Forestry: Multi-Resource Silviculture

Theory and application of forest stand maintenance/manipulation for forest ecosystem sustainability. Topics: Silvics, regeneration, tree improvement, protection, stand structure/dynamics/tending, and multi-resource perspectives. Prerequisite: NR 2030.

Prereqs enforced by the system: NR 2030; Fee: $135 Open to Degree and PACE students.

Silviculture is a multi-faceted discipline that draws upon the fields of forest ecology, economics, and operations to produce and maintain forest conditions that meet an ever-expanding diversity of management objectives. The purpose of this course is to provide students with a working knowledge of silviculture and its underlying ecological concepts. Students are introduced to silvics, forest stand development and dynamics, regeneration practices, intermediate silvicultural practices, silvicultural systems, wood production, and wildlife habitat management. In addition, approaches are introduced for using ecosystem management and ecological forestry to balance biodiversity, ecosystem health, global environmental change, and commodity objectives. Course Objectives: 1. Demonstrate an understanding of silvicultural and basic ecological concepts as they relate to forest development and silvicultural practices. 2. Describe traditional and contemporary silvicultural practices and their influence on biodiversity, soil and water resources, forest health, wood production, wildlife habitat, and forest adaptation. 3. Integrate ecological and social considerations into silvicultural practices. 4. Apply silvicultural concepts to actual forest stands and develop silvicultural prescriptions for a variety of land management objectives.

This course uses a combination of in-person lectures and lab sessions out in the woods. This being a four-credit course, you are expected to spend an additional eight hours per week outside the classroom reviewing course materials and preparing for lecture and lab. This means you should come to class sessions prepared to discuss the reading assignments corresponding to each lecture and lab. These assigned readings are meant to enhance your understanding of the topics we will be discussing and to familiarize you with scientific writing and the latest silvicultural literature.

Grades are based on a combination of homework assignments, quizzes, exams, lab projects, and a final group project where you will develop a silvicultural prescription and associated management plan for a portion of the Jericho Research Forest.