Credits: 15 ECTS
Course period:
March 2011 - December 2011. The first teaching session will be on Monday 7 March 2011 in Alnarp.
Learning objectives
The objective of the course is to provide students a comprehensive understanding of scientific experimentation and modelling in testing and developing silvicultural principles and practices for the sustainable management of forests. The course includes the planning, conduct and analyses of long-term forest field experiments, and the quantification, modelling and evaluation of effects of site, silviculture and environment on tree growth and forest stand dynamics. Throughout, the students will be presented to and discuss scientific approaches to investigating contrasting objective-oriented silvicultural practices and paradigms. These include even-aged plantation forestry, continuous cover forestry, close-to-nature forestry, multifunctional forestry, forestry for high-quality timber production, urban forestry, restoration forestry, conversion and transformation forestry, and historical management approaches. The statistical design of forest experiments and the use of sound statistical methods in forest modelling based on empirical data, form an integral part of the course curriculum. After completing the course, the student should be able to demonstrate advanced-level knowledge, skills and competence in experimental silviculture and forest modelling.
Examination
For the examination the student is required to write an essay within the student's own project. The essay should include an analysis of quantitative or qualitative effects of silviculture and should be based on the student's own data. The essay should be submitted to the course leader electronically via e-mail and in pdf-format.
Teaching and learning methods
Teaching will include lectures, supervised and unsupervised exercises, field tours to long-term forest experiments, group work, individual literature studies, and supervision of student essays. The teaching schedule is flexible and will depend on the students' other courses and project work. Depending on the geographic location of students, parts of the course will be given through distance learning, online supervision and online group discussions. Students are required to participate in scheduled teaching sessions at regular intervals as outlined in the course schedule. Session dates will be scheduled in cooperation with the students.
Course schedule
The course includes ten mandatory teaching and discussion sessions. Students are required to participate in all of these.
Session 1
The forest system
Forest production research and silviculture as scientific disciplines
Long-term forest field experiments in a historical context
Session 2
Planning of forest experiments
Defining and quantifying silvicultural interventions
Conducting forest experiments
Session 3
Analysing forest experiments
Quantifying and analysing the social status and growth of individual trees and the dynamics of forest stands
Session 4
Forest growth models
Session 5
Data requirements for forest growth models
Constructing forest growth models
Session 6
Forest site evaluation
Session 7
Modelling tree and stand growth, regeneration, recruitment, mortality and merchantability
Session 8
Evaluating forest growth models
Implementing forest growth models
Session 9
The issue of environmental change in forest modelling and silviculture
The philosophy of silviculture in science, policy and forestry practice
Session 10
Discussion of draft student essays
Course literature
The course literature will depend on the students' language skills and will be selected from the following list of books and articles. In addition to these, other publications will also be used.
Books
Pretzsch, H. 2009: Forest dynamics, growth and yield. Springer. XIX + 664 pp.
Vanclay, J.K. 1994: Modelling forest growth and yield. CAB International. XVII + 312 pp.
Matthews, J.D. 1991: Silvicultural systems. Oxford University Press. XII + 284 pp.
Articles
Nord-Larsen, T., H. Meilby & J.P. Skovsgaard 2009: Site-specific height growth models for six common tree species in Denmark. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research 24: 194-204.
Pretzsch, H., P. Biber, J. Dursky, K. von Gadow, H. Hasenauer, G. Kändler, G. Kenk, E. Kublin, J. Nagel, T. Pukkala, J.P. Skovsgaard, R. Sodtke & H. Sterba 2002: Recommendations for the standardized documentation and further development of forest growth simulators. Forstwissenschaftliches Centralblatt 121: 138-151.
Skovsgaard, J.P. 2004: Forest measurements. Encyclopedia of Forest Sciences 2: 550-566.
Skovsgaard, J.P. 2006: The European stem number experiment in Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), 3rd report: Denmark (DK 7). Berichte Freiburger Forstliche Forschung 66: 13-35.
Skovsgaard, J.P. 2009: Analysing effects of thinning on stand volume growth in relation to site conditions: A case study for even-aged Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.). Forestry 82: 87-104.
Skovsgaard, J.P. & J.K. Vanclay 2008: Forest site productivity: A review of the evolution of dendrometric concepts for even-aged stands. Forestry 81: 13-31.
Skovsgaard, J.P., V.K. Johannsen & J.K. Vanclay 1998: Accuracy and precision of two laser dendrometers. Forestry 71: 131-139.
Soares, P., M. Tomé, J.P. Skovsgaard & J.K. Vanclay 1995: Evaluating a growth model for forest management using continuous forest inventory data. Forest Ecology and Management 71: 251- 265.
Vanclay, J.K. & J.P. Skovsgaard 1997: Evaluating forest growth models. Ecological Modelling 98: 1-12.
Vanclay, J.K., J.P. Skovsgaard & C.P. Hansen 1995: Assessing the quality of permanent sample plot databases for growth and yield modelling in forest plantations. Forest Ecology and Management 71: 177-186.
Additional information
Students are expected to pay for travelling, course literature and other costs through their own project grants. Students are expected to organize purchase and download of course literature themselves.