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Silviculture Lab (Muraoka Lab / Silva)
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The lab explores how trees and forests respond to environmental change.
AboutAbout the lab
Uncovering and predicting how forests respond to their environment
The Silviculture Lab studies how trees respond to their environment and the soils of forests.
Silviculture is the discipline of growing healthy forests so that ecosystem services continue into the future without compromising the functioning of the ecosystem.
Trees and forests take a long time to grow, and the environment changes during that time.
The lab therefore covers a broad range of topics, from plant photosynthesis and growth and the cycling of materials in soil to the relationship between climate change and forests.
Key terms
- Ecosystem services
- The many benefits that people receive from ecosystems such as forests, including timber, water, and clean air
- Phenology
- Seasonal changes in living organisms, such as budburst and autumn leaf coloring, and the timing of those changes. Also called biological seasons
- Sapling
- A young tree that is still short, at the stage just after growing from a seedling
NewsLab news
View More ↗ResearchResearch themes
The Silviculture Lab conducts research on how trees respond to their environment and on forest soils. It investigates seasonal changes in tree photosynthesis and growth, CO2 uptake by forests, the growth of saplings, and how trees respond to changes in soil, all in connection with global warming and environmental variability.
*Illustrative imageSeasonal Changes in Photosynthesis and Growth
The lab examines how leaf photosynthesis and growth in trees change with the seasons (phenology), and explores how global warming affects these changes.
*Illustrative imageForest CO2 Uptake and Soil Carbon
The lab investigates how the growth characteristics of trees and the movement of carbon in soil affect the way forests absorb CO2 from the atmosphere.
*Illustrative imageChanging Environments and Sapling Growth
The lab investigates how small young trees (saplings) grow and respond in environments that vary over time and from place to place.
*Illustrative imageSoil Changes and Tree Physiology
The lab investigates what physiological reactions occur inside trees when the soil environment changes, and how the trees respond to those changes.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Silviculture Lab consist of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students.As of 2026
- ProfessorHiroyuki MuraokaPublications ↗
- Associate Professor (Concurrent)Shoji Hashimoto
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Looking up into a dense green forest canopy” Krishna k. sahh / CC0 (cropped)
- Seasonal Changes in Photosynthesis and Growth: “Leaves on a Japanese Maple changing color in autumn along Forest Lane in the Mountainview section of Ewing Township, Mercer County, New Jersey” Famartin / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Forest CO2 Uptake and Soil Carbon: “Soil profile in Wuhlheide in Berlin-Köpenick” Leonhard Lenz / CC0 (cropped)
- Changing Environments and Sapling Growth: “A young sequoia sprouts from the forest floor. (1cbad632-b9ff-42e8-8fe0-dfc0abfde0ce)” NPS / Public domain (cropped)
- Soil Changes and Tree Physiology: “Roots and Soil Erosion” Wing-Chi Poon / CC BY-SA 2.5 (cropped)
- Related lab (森林植物学研究室): “Beech forest in Nyuto Onsenkyo (3)” 掬茶 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (森
林動物学研究室): “Stag Beetle, Ceruchus striatus” Lindsey Holm / CC BY 2.0 (cropped) - Related lab (生態調和農学機構): “Midoricho, Nishitokyo, University of Tokyo Tanashi Campus 20250615” Mikagekawase / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (国際協力分野(齊藤研究室)): “Calanus finmarchicus” Leïla Brunner / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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