate methods to select homogeneous sites for gradient analysis, modeling the effect of cutting methods on stumpage prices for national forests, and comparing multistage to multiphase sampling using LANDSAT imagery.
Understanding forest ecologythat is, how environmental factors and human activities affect tree growth and forest community dynamicsis essential in developing successful management programs and conserving forest resources.
At MSU, graduate training in forest ecology combines courses in soil science, botany, plant pathology, ecology, conservation biology, and evolution with studies in forest ecology to provide a firm foundation for both research and management.
Ongoing forest ecology research includes understanding the mechanisms of plant competition and nutrient utilization and cycling; plant community dynamics at the landscape level; photosynthate allocation in response to environmental stress; and physiological and ecosystem responses to global change.
Students who have strong interests in interdisciplinary forest ecology studies may choose to complete master's or doctoral degree studies in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Program. Faculty from several university departments with training and interests in one or more areas of ecology and evolution serve as program advisors. Because the program is interdisciplinary, it can be tailored to meet each student's particular interests, capabilities, and professionals goals.
People and their communities are an integral component of forest management. Successful resolution of land management issues requires that they be addressed through an integration of biological, economic, institutional, and social perspectives. The complementary disciplines of forest economics, systems analysis, and policy provide the basis for examining such issues from multiple perspectives, identifying societal and landowner objectives, formulating and selecting among management or policy alternatives, and analyzing the desirability and probable outcomes of land management programs and policies.
At MSU, graduate students in this program first develop an expertise in the disciplinary principles of forestry, then apply this expertise in studying the interactions between human communities and their natural resources and in analyzing a range of forest management programs and policies, such as assessing tradeoffs between market and nonmarket resources, modeling and analyzing worldwide forest product trade patterns and issues, and assessing the impacts of global change on forest systems.
Interaction with faculty in allied departments and with professionals from the Forest Economics Unit of the North Central Forest Experiment Station helps students develop insight and perspective into applied research. Students with strong interdisciplinary interests may apply to the interdepartmental Graduate Specialization in Resource Economics.
Selected faculty from six departments in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and The Eli Broad College of Business administer the Graduate Specialization in Resource Economics. Students develop a solid background in economic theory and quantitative methods and apply these principles to natural and agricultural resource problems. Recent research projects have focused on economic theory; bioeconomic modeling; resource dependent employment; and environmental concerns in an international context.
Students who wish to enroll in this program must be accepted by the Department of Forestry and then recommended for admission to the interdepartmental program.
To ensure healthy forests for the future, it's necessary to understand the role of insects and diseases in forest ecosystems. Forest entomologists and pathologists study the biological and ecological aspects of insects and diseases in relation to the management of forests and urban forests.
Graduate studies and research in forest entomology and pathology at MSU focus on the impacts of insects and diseases, insect biodiversity, the effects of environmental stress on forest insects and diseases and developing longterm strategies to control forest pests. As an enrichment to the learning environment, students may collaborate with scientists and pest managers from the MSU Integrated Pest Management Program, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Forest Service, and may participate in forest and Christmas tree extension activities.
Ensuring forests for our future requires research in forest genetics to identify and enhance important genetic traits, such as growth rate and form, disease and insect resistance, and adaptive plasticity. Breeding and developing new tree varieties and hybrids are also major components of ongoing research.
In addition to these concerns, forests geneticists probe more theoretical questions, such as the effects and causes of genetic instability in tissue culture, quantification of gene flow between species, the mode of inheritance and organization of organelle genomes, and the use of molecular techniques to increase breeding efficiency.
As a graduate student in the forest genetics program at MSU you create your own program of study. You may choose to study any aspect of forest genetics from conventional quantitative breeding to organelle genetics or the molecular basis of gene expression. Recent graduate student research has examined genotypic enhancement of in vitro performance for tissue culture, the inheritance of cpDNA and mtDNA in the genus Picea, and the expression of novel genes in transgenic woody plants.
For individuals who wish to develop a multidisciplinary perspective in forest genetics, the interdepartmental program in plant breeding and genetics is an option. The program allows students to create their own programs of study which range from conventional tree breeding to examination of gene regulation at the molecular level.
The program is jointly administered by the Departments of Forestry, Horticulture, and Crop and Soil Science. Students who wish to enroll in this program must be accepted by the Department of Forestry and then recommended for the program.
As fundamental elements of forest ecosystems, soils and hydrology are critical components in developing longterm strategies to ensure forest integrity and productivity. Topics in these areas include the dynamics and sustainability of nutrient capital, watershed management, stream and groundwater quality, and the distribution and function of forest communities, soils, and water in relation to landscape level processes.
The program in forest soils and hydrology at MSU focuses on understanding soil and hydrological principals and mechanisms, as well as on the classification and survey of forest lands based on integrated ecological factors and landscape processes. Training and research emphasize the design and improvement of sustainable management systems that protect biodiversity and environmental health. At MSU, research has ranged from assessing the chemical, physical, and biological properties of soils in upland and wetland forests, to the role forests play in producing consistent yields of highquality water and minimizing erosion and pollution, to monitoring the risks of herbicide leaching in forest soils and groundwater.
Students in soils, hydrology, or ecology who have particular interest in studying the effects of chemicals on the environment may wish to enroll in the Environmental Toxicology Program, a multidisciplinary program administered by the College of Veterinary Medicine.
This doctoraldegree program requires students to complete a core curriculum with either an environmental or toxicological focus, then develop an individual curriculum that combines courses in forestry with courses in toxicology, environmental dynamics, economics, policy and law, waste management, and analytical chemistry.
Before enrolling in this program, students must first be accepted for graduate study in forestry. Applicants must have a bachelor's degree and a minimum 3.0 gradepoint average in sufficient biological, behavioral, and physical sciences to indicate probable success in the program. Admission is approved by the faculty of the Environmental Toxicology Program and the guidance committee must include two faculty from the program.
To flourish, a tree requires cultivationfertilization, control of pests, occasional selective cutting around it, and pruning. Forests benefit from these same cultivational practices.
Silviculture, the art and science of cultivating forests, integrates the principles of ecology, physiology, genetics, forest protection, forest engineering, and economics with silvicultural techniques to ensure forest viability, productivity, and future options. For effective results, silviculturists must be sensitive to both societal expectations and landowner objectives in developing prescriptions for managing forestlands.
As a graduate student in silviculture at MSU, you develop this sensitivity. While enhancing your knowledge of traditional silvicultural techniques, like thinning, prescribed burning, natural and artificial regeneration, and vegetation management, you learn to apply these techniques in both traditional settings, like a forest industry plantation, and nontraditional settings, like an old growth tract or an endangered
Training and research emphasize ways to meet conservation and production goals, such as using of prescribed burning in multipleuse management of red pine or employing shortrotation silvicultural systems for fastgrowing hardwood trees to produce energy and fiber.
Because of the threat to and demise of world forests and the consequent impact on human populations, there is great need to develop landuse systems that sustain both human and forest ecosystems. Social forestry and agroforestry address this need.
Social forestry directly involves the values, needs, institutions, and priorities of local people in the management of trees and forests. Agroforestry is a sustainable, synergistic landuse system that integrates trees, agricultural and horticultural crops, and animals to meet the needs of local farmers. Its goal is to optimize land use by conserving the natural resource base to attain a more diversified or sustainable production than exists under current forms of land use.
At MSU, the multidisciplinary programs in social forestry and agroforestry focus on forestry and its role in international development. Training and research emphasize solutions to biological, economic, and social problems while recognizing and accounting for the needs of local human populations. Current international projects include developing silvopastoral management systems on small farms in Jamaica, synthesizing endogenous and scientific knowledge systems to enhance agroforestry development in Rwanda, communitydriven forestry in the city of Detroit, intercropping of Paulownia winter wheat in China, quantifying the relationship between photosynthetically active radiation (par) and yield, and integrating social forestry into primary and secondary school curricula in Thailand.
From boreal to tropical ecosystems, understanding the functions and vital process of trees is essential to forest conservation. To most effectively grow trees and forest we must know how they grow.
At MSU, tree physiology studies can range from the cellular level to whole trees or stands in the natural environment, and from growth mechanisms in woody plants to managing environmentgenome interactions. Because of its long history of outstanding programs in plant science, MSU offers many courses in plant physiology. Instruction in silviculture, agroforestry, urban forestry, ecology, genetics, soils, pathology, and entomology complements study and research in tree physiology. In addition, the U.S. Department of Energy Plant Research Laboratory, a major plant physiology facility, is located on the MSU campus.
Michigan State University offers unique opportunities for graduate students to pursue research in tree physiology. Traditional strengths have been in physiological ecology and physiological genetics of hardwood and coniferous trees. Studies may be pursued in wellequipped laboratories, campus greenhouses, or field locations.
Urban forestry concerns establishing, planting, and managing trees in or near urban areas. For more than 55 years, the Department of Forestry at MSU has focused on using live forests to improve urban environments.
Michigan State University's urban forestry program addresses a variety of urban environmental problems. Research has aimed at identifying ways to improve aesthetics, ameliorate microclimate, reduce noise and air pollution, and control sail erosion in urban areas, as well as determining what species, numbers of trees, and design patterns of forests can be employed to achieve these goals.
At MSU, research has dealt broadly in plant health care issues from nutrient deficiencies and soil improvement to planting practices, management practices and budgeting in cities across America, attitudes of urban residents about their trees, alternative treatments for adjudicated youths in tree care, and the status of street trees in America.
The urban forestry program has a dual curriculum, so graduate students can choose either the biological or managerialadministrative specialty. In addition, students may enroll in interdisciplinary urban forestry programs leading to both master's and doctoral degrees in forestry and urban studies.
Wood science integrates general material science with several branches of engineering to solve problems related to the manufacture and processing of forest products. Along with its focus on products, such as lumber and veneer for furniture, woodbased composites, reconstituted wood, and paper, the discipline has expanded to encompass these as a way of more efficiently using and therefore preserving forest resources.
Graduate study in wood science at MSU combines studies in forestry with complementary studies in engineering. Research is frequently conducted in cooperation with the Composite Materials and Structures Center of the MSU College of Engineering. Faculty and graduate student research has explored the use of recycled newsprint as furnish for wood composition board, the mechanism of hygroscopic distortions of laminated panels and other wood-based composites, and laser cutting of wood.
last update: 29 June 1995, by jsf