914309 Forest inventory

Type
Lecture and exercise
Semester hours
3
Lecturer (assistant)
Vospernik, Sonja , Ritter, Tim
Organisation
Offered in
Wintersemester 2024/25
Languages of instruction
Englisch
Content

The role of the various functions of forest ecosystems in mountain forests is different from lowland forests. The module aims to promote student understanding of these different functions, and the consequences, as well as of other relevant topics such as the importance of protection against erosion, multiple use (including grazing), tourism, wood production for fuel wood or local market needs only. All these aspects play a different role depending on the respective socio-economic environment. In mountain forest inventories more parameters than usual have to be assessed. The parameters used for mountain forest inventories also differ from the usual set (e.g. for structural diversity). Due to difficult accessibility and steep terrain, field work is difficult and expensive. Thus, special inventory methods, optimized for specific cases have to be applied. Based on fundamental understanding of forest mensuration, special methods will be introduced. Ways to develop case-specific and most efficient inventory designs will be discussed.
Previous knowledge expected


Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

- Measure tree variables (prerequisite – repeated in course)
- Calculate basic statistics from simple random or systematic sampling (prerequisite – repeated in course)
- Explain different methods of forest mensuration (fixed radius plot, angle count sampling)
- Establish inventory plots in the field
- Calculate basic forest variable (stem number, basal area, volume) from inventory data
- Name different inventory designs
- Understand stratified inventories and calculate basic forest variables
- Understand principles of forest growth
- Distinguish between mean annual increment and current increment and know importance for forest enterprises
- Calculate the increment for forest enterprises
You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.