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FOR40160

Academic Year 2024/2025

Forest Inventory & Mgmt. Plan (FOR40160)

Subject:
Forestry
College:
Health & Agricultural Sciences
School:
Agriculture & Food Science
Level:
4 (Masters)
Credits:
20
Module Coordinator:
Ms Marie Doyle
Credit Split by Trimester:
Autumn 15
Spring 5
Trimester:
2 Trimester duration (Aut-Spr)
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This Stage 4 module builds on students’ prior learning in all aspects of forest practice including silviculture, inventory, harvesting, planning, health and safety, GIS and forest management.
The theoretical concept of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) is translated into practical assessment methodologies and students are introduced to a range of field methods that can be applied to assess progress towards SFM. Practical issues associated with assessing SFM and the principles of multi-resource forest inventory are introduced. The module involves a number of lectures on relevant concepts and procedures before students spend a number of days conducting a multi-resource forest inventory (assessing all productive functions of the forest including timber production capacities, biodiversity indicators and social and cultural elements).
Following the field work / data collection, additional lectures and tutorials introduce appropriate data analysis and report writing methods. Students are required to attend all field days and be properly prepared for the field work, submit a draft of their report and submit a final report based on the data collected during the fieldwork.
In tandem with this, students will produce a ten year management plan based on the tenets of SFM. The plan will include a detailed site description, based on their inventory reports. Applying SFM criteria and indicators (supported by the use of computer-based analysis tools), each student will carry out an analysis of these data, resulting in detailed prescriptions relating to yield regulation, harvest scheduling, silvicultural practices, forest protection, and environmental, cultural, social and economic constraints and objectives. A financial analysis of the proposed plan will also be included.
The teaching strategies used are: a limited number of lectures, introducing concepts and requirements, computer laboratory sessions, introducing students to specialised software, tutorial sessions, dealing with specific problems and questions, and one-to-one plan formulation and report writing sessions with individual students. A foreign excursion will also be undertaken, to evaluate forest management practices in other countries.

THE USE OF AI IN ANY ASSIGNMENTS FOR THIS MODULE IS FORBIDDEN.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module students should be able:

• Translate the concept of SFM into multi-resource inventory indicators
• Develop, carry out and analyse multi-resource inventories
• Produce a multi-resource inventory report, including evaluations of the usefulness and practicality of the demonstrated
technologies and methodologies
• Select management options based on inventory data and management objectives
• Analyse individual stand options with respect to SFM criteria
• Combine individual management options into an integrated forest management strategy
• Formulate a complete forest management plan report based on the integrated set of options


Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Specified Learning Activities

70
Autonomous Student Learning

260
Lectures

45
Practical

20
Field Trip/External Visits

40
Total

435

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This module will involve group work, lectures, input from industry, fieldwork, report writing and the use of decision-support software.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Pre-requisite:
FOR30070 - Forest Harvesting, FOR30400 - Silviculture, FOR30410 - Forest Inventory and Sampling, FOR30420 - Forest Management Economics


 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Group Work Assignment: Class report & presentation. Week 12 Spring Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
5
 No
Participation in Learning Activities: Preparedness & Participation: marks allocated to the students engagement & active participation in class sessions & contributions to field days. Week 12 Autumn Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
6
 No
Reflective Assignment: 4/5 field days: brief written report on accomplishments and learnings. Week 10 Autumn Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
5
 No
Practical Skills Assessment: Management Planning - students to demonstrate their knowledge of & familiarity with the Mgt Planning Excel-based system. Week 6 Autumn Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
5
 No
Practical Skills Assessment: Management Planning (advanced): students to demonstrate their progress developing scenarios & explain their management rationale. Week 1 Spring Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
8
 No
Report(s): Draft Inventory Report: student to demonstrate progress on the production of a multi-resource inventory report. Week 11 Autumn Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
2
 No
Report(s): Draft Management Plan: students to outline the structure, background & initial phases of their management plan. Week 2 Spring Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
4
 No
Report(s): Final Inventory Report: full final submission of multi-resource inventory report on 10 varied SC management units. Week 15 Autumn Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
20
 No
Student Negotiated or Choice of Assessment: Student to choose a method (to be agreed in advance) to justify / present their underlying management direction, including silvicultural and policy aspects, as reflected in their final management plan Week 8 Spring Standard conversion grade scale 40% No
5
 No
Report(s): Management Plan.
Students to submit final management plan report, along with accompanying Excel file.		 Week 5 Spring Standard conversion grade scale 40% Yes
40
 Yes

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Remediation Type Remediation Timing
Repeat Within Two Trimesters
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback will be ongoing - the different strands of the module are interlinked and throughout lectures, fieldwork and group discussions, the students will gain deeper insight to data collection and processing, application of forest policy on the ground and the decision making processes in management planning for large diverse areas of forest.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
2 Trimester (Sep-May) Lecture Offering 50 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Mon 09:00 - 12:50
2 Trimester (Sep-May) Lecture Offering 50 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 Mon 10:00 - 12:50
2 Trimester (Sep-May) Field Trip Offering 50 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Mon 13:00 - 17:50
2 Trimester (Sep-May) Lecture Offering 50 Week(s) - Autumn: All Weeks Thurs 09:00 - 14:50
2 Trimester (Sep-May) Lecture Offering 50 Week(s) - Autumn: All Weeks Wed 14:00 - 15:50
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