World forest resources, Forest types of India and Kerala. Basic concepts ofecology and ecosystems, forest community structure, vegetation dynamics— succession, retrogression, pioneer and climax communities. Fauna andflora in forests, animal and plant biodiversity in relation to ecological niches,endemism, rarity of species, conservation of biodiversity.
2. Silviculture
Site factors, reproduction methods, pure and mixed stands, even and unevenaged stands, site quality, stand density indexes, silvicultural characteristicsof stands and trees, stand development, biology of stand growth.Regeneration techniques. Sowing vs. planting, forest nurseries. Sitepreparation. Tending and intermediate cutting. Methods and application ofthinning. Silvicultural systems. Silviculture of trees. Plantation forestry inIndia. Choice of species. Fertilization in plantations. Clonal plantations.
Tropical deforestation, rising demands of füelwood, fodder and timber.Classification of agroforestry systems. Agroforestry for wastelanddevelopment, woodlots and biofuel plantations. Agroforestry for soil andwater conservation. Micro-site enrichment by trees. Adverse effects of treeson soils. Choice of species in agroforestry. Crown and root architecture, treemanagement - thinning, lopping, pollarding, pruning. Social forestry.Multipurpose trees. Agroforestry and social forestry for climate changemitigation and adaptation. Phytoremediation.
4. Forest Hydrology and Watershed Management
Hydrological cycle. Energy and water balance equations. Hydrologicalprocesses. Paired watersheds. Surface water, run off and hydrograph. Soilwater energy concept, movement, availability. Watershed management.Water harvesting. Forest treatment and water yield.
5. Tree Seed Technology
Seed production areas. Seed collection. Fruit and seed handling, Seedprocessing. Seed storage, Harrington’s rule of thumb. Seed dormancy.Treatments for breaking dormancy. Seed dressing and pelleting. Seedtesting, viability tests. Deterioration of seeds. Concept of seed vigour.Cryopreservation - genetic conservation. Seed Act and seed lawenforcement.
6. Forest Mensuration, Inventory and Yield Prediction
Diameter, girth, height, and basal area measurements. Volumemeasurements of standing trees, logs, branchwood. Volume tables.Determination of growth of trees. Increment - CAI and MAI. Stump andstem analysis. Tree stem form - Metzgr’ s theory. Forest Inventory. Pointsampling. Growth and yield prediction, crown competition factor, yieldtables.
7. Forest Management, Policy and Legislation
Principles of forest management. Sustained yield principle and itslimitations. Rotation - factors influencing length of rotations. Normal forest,regular and irregular forests. Working plans. Joint forest management.Forest policies in India, Forest Laws and Acts, The Wildlife (Protection)Act 1972, Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, Environment (Protection) Act1986. International Treaties like CITES, CBD, RAMSAR. The BiologicalDiversity Act, 2002.
8. Forest Protection
Injury to forest due to fires, causes and character of forest fires, fireprevention, fire suppression and fire control policy and objectives. Injury toforests due to man, lopping, cutting for fuelwood, encroachment, illegalfelling. Forest weeds and weed management, management of woodyclimbers, parasites and epiphytes.
9. Forest Entomology and Nematology
Pest problems in forest nurseries. Biology and control of important insectpests of economically important tree crops. Insect vectors of tree diseases.Risk in the use of pesticides in forest ecosystems. Newer methods of control,pheromones, antifeedants, hormone mimics, chitin inhibitors and biocontrolagents. Integrated pest management. Insect pests of felled trees and storageyards and their control. Termite problems. Forest nematology - nematodemanagement.
10. Forest Pathology
Losses due to forest tree diseases - root, stem and foliar diseases of majorspecies - etiology, symptoms, mode of spread, epidemiology andmanagement (chemical, biological, cultural and silvicultural practices).Nursery diseases. Timber decay and its management. Beneficial fungi -Mycorrhizal association of forest trees - edible mushrooms.
11. Remote Sensing and GIS in Forestry
Aerial and space remote sensing; Aerial photographs, Photointerpretation;Satellite remote sensing, Indian Remote Sensing Programme; Visual anddigital image processing - vegetation mapping using satellite imagery;Forestcover monitoring and damage assessment; GIS and conventionalcartography. Spatial and non-spatial data.
12. Logging and Utilization of Timber
Logging in India and other countries, felling and conversion - implementsused. Season and method of felling. Safety measures in logging. Reducedimpact logging. Converted wood. Transportation of timber and firewood.Extraction methods. Girdling. Modem methods of harvesting andtransportation. Marketing and sales. Storage, management of depots. Nonwood forest produces.
13. Ecotourism and Urban Forestry
Ecotourism potentials of Kerala — management of eco-parks andecotourists. Economics of ecotourism. Forest recreation. Principles andpractices of landscaping - landscape ecology. Urban forestry, Managementof urban forest. Arboriculture.
14. Tree Breeding
Tree breeding. Quantitative inheritance. Hardy-Weinberg law - genetic drift.Methods of breeding - heterosis breeding in trees. Types of geneticinteractions - additive and dominance theories. Provenance testing and ecogeographicsurveys. Plus tree identification - establishment of seed orchards.Clonal propagation - second generation seed orchard.
15. Wood Science and Technology
Formation of wood - sapwood and heartwood, hardwood and softwood.Physical and mechanical properties of wood. Chemistry of wood. Seasoning.Defects in timber Uses of wood. Primary conversion - sawing, veneering andchipping. Composite wood. Improved wood. Pulp and paper manufacturing.Wood bio-deterioration. Wood preservation. Fire retardant chemicals.
16. Wildlife Sciences
Animals in relation to man - free living, captive, domesticated and feralanimals. Habitat use concept. Role of wildlife management in conservation.Wildlife management techniques. Wildlife census. Wildlife damage control - capture, telemetry. Healthcare. Utilizational categorization of captivewildlife - taming and training of captive wildlife. Central Zoo Authority.Utilization of captive wildlife. Management of zoological gardens, deerparks and safari parks.
NOTE: - It may be noted that apart from the topics detailed above,questions from other topics prescribed for the educational qualificationof the post may also appear in the question paper. There is noundertaking that all the topics above may be covered in the questionpaper
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