The following outline is provided as an overview of and guide to forestry: Forestry – science and craft of creating, managing, using, conserving, and repairing forests and associated resources to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human and environment benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Forestry accommodates a broad range of concerns, through what is known as multiple-use management, striving for sustainability in the provision of timber, fuel wood, wildlife habitat, natural water quality management, recreation, landscape and community protection, employment, aesthetically appealing landscapes, biodiversity management, watershed management, erosion control, and preserving forests as 'sinks' for atmospheric carbon dioxide. Focus of forestry Tree – organism, whose species, age, vitality, growth, health, and size, are considered individually or more often, as part of a whole; Forest – defined as either a geographic area or delineated by the general composition of individuals; Biome – ecologically defined by its forest structure, leaf types, tree spacing, and climate Branches of forestry Agroforestry – integration of forests into agricultural systems in order to optimize the production and positive effects within the system and minimize negative side effects of farming Boreal forestry – analyzes the particular challenges of forestry in the world's boreal regions Close to nature forestry – theory and practice that takes the forest as an ecosystem and manages it as such. It is based on reduced human intervention, that should be directed to accelerate the processes that nature would do by itself more slowly. Dendrology – involves the study and identification of economically useful tree species Energy forestry – includes specifically managing for the production of energy from biomass or biofuel derived from a fast-growing species of tree or woody shrub Forest ecology – studies the patterns and processes of a forest ecosystem Forest economics – studies the impact of economics on forest management decisions Forest hydrology – embodies the effects of changes in forest land use on the movement, distribution, and quality of water in the ecosystem Forest mensuration – incorporates quantitative measurements of the forest stand to determine stand timber volume and productivity/health, and provides a basis off which management decisions can be made Forest pathology – research of both biotic and abiotic maladies affecting the health of the forest or tree, primarily fungal pathogens and their insect vectors Silviculture – is the art and science of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests