Mediterranean Silviculture

Code: FIT13821L

6 ECTS

Duration: 15 weeks/156 hours

Scientific Area: Agronomy

Teaching languages: Portuguese

Languages of tutoring support: Portuguese

Sustainable Development Goals

3. Saúde de qualidade - Assegurar uma vida saudável e promover o bem-estar para todos, em todas as idades.

4. Educação de qualidade - Assegurar a educação inclusiva, e equitativa e de qualidade, e promover oportunidades de aprendizagem ao longo da vida para todos.

12. Produção e consumo sustentáveis - Assegurar padrões de produção e de consumo sustentáveis.

13. Ação climática - Tomar medidas urgentes para combater a mudança climática e seus impactos (*).

Learning Goals

Illustrate the importance of silviculture in terms of its impact on environment, landscape and economy
Show the silviculture solutions to the majority of Portugals sites and species
Show the importance of dendrometry and forest inventory in silviculture
Define solutions to sustained management of Mediterranean forest systems and its hazards (forest fire, lack of regeneration, excessive pasture, etc.).

From natural forests to silviculture: Forests and silviculture; Historical evolution of the Portuguese forest and silviculture

Sustainable silviculture: Forest sciences and silviculture; Forest ecosystem management strategies

Forests: Ecological dominance of trees: Concept of tree; Solar energy storage; Mineral nutrients: Store and recycle; Gymnosperms and angiosperms

Tree growth and forest productivity: Structure and operation of trees; Phenology of vegetative development; Reproduction of trees; The growth and biotic and abiotic factors, Forest site quality

Silviculture: methods and techniques: Silviculture in transition; Composition and structure of forest stands; Theory of regeneration cuts

Production regulation: The wood production process and the productive potential; Management of the settlements and the theory of the redistribution of productive potential; Production regulation.

The main forest production systems of Portugal

Teaching Methods

Lectures on the fundamentals, and other relevant subjects, for the analysis of forest systems from a forest management perspective, on a sustainable basis; Elaboration of a group work (with a field component at Herdade da Mitra), based on the biometric analysis of a sampling area assigned to each work group. Monitoring of students in the preparation of the work throughout the semester in practical classes. All generic material is made available through Moodle.

Assessment

1 ? Continuous assessment regime:
Each student must participate in two written tests, of two hours each (F1 and F2), and present 3 practical assignments (T1, T2 and T3).
The calculation of the final grade will obey the following expression:
Final Grade = 0.3 F1 + 0.3 F2 + 0.4 ((T1+T2+T3)/3)Approval
is obtained with a final grade of 10 and a minimum of 10 in each of the components

2 ? Exam Regime
Two-hour written exam (E) and presentation of 3 assignments (T1, T2 and T3).
Final grade = 0.6 E + 0.4 ((T1+T2+T3)/3)Approval
is obtained with a final grade of 10 and a minimum of 10 in each of the components.