Author Willan, R.L.

Year of publication 1985

Forest plantations are a powerful tool in the continuing efforts of foresters to increase productivity per unit area - the only means of reconciling the increasing demands for forest products and services on the one hand with a decreasing area of land available for forestry on the other. There is still a need for a systematic and up-to-date account of the principles of forest tree seed handling and their application to the special problems of tropical forest seeds. The present Guide is an attempt to fill the gap. It is addressed to foresters, seed collectors, researchers and suppliers, nurserymen, horticulturists and anyone concerned with the handling and use of forest seeds, amateur and professional alike. Even though it covers only the general principles, it is hoped that this guide will provide a useful framework for more specific information on individual species and techniques. While recapitulating the principles of seed handling derived from temperate experience, this guide seeks to illustrate also tropical experience with forest seeds, as far as possible, by examples taken from tropical species. The Guide has been compiled from a survey of forest literature and has drawn heavily on the experience recorded in the references section, as well as earlier publications. Little mention is made of the basic cytology and biochemistry of seeds.