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What is the difference in usage? What associations does the former word trigger that the latter does not (and vice versa)?

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The NOAD reports that silviculture means the growing and cultivation of trees, while forestry means the science or practice of planting, managing, and caring for forests. If I say I am a silviculturist, I don't mean I plant forests.

The other grammatical difference between the words is that there are two derivates of silviculture (silvicultural, silviculturist), but there aren't derivates of forestry with similar meaning.

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Speaking about equivalents, could forester (AHD: “One who is trained in forestry”) and forestal (OED: “Of or pertaining to a forest”) possibly be used? – user3286 Jan 31 '11 at 21:21
Forestal (which strangely is not reported in the NOAD) and forestation are derivates of forest, not forestry. I updated the answer to reflect what I really meant. – kiamlaluno Feb 1 '11 at 3:15
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I think the main difference would be that silviculture applies to any tree, while forestry only to the ones in a forest.

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Except that M-W defines silviculture as "a branch of forestry dealing with the development and care of forests" and Wiktionary has it as "The care and development of forests in order to obtain a product or provide a benefit; forestry." And indeed the root silvi comes from the Latin for forest, not tree. – Marthaª Jan 31 '11 at 20:15
@Martha: That should be an answer, the one I want to click up on! – Orbling Jan 31 '11 at 20:22
Also, AHD defines it as “The care and cultivation of forest trees; forestry,” RHUWD defines it as “the cultivation of forest trees; forestry,” the OED has it as “The cultivation of woods or forests; the growing and tending of trees as a department of forestry,” Wikipedia as “the practice of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests,” and Chamber's as “Forestry.” Which is why I am at a loss. There seems to be no clear consensus between all the dictionaries. – user3286 Jan 31 '11 at 20:26
@Orbling: fully answering this question would require researching the contexts where each word is used, and I don't presently have time for that. – Marthaª Jan 31 '11 at 20:27
Where I checked (the Dashboard Dictionary on a Mac), silviculture was described as meaning "the growing and cultivation of trees" and silva as wood. I do remember silva meaning forest, but I was misled by the dictionary. I apologize! – Grewe Kokkor Jan 31 '11 at 21:07
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"Silviculture" to me, never having heard it before, just sounds like it's pretentious. Like a 'Garbage removal expert'.

I admit I'm outside my specialism, though, so there may be some distinction in the field. And I know people who are irritated by people calling themselves 'software engineers' when in reality they're just 'programmers' putting on airs...

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There are a lot of questions on Programmers.SE about the whole SE vs Programmers argument. I would say there is a difference, but a small one. – Orbling Jan 31 '11 at 20:21
Absolutely, and I have my own idea of what the difference is. My point is that whether there's a distinction between the two phrases, and what that distinction is, is sometimes a subjective one - and that sounds like it might also be the case here. – ijw Feb 1 '11 at 13:09

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