Forestry and Integrative Silviculture

Code:

CAGR3021

Acronym:

CAGR3021

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Agrarian Sciences

Instance: 2024/2025 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Geosciences, Environment and Spatial Plannings
Course/CS Responsible:	Bachelor in Agricultural Engineering

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
A:A	0	PE_Agronomia	1	-	6	48	162
L:EA	3	The study plan from 2019	3	-	6	48	162

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

The main objectives of the course are:

1. To integrate the concepts of Forest, Forest Ecology, Forestry Activities, Silviculture Practices, and Digital Forest within a sustainability perspective.
2. To understand and assess the relationships between the forest and society.
3. To become familiar with the main forest systems of Portugal and the world.
4. To apply silviculture techniques and operations in different forest production systems.
5. To analyze the opportunities of emerging technologies in the context of digital forestry.
6. To provide a foundation for the operations of establishing, managing, and exploiting forest stands, integrating the main guidelines of silviculture, available technologies, policies, and management constraints in forest planning, societal challenges, and the digital forest context.
7. To empower students to develop solutions for complex situations and/or with limited information, including critical analysis and proficient communication of reasoning and conclusions to a demanding and diverse audience

Learning outcomes and competences

The course aims for students to:

1. Develop an integrated view of Forestry and Silviculture.
2. Understand the forest production systems with the greatest socio-economic significance in Portugal and the world.
3. Provide a foundation for integrating the sciences and techniques inherent to forestry operations (establishment, management, and exploitation of forest stands), planning, and conservation of forest ecosystems to sustainably meet society's needs for ecosystem goods and services.
4. Analyze the opportunities of digital technologies from a digital silviculture perspective.
5. Acquire skills to integrate multidisciplinary teams to design and implement forest management plans and programs based on goals and constraints defined by knowledge, technology, business, and/or society. These constraints and objectives may include agronomic, economic, landscape, environmental, ecological, legislative, and ideological awareness aspects, among others

Working method

Presencial

Pre-requirements (prior knowledge) and co-requirements (common knowledge)

n.a.

Program

1. Forest goods and ecosystem services and the relationship between forest and society


2. Historical perspective and factors influencing the distribution of forests worldwide, in Europe, and in Portugal.


3. Forests in Portugal: ecological characterization and main forest formations.


4. Forest management policies and constraints.


5. Basic concepts of forest dendrology and forest dendrometry


6. Forest fire defense systems.


7. Forest production systems, afforestation planning, forest policies, and sustainability.


8. Techniques for establishing, managing, and exploiting forest stands. Economic and environmental context.


9. Digital forestry and emerging technologies.


10. Specific conditions for applying silviculture techniques ("special silviculture")

Mandatory literature

Alves, A.A.M; Técnicas de produção florestal, INIC, Lisboa, 1982
Jeffrey A. Sayer and Stewart Maginnis (eds; Landscapes.Ecosystem Approaches to Sustainability , The Earthscan Forestry . ISBN: 1-84407-195-2
Philip, M.S.; Measuring Trees and Forests., 2014

Complementary Bibliography

Humphries, R., Press, J., and Sutton, D.; Árvores de Portugal e Europa, Guias FAPAS. Fundo para a prot. dos Animais Selvagens (FAPAS)/Câmara Municipal do Porto., 1996
Regato pedro; Adapting to Global Change: Mediterranean Forests
Fabião, A.M.; Árvores e Florestas, Col. Euroagro, 15. Publicações Europa-America, Lisboa., 1996
Shanmughavel, P. ; Digital Forestry., Editora Today & Tomorrows Printers and Publishers., 2015. ISBN: 10: ‎ 9788170195061

Comments from the literature

1. In the first class, the main recommended bibliographic resources are presented, typified according to their use in the course. Throughout the course, texts and scientific articles available in the UP digital library will be recommended to support the topics taught, which are generally complementary to the recommended textbooks. The indicated scientific articles will be periodically updated according to state-of-the-art developments. Students can also access tutorials and documentation supporting computer application tools specifically developed for this course.

2. The operationality of the teaching and evaluation of some of the themes foreseen is conditioned to the availability of means for their realization.

Teaching methods and learning activities

The teaching/learning process is structured around autonomous and guided in-person work through theoretical (T) and theoretical-practical (TP) classes and personalized support, which aim to promote acquiring knowledge (factual, conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive) and developing cognitive processes (integrating, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating).

The learning activities include:

• Interactive presentation of the syllabus content, emphasizing the application of knowledge to real case studies and the student's future professional activities, along with open discussions on various topics. Some subjects are delivered through seminars given by specialists.
• Practical demonstrations of the use of tools and technologies applied in forestry, particularly in dendrometry and digital forestry work.
• Case studies to contextualize the content using specialized tools and databases, such as forest inventories and rural fire management.
• Project-based learning, focused on real or simulated situations, for the implementation of silviculture models and forest planning

Software

FloresSat

keywords

Natural sciences > Agrarian Sciences > Forest sciences > Sylviculture

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

designation	Weight (%)
Exame	45,00
Trabalho de campo	25,00
Trabalho escrito	15,00
Trabalho prático ou de projeto	15,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

designation	Time (hours)
Frequência das aulas	74,00
Trabalho de campo	41,00
Trabalho escrito	47,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

1. Compliance with attendance requirements as established in the student assessment regulations (https://sigarra.up.pt/up/LEGISLACAO_GERAL.ver_legislacao?p_nr=4025), respecting the maximum absence limit of 25% of the total classes.


2. Submission and acceptance of practical work, projects, or case studies within the stipulated deadlines.


3. Students who have previously completed and passed practical work, projects, or case studies in previous years (up to 2 years) will be admitted to the final exam without needing to repeat this assessment component.


4. Students with a status that allows exemption from attendance (e.g., exemption from absences) must complete the practical assignments/projects/case studies outlined in the course unit to obtain attendance credit

Calculation formula of final grade

Continuous Assessment with a final examination

The evaluation of the CU is based on three components:

- Written Exam (WE), which covers the content of both theoretical and practical classes.
- Practical assignment (PAn), students presentation and discussion of themes anchored in the lectures/practical classes.
- Project (PJ), Forestry planiing based on data collected and processing by the students.
- Case studies (CSn), reports based on protocol simulation and/or real cases.

FINAL GRADE (FG) = (WE x 45 + PA1 x 10 + PA2 x 10 + PJ x 20 + CSn x 15) / 100.

Students are approved when FG>=10 and each part of the grade must be >= 8. In case any of the predicted tests will not be carried out, its percentage value attributed to the FM will be added to the written exam (WE).

Examinations or Special Assignments

n.a.

Internship work/project

n.a.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

During the “época de avaliação especial de conclusão de curso” and the “época de avaliação para estudantes com estatuto ou condição especial”, in addition to the written exam, students must be assessed in all components outlined in the course's "assessment structure," such as practical assignments (PAn), projects, or case studies. Previously submitted work from other assessment periods cannot be used for this purpose.

 

Students wishing to take advantage of this special evaluation period must, after confirming their eligibility, contact the course instructor at least one week prior to the exam to receive the protocols for the TPn, projects, or case studies to be completed.

Classification improvement

Grade improvement in the course cover all assessment components outlined (cf. assessment formula), in addition to the written exam. Partial improvement of individual components is not allowed. All practical work TPn/Projects/case studies submitted for grade improvement must be different from those presented in previous assessment periods, such as the regular exam period.

To take the grade improvement exam, students must first register at the "student office" of FCUP.

Observations

Student support outside of class hours will be available on Tuesdays from 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM in Vairão.