Postgraduate Course: Forests and Environment (PGGE11025)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course examines the nature of forest ecosystems, their interactions with society, and how they respond to threats including climate change, resource exploitation and land use change. Forest management topics (silviculture, conservation, plantations, urban trees and woodlands, sustainable forest policy, certification) are also explored alongside various methodological techniques (remote sensing, field measurement/mensuration) applicable to the study of forests, the environment and their interactions. |
| Course description |
The course aims to give students:
1. An understanding of:
1.1. Forest ecology and processes from the leaf to global scales.
1.2. The interactions and feedbacks between forest ecosystems with disturbance, climate change and extreme events
1.3. Interactions between humans and forests: past, present and future.
2. Familiarity with techniques and approaches used in forest research, management and policy.
We will teach these through a set of eleven 3-hour sessions led by Dr James Paterson (Woodland Trust) and Rose Pritchard (UoE). Two of these sessions will be field based, and one computer lab based, with the remaining based in the Crew Building Annex (room 5). Every session takes place on a Monday from 2-5 pm. Guest lecturers will include Andy Heald (Confor), Tim Hall (Woodland Trust) and Kathie Pollard (Lothian and Fife Green Network Partnership).
A breakdown by session can be found in the course outline on Learn.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 50 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
There is no examination for this course: it is entirely assessed on coursework during the semester. There are three pieces of coursework:
1. Science Communication Task (30 %)
2. Group Seminars (20%)
3. Forest Carbon Project Management Plan (50%) |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a deep understanding of forest ecological processes from the leaf to global scale;
- Demonstrate understanding of the interactions and feedbacks between forest ecosystems, climate change and extreme events
- Communicate on the current state of knowledge and uncertainties in interactions between humans and forests, and understand the policy challenges and potential solutions in this area
- Use techniques related to forest mensuration, and understand how more complex techniques used in forest management can be implemented
- Communicate forest science and policy issues to non-scientific audiences, including project managers and the general public
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Reading List
a) Ghazoul, J. 2015. Forests: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford. Oxford University Press. Short and sweet but packed with useful stuff and a great introduction to the course.
b) Peh, K.S.H., Corlett, R. T., Bergeron, Y. 2015. Routledge Handbook of Forest Ecology. Abingdon: Routledge. Excellent but huge text. Modern update of the main forest ecology issues.
c) Thomas, P. 2000. Trees: their natural history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Excellent little book, very readable and full of interesting facts (there are many other academic texts on tree/forest physiology, this one is just a nice quick intro to the subject).
d) Newton, A. 2007. Forest Ecology and Conservation: A Handbook of Techniques. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Very comprehensive. Useful text if you plan doing some woodland-based fieldwork. Also has sections on remote sensing and modelling.
e) Matthews, J.D. 1997. Silvicultural systems. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Another very useful book if you are interested in forest production.
f) Trumbore, S., Brando, P., & Hartmann, H. 2015. Forest health and global change. Science. 349(6250): 814¿818.
g) Rodwell, J.S. 1991. British Plant Communities Volume 1: Woodlands and Scrub. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. A mainstay for British woodland ecologists, the NVC covers other habitats in different volumes. This book is also great in revealing the relationship between plant communities and soils.
h) Mitchard, ETA. 2016. Review of EO Methods for Detecting and Measuring Forest Change in the Tropics https://ecometrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Review-of-EO-Methods-for-Detecting-and-Measuring-Forest-Change-in-the-Tropics-Final.pdf
i) Sing, L., Metzger, M. J., Paterson, J. S., & Ray, D. 2017. A review of the effects of forest management intensity on ecosystem services for northern European temperate forests with a focus on the UK. Forestry: 1¿14. http://doi.org/10.1093/forestry/cpx042
j) Milad, M., Schaich, H., Bürgi, M. & Konold, W. 2011. Climate change and nature conservation in Central European forests: A review of consequences, concepts and challenges. Forest Ecology and Management. 261(4): 829-43. Focuses on different climate change impacts and conservation approaches.
k) Pistorius, T. 2012. From RED to REDD+: The evolution of a forest-based mitigation approach for developing countries. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 4: 638¿645. Good overview of RED/REDD+ stuff.
l) Davies, H., Doick, K., Handley, P., OBrien, L., & Wilson, J. 2017. Delivery of ecosystem services by urban forests. Forestry Commission, 1¿36. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Forests and Environment - environmental change,greenhouse effect,cabon cycle |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr James Paterson
Tel: (0131) 556 7495
Email: James.Paterson@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Paula Escobar
Tel: (0131 6)50 2543
Email: paula.escobar@ed.ac.uk |
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