This course investigates the use of ecological principles to restore and sustainably manage woodland and forest ecosystems.  The course covers:

• definitions of sustainable management, particularly the use of criteria and indicators, the adaptive management cycle and a precautionary approach
• traditional silvicultural systems to manipulate plant community structures and dynamics for management objectives;
• the modification of these systems in response to the social, economic and political context of management;
• strategies for the maintenance of biodiversity and the restoration and rehabilitation of degraded plant communities;
• carbon fluxes in managed forests and woodlands and options for mitigating and adapting to climate change.

This is a "hands on course" in which students learn through field exercises to assess and interpret forest and woodland structures and conditions, and to develop solutions for multiple objectives. This knowledge is synthesised in a major project requiring students to critically assess the current application of silvicultural techniques to a forest ecosystem of their choice.

Students will also hear from researchers from the Fenner School of Environment and Society, Forests NSW, CSIRO Tree Seed Centre, the University of Melbourne, and the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.

Note: Graduate students attend joint classes with undergraduates but are assessed separately.

On satisfying the requirements of this course, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Critique and apply sustainable management concepts, particularly criteria and indicators, the adaptive management cycle and the precautionary principle.
2. Assess and modify traditional silvicultural systems in response to social, economic and political contexts of management.
3. Design and communicate strategies for the maintenance of biodiversity and the restoration and rehabilitation of degraded plant communities.
4. Analyse carbon fluxes in managed forests and woodlands and assess options for mitigating and adapting to climate change.
5. Analyse approaches to modelling sustainable stand structures, particularly the design of balanced diameter distributions for uneven-aged eucalypt stands.
6. Critically appraise information sources; analyse data using simple linear regression; synthesise and interpret results in simple spreadsheet models; and communicate findings to audiences in appropriate ways.

• Best five of six short practical reports (25%; LO 1, 2, 3, 6)
• 1500-word mid-semester field trip report and modelling exercise (35%; LO 1, 2, 3, 5, 6)
• Individual major project to critique a silvicultural system, applied to forest type of student's choice, involving 2000-word essay and 30 minute seminar presentation (40%; LO 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 )

65 contact hours, comprising lectures, tutorials and fieldwork

Bachelor degree

Requires existing knowledge of environmental sciences.

Lindenmayer, D.B. and Franklin, J.F. 2002. Conserving Forest Biodiversity: a comprehensive multi-scaled approach. Washington: Island Press.

Florence, R. G. 1996. Ecology and Silviculture of Eucalypts. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing.