FOREST DISTURBANCE AND HEALTH

Catalog description

This course is an introduction to the biotic and abiotic disturbance agents affecting the health of forest and adjacent ecosystems including: fire, insects, pathogens, non-native species, climate change, human manipulation, etc., with a special emphasis on ecosystems of the Sierra Nevada bioregion. The course emphasizes the ecological roles played by disturbance agents (both biotic and abiotic), discusses how they affect the health and sustainability of forest and adjacent ecosystems, considers the importance of their role in regeneration, and identifies when and how management can be used to improve ecosystem health and sustainability to manage or mitigate disturbance agents.