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Overview

Forests are dynamic, biological systems and therefore estimates of growth are frequently required. To determine these, foresters need to understand the fundamental principles that determine the productivity of forests and must be able to measure and monitor the quantity of wood produced, whether standing or felled. Forest mensuration and inventory are therefore key disciplines in forest management and these provide the objective quantitative and qualitative data required to make rational management decisions.

The module is comprised of three units and three practical exercises, which offer the opportunity to develop practical skills in a range of forest inventory techniques. The first unit plus the first practical exercise cover the basics of forest mensuration (i.e. forest measurement) and traditional plot-based forest inventory. The second unit plus the second practical exercise focuses on remote sensing, which has become an essential tool for forest inventory, assessment and monitoring. The third and final module covers the basic statistics used for sampling inference in forest inventories, and culminates in the final assessment, comprising a cost-benefit analysis of different inventory methods. There is always a trade-off between precision and cost in forest inventory and this is one of the important lessons of this module.

Forest mensuration: terminology and units; measurement of single trees, forest stands and forest products; assessment of current/potential yield. Forest inventory planning. Sampling techniques: types and application with respect to forest trees, forest-dwelling organisms and forest products; the effects of variation on sampling systems. Forest inventory and statistics, forest resource monitoring, recurrent forest inventory and their roles in forest and forest products certification.

The use of remote sensing (Earth observation) technologies will have a predominant role across all the other subtopics, as it has implications in the design and statistics of modern forest inventories.

Course material will be supplied as a series of course booklets, plus text book(s). In addition to the course material, there will be a guided reading handbook which contains supplementary course material, self-assessment, a timetable for carrying out the work and details of assessments. The student's work will be evaluated with summative assessments gradually submitted during the three months over which the module runs, which will be marked and commented for the students to keep improving as the module progresses. All these will be used to monitor student progress and provide feedback, toward a final summative assessment submitted at the end of the module and marked. Students will be able to contact the module organiser to seek guidance. There will also be a web-based information resource that students can use to find information or request information, and which will include a student mutual help facility.

Assessment Strategy

Threshold (D) Report is not finished to a professional standard nor written for a non-specialist audience; key recommendations are not clearly stated or are inconsistent with results. Report demonstrates that the student completed biomass estimates from each of the three inventory methods, but lacks critical understanding, e.g. in terms of the statistical pros and cons of the alternatives, or fails to detail key components of the report such as a concise explanation of the main methods and clear statement of the key values obtained and how. Cost-effectiveness analysis is incomplete or missing. Biomass estimates are displayed in a table rather than a figure, or if a figure is present, elements are missing or incorrectly displayed.

Good (B) A professional, well-presented report that is well communicated for a non-specialist audience and clearly states the key recommendations. The report uses evidence-based and for the most part, clear logic and the comparison between the three inventory methods is mostly clear and well justified by the data. Report demonstrates that the student completed and understood each of the three inventory methods, including for each method: a clear concise explanation of the main methods, pros and cons of the method (i.e., statistical assessment that discusses the impact of the method on confidence intervals), and the key values obtained (briefly explaining how they were calculated), though some elements are incomplete or missing. The cost-effectiveness analysis demonstrates that the student completed and understood the comparison of alternatives via confidence intervals and compares the net profit value, though some critical elements are missing. At least one figure is included to display the biomass estimates (means and confidence intervals) from the different methods, though figure(s) may lack titles and axis labelling.

Excellent (A) A professional, well-presented report that is well communicated for a non-specialist audience and clearly states the key recommendations. The report uses evidence-based and clear logic and the comparison between the three inventory methods is clear and well justified by the data. Report demonstrates that the student completed and understood each of the three inventory methods, including for each method: a clear concise explanation of the main methods, pros and cons of the method (i.e., statistical assessment that discusses the impact of the method on confidence intervals), and the key values obtained (briefly explaining how they were calculated). The cost-effectiveness analysis demonstrates that the student completed and understood the comparison of alternatives via confidence intervals and compares the net profit value. At least one figure is included to display the biomass estimates (means and confidence intervals) from the different methods; figure(s) have titles and labelled axes with units. Report contains some aspect of novelty or original thought, e.g. suggestions on improvements that could be made to the method.

Learning Outcomes

• Evaluate the fundamental role of inventory, assessment & monitoring in forest resource management, including how the state of a forest may be monitored over time to meet a range of objectives.

• Explain the implications of using remote sensing technologies in forest inventories, and develop the skills necessary to implement them in practice.

• Identify and explain different techniques, terminology and conventions used in forest mensuration and how these are applied in forest inventory, including using basic maths and spreadsheets in quantitative forest resource assessment and applying commonly used sampling systems and statistical methods.

• Quantitatively assess the costs and benefits of different forest inventory methods and communicate the results in a report following professional standards.