Overview

Maintaining healthy forests is a major aim both from the production forestry and forest ecology and nature conservation perspective. But what makes a forest healthy? The Forest Health module will familiarise foresters in the broad sense with forest and tree health problems which have caused and are likely to cause significant environmental, social and economic impact in UK forests, with some coverage of global issues also.

We will assess a range of organisms and will give a general overview of those causing problems concentrating on fungi, fungal like organisms and arthropods, and we examine interacting factors of plant defence, organismal pathogenicity and environmental factors to cover a range of problems encountered in the UK’s past, present and future. We will examine future scenarios for forest health in line with climate change predictions and future introductions of exotic pests to prepare our forests against future known and unknown threats. In case studies historical and current problems and their causes for wide scale spread and high levels of disease will be explored.

1.Forest Health – What is a healthy forest? 2.Introduction to the problems in the forest: biotic, abiotic and interactions, particularly with climatic factors.
3.The Disease Triangle – a useful concept when addressing forest health 4.A systematic view of problems I: Pseudofungi - Phytophthora 5.A systematic view of problems II: Real fungi - Ascomycota 6.A systematic view of problems III: Real fungi – Basidiomycota 7.Insects - The basics 8.Insects on the move: Global trade and change 9.Acute Oak Decline: a major threat to UK oak 10.Policy and social aspects of forest health 11.Monitoring forest health 12.Immediate and future (known) threats 13.Managing for resilience of future (unknown) threats

Assessment Strategy

-threshold -Grade D- to D+. Have a basic understanding of tree and forest health issues, show a basic knowledge of the conditions and organisms involved in different pest and disease severity

-good -Grade C- to B+. As above but at a higher level of understanding and be able to demonstrate evidence of reading original papers rather than grey literature digests.

-excellent -Grade A- and above. As above but extensive level of knowledge and understanding and evidence of widespread use of both current and historical literature.

Learning Outcomes

• Analyse and compare different management and control options for long term tree-crops and natural forest ecosystems.

• Define the environmental factors which determine the development of pests and diseases.

• Evaluate and summarise the likely effects of climate change on forest health.

• Explain the reasons for spread of, and success of, organisms causing forest health issues.

• Identify the organisms likely to harm trees and their broader significance.