ABSTRACT
The demand for enhanced forest production and sustainability has increased the intensity of forest management (Wall, Prasad, and Shamoun, 1992) and the importance of vegetation competing with commercially valuable planted or naturally regenerating young conifer seedlings (Shamoun, 2000). The past few decades have seen significant changes in forest management, notably in site preparation, chemical herbicide use, and the development of new methods for forest practices and harvesting. The basic approaches to increase stand growth and fiber production are achieved through
1. rapidly establishing a new stand following harvest (planting practices);
2. maximizing the flow of site resources to the crop (controlling competing forest vegetation);
3. improving soil resources (fertilization); 4. selecting and breeding fast-growing genotypes; and 5. minimizing losses due to insects, diseases, fire, and forest weeds
(stand protection).
