Read the text to find out the main concerns of a professional forester and complete the diagram.
1.Forestry is an art, science and practice of studying and managing forests, tree plantations, and related natural resources. Silviculture, a related science, involves the growing and tending of trees and forests.
2.Forest ecosystems have come to be seen as the most important component of the biosphere, and forestry has emerged as a vital field of applied science, art and technology. Modern forestry generally concerns itself with: assisting forests to provide timber as raw materialfor woodproducts, preservation of wildlife habitat, natural water quality management, outdoor recreation, landscape and community protection, employment, aesthetically appealing landscapes, biodiversitymanagement, watershed management, erosion control, and preserving forests as ‘sinks’ foratmosphericcarbon dioxide.
3.A professional practitioner of forestry is known as a forester. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including timber harvesting, ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Urban foresters work within town and city environments to manage the trees in urban green space. Some work in tree nurseries growing seedlings for woodland creation or regeneration projects. Others are involved with tree genetics or developing new building systems as forest engineers. The profession has expanded to include a wide diversity of jobs, typically requiring an honors degree or college bachelor’s degree up to the PhD level for highly specialized areas of work.
4.Today a strong body of research exists regarding the management of forest ecosystemsand genetic improvementof tree species and varieties. Forestry also includes the development of better methods for the planting, protecting, thinning, controlled burning, felling, extracting, and processing of timber. One of the applications of modern forestry is reforestation, in which trees are planted and tended in a given area.
5.In topographically severe forested terrain, proper forestry is important for the prevention or minimization of serious soil erosion or even landslides. In areas with a high potential for landslides, forests can stabilize soils and prevent property damage or loss, human injury, or loss of life.
6.Other duties of foresters may include preventing and combating insect infestation, disease, forest and grassland wildfire; weed control, fertilization, measuring and modeling the growth of trees (forest mensuration).
In many regions the forest industry is of major ecological, economic, and social importance.
Practice 1.Summarise the text by listing:
- traditional concerns of forestry;
- concerns of urban forestry.
Practice 2.Re-read the text to find out which of its paragraphs deals with:
1) the qualification of modern foresters;
2) a broad range of concerns of modern forestry;
3) forests as an important component of the biosphere;
4) soil erosion and landslides.
Practice 3.Re-read the text again to find out which of the following statements are true and which are false:
1. Forestry concerns itself only with providing timber as raw material.
2. Silviculture is a related science.
3. To provide preservation of wildlife habitat is one of the goals of forestry.
4.The qualification of modern foresters is not very high.
5.Forest engineers work in tree nurseries.
6.Forestry can’t prevent serious soil erosion and landslides.
7.One of the applications of modern forestry is reforestation.
Practice 4.The answers to the following questions are the summary of the text. Answer these questions and give the summary of the text.
1. What is forestry?
2. What science is related to forestry?
3. What range of concerns does the modern forestry embrace?
4. What is the practitioner of forestry?
5. What are urban foresters busy with?
6. Why has forestry emerged as a vital field of science, applied art and technology?
7. What are other applications of modern forestry?
8. Is forest industry important today?
Practice 5.Does this text give you sufficient information about forestry? What questions would you like to ask the author of the text?
Text B