Forest Ecology and Management

Target Audience:

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists and resource managers who are engaged with forest ecology, conservation, and management issues.

Summary and Objectives:

This course will provide biologists and land managers with basic forest ecology and management knowledge and skills in order to better apply them in various decision making situations, including habitat conservation, forest planning, and Service guidance. The skill set gained by participants will help them improve communications with professional foresters, private landowners, federal agency partners, and forest researchers. The course will provide a greater understanding of how silviculture can be used to achieve a range of conservation objectives, including habitat management and ecosystem restoration.

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Define common forest ecology and forestry terms, applying correct terminology when engaging with professional foresters, private landowners, federal agency partners, and forest researchers.
• Describe important abiotic and biotic factors that influence the establishment and development of forests and be able to evaluate and predict vegetation responses to various disturbances.
• Distinguish between common silvicultural systems used to manage forests and describe how those systems may approximate the role of natural disturbances in shaping forest composition and structure structure
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• Evaluate current site and forest stand conditions, collecting basic forest mensuration data, including tree diameter and height, canopy cover, and stand age, among others.

Competency Addressed:

Forest Management - Intermediate, Dendrology - Basic, Wildlife and Fisheries Biology Management - Basic, Conservation Biology - Basic