Overview

Silviculture and inventory will develop your understanding of silviculture using concepts from plant biology and physiology, soil science and microclimate, tree nurseries and planting stock, silvicultural systems, forest operations, problem based forest inventory skills, and the production of forest compartment maps using GIS.

In this module develops you will develop an understanding of the principles and practice of silviculture, the place of silviculture in the sustainable cultivation of trees, and the role that silviculture plays in delivering ecosystem services from trees, woodlands and forests. We explore the unique characteristics of forest soils and of soil physical, chemical and biological properties, how these influence site productivity, and how these are influenced by land management.

To effectively manage forests and conduct high-quality silviculture an understanding of the structure of the forest is required, to address this, we will explore the use of remote sensing to obtain forest inventories that can be used to inform our silvicultural decisions. We will examine aerial photographs of Treborth and learn how to enhance and interpret them to identify difference in the canopy, using both colour and Infra-Red wavelengths. You will have the opportunity to use LiDAR data, which gives information on both landscape and vegetation height, to examine the differences over the Treborth woodland. Finally, you will use multispectral remote sensing data to interpret land cover.

Throughout the module, you will have the opportunity to conduct a forest inventory activity at Treborth woodland that will provide a practical context to the module’s academic content, and will help to inform the online examination and reports that together make up the module assessments.

Physiological processes that determine tree growth and survival: Above- & below-ground allocation; root:shoot ratio; Light capture drives productivity; Drought & water-logging; Mechanisms of disease-related death; Response of seedling trees to environmental stimuli. Tree growth and yield. Plant stress and wood quality. Differences/similarities between individual tree, uneven-aged, mixed stands and plantation silviculture: Single-tree selection; Group selection; Seed trees; Shelterwood; Clearfell. Regeneration: Seed and vegetative regeneration; Re-spacing of natural regeneration; Genetic aspects of regeneration. Tending, thinning. Operational aspects of site preparation, planting and establishment. Silviculture for production: Silviculture and timber properties. Forest harvesting and extraction: Appropriate harvesting methods; Mechanised thinning; Organised felling systems; Forest road planning and layout. Environmental effects of forest operations: Sustainability; Legislation.

Assessment Strategy

Threshold (Grade D- to D+) Students have a passing familiarity with the physiological ecology of trees. They can describe some of the silvicultural systems used in temperate or tropical forestry. They will be able to describe some of the methods used for forest inventory and yield regulation and prediction.

Good (Grade C- to B+) Students have a good understanding of the physiological ecology of plants, and understand that silvicultural interventions affect plant growth. They can describe many of the silvicultural systems used in temperate and tropical forestry. They will be able to explain several of the ways in which economic methods are used to make forest management decisions, and describe how the methods are applied in different situations.

Excellent (Grade A- and above) Students have an excellent understanding of the physiological ecology of plants, and understand the all the ways in which silvicultural interventions affect the biotic and abiotic factors that control plant growth. They can describe the silvicultural systems used in temperate and tropical forestry, and critically evaluate their relative merits. They will be able to explain in detail the methods used for forest inventory and yield regulation and describe how the methods are applied in different situations, and evaluate their effectiveness.

Learning Outcomes

• Compare the silvicultural systems used in temperate and tropical forests and analyse their relative merits in the context of sustainable forest management.

• Identify and describe the biological and environmental factors that underpin the silvicultural practices used to create, establish and tend forest plantations.

• Interpret the principles of forest inventory, planning and economics, and be able to apply them to a particular forest situation

• Manipulate and interpret remote sensing data to create informative maps for forest management using geographic information systems.