Print Syllabus

Syllabus

P000064 Forest fire ecology and fire impacts on ecosystems and society, 8.0 Credits

Subjects

Biology

Education cycle

Postgraduate level

Grading scale

Language

English

Prior knowledge

The participants should be admitted as a PhD or Licentiate student and have a Master of science in ecology, forestry, biology, geography, environmental sciences or related field.

Objectives

After the course, the student will be able to:

# Reflect upon and understand the Holocene dynamics of forest fire as the primary factor affecting Nordic vegetation, global biogeochemical cycles.

# Discuss modern and likely future trends in dynamics of forest fire, as affected by climate and human land use.

# Elaborate on methods designed to study fire at multiple time and spatial scales.

Content

The course will explore the role of fire in boreal and temperate ecosystems and the subsequent effects on plant/animal communities and the society. The course will provide a broad overview of fire as a disturbance factor in Earth ecosystem and will lay ground for a more in-depth understanding of its impacts in the past and the future. The course will focus predominantly on boreal and temperate systems, although some attention will be given to other biomes where fire plays an important role (e.g. regions with Mediterranean climate and Arctic).

The course content includes lectures on the following topics:
# Global role of fire over the Holocene

# Role of fire in boreal and temperate ecosystems

# Fires and forest biodiversity: mixed-severity vs. high-severity fires

# Interactions of fires with other disturbance agents

# Carbon dynamics driven by fire activity

# Dendrochronological analyses of past fire histories

# Paleochronological proxy of past fire activity: advantages and limitations

# Fire and humans; economy of fire suppression: is there an optimal solution?

# Climatology of fire activity in the Nordic region

# Fire behavior and its modelling

# Effect of fire on animal populations

Excursions

We plan three excursions

Mandatory elements

Participation in Pre week assignment

75 % participation in lectures on site

Participation on the excursions

Written exam

Additional information

The course consists of three elements:

(a) pre-DLE reading assignments and lectures (2 weeks of work = 80 hours),

(b) the set of lectures given at Campus referred to as **days with lectures and excursions, DLE**, 1.5 weeks of work (60 hours), and

(c) post-DLE written assignment (2 weeks of work, 80 hours).

Totally – 220 hours.

Responsible department

Department of Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre