| Forest & Landscape | |||||||||||||||||||
| Earliest Possible Year | |||||||||||||||||||
| Duration | One block | ||||||||||||||||||
| Credits | 7.5 (ECTS) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Course Level | MSc | ||||||||||||||||||
| Examination | Final Examination written examination All aids allowed Description of Examination: 24 hour written examination. On the date of the examination questions and data are available from 9.00 am. The material is (1) made available on the CampusNet, (2) sent to all students by e-mail (via the CampusNet) and (3) can be picked up at the department, Rolighedsvej 23. It is the personal responsibility of each student to make sure that she/he has received the examination questions and all associated datasets. The next morning at 9.00 am all students must appear personally at the department, Rolighedsvej 23, and hand in their written answers. No material can be handed in after 9.30 am. Weight: 100% 13-point scale, internal examiner | ||||||||||||||||||
| Organisation of Teaching | Per week: lectures 4½ hours, individual exercises 4 hours, group exercises 3½ hours. One excursion. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Block Placement | Block 1 Week Structure: B | ||||||||||||||||||
| Teaching Language | English may be conducted in Danish | ||||||||||||||||||
| Optional Prerequisites | 015311 010611 Or similar. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Areas of Competence the Course Will Address | |||||||||||||||||||
| Competences within basic science: - Comprehends basic relationships between the biophysical environment, growth of individual organisms and populations, competition between organisms, and succession of ecosystems. Competences within applied science: - Can apply principles and methods from basic statistics in typical sampling and modelling situations in terrestrial environments. - Can apply principles used for measuring typical variables in forest and nature to new situations. Competences within ethics & values: - Are able to discuss the relevance, reliability, validity and interpretation of empirical data and results obtained in particular contexts. - Students should be able to quantify and model the state and production of forests and other terrestrial ecosystems, understand the limitations of such systems with respect to human utilisation and prepare guidelines for sustainable use. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Course Objectives | |||||||||||||||||||
| - To provide students with tools for sampling, modelling and interpreting information on structure and density of vegetation cover, land use, fauna and production of various products in terrestrial environments. - To enable students to plan and implement minor inventories and field experiments and critically analyse and reflect on the reliability of empirical results. - To enable students to decide and act on the basis of empirical evidence and prepare guidelines for sustainable management. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Course Contents | |||||||||||||||||||
| - Measurements in terrestrial environments (forest and nature); for individuals and populations of trees, shrubs, herbs and rare species; for fauna and geophysical site characteristics. The emphasis is on direct measurements but an introduction to the application of remote sensing techniques is given. - Sampling methods and design, inventory planning and implementation, introduction to experimental design and practice. - Practical application of statistical methods for analysis of data from inventories and experiments, data management, model choice and model validation. - Relationships between physical environment (climate, soil, topography) and growth, competition and succession of biological systems in forest and nature. - Modelling states and developments of - and relationships between - individuals, populations and systems in forest and nature. - Models describing volume and biomass, growth and yield, size distributions, relationships between various measures on individuals and populations. - Growth models working at various levels of detail: stand growth models, size-class models and individual-tree models. - Introduction to systems models, including process models, CO2 models, gap models and landscape/ecosystem models. - Use of quantitative methods, inventory results and models as the basis of sustainable management decisions and natural resource planning. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Teaching And Learning Methods | |||||||||||||||||||
| Theoretical considerations, models and methods are presented in lectures along with relevant examples. Implications of the theory are illustrated in exercises. Some of these exercises are intended for individual work; others are intended for group work. Some results will be discussed in small groups, some in plenum. During the course students will choose an empirical case, formulate a research question and conduct a small survey in groups of 3-5 course participants. This work includes thorough planning of the sampling procedure and the subsequent analysis, presentation and discussion of the plan in plenum, sampling of data in the field (during an excursion) and, finally, data analysis and interpretation of results. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Course Litterature | |||||||||||||||||||
| The complete course literature has not been decided yet. Part of the course will be based on scientific papers. Moreover, selected chapters of the following textbooks will be included: - Bonham, Charles D. 1989. Measurements for Terrestrial Vegetation. John Wiley & Sons. New York. 338 p. ISBN 0471048801. - Gadow, Klaus von & Gangying Hui, 1999. Modelling Forest Development. Kluwer Academic Publishers. Dordrecht. ISBN 0792354885. - Husch, Bertram; Beers, Thomas W. & Kershaw, John A. Jr., 2003. Forest Mensuration. Fourth Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. 443 p. ISBN 0471018503. - Stern, R.D.; Coe, R.; Allan, E.F. & Dale, I.C. (eds.), 2004. Good Statistical Practice for Natural Resources Research. CABI Publishing, Wallingford. 388 p. ISBN 0851997228. - Vanclay, Jerome K., 1994. Modelling Forest Growth and Yield. Applications to Mixed Tropical Forests. CAB International, Wallingford. ISBN 0851989136. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Course Coordinator | |||||||||||||||||||
| Henrik Meilby, heme@life.ku.dk, Danish Centre for Forest, Landscape and Planning/Unit of Forestry, Phone: 35331740 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Study Board | |||||||||||||||||||
| Study Committee NSN | |||||||||||||||||||
| Course Scope | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||