Elements of Forest Ecosystem Management

Catalog description

Changing public attitudes towards the environment during the last several decades have led to a philosophical shift in how we manage our forests. The primary focus of a sound stewardship of many of our public forests has now shifted to the recognition that sustaining ecological integrity of forest ecosystems, including the maintenance and restoration of native biological diversity, may be more important than focusing primarily on commodity production. Ecosystem management has become policy on national forests managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Pennsylvania state forests managed by the Pennsylvania Department of Natural Resources. This course invites students to critically examine the concept of ecosystem management from an ecological, economic, and social perspective, Students will review the evolution of ecosystem management and learn how it is being implemented. Basic questions addressed in this course include: What is ecosystem management? How can concepts such as biodiversity preservation, ecosystem integrity, sustainability, and forest health be achieved in forested landscapes? How can human needs be balanced with ecological goals? How can competing societal goals be balanced? This course is designed for forestry majors and places contemporary management approaches into the larger ecosystem context that uses knowledge of forest history, landscape ecology, conservation biology, forest restoration, and forest certification requirements to develop management solutions that pay particular attention to the maintenance of biodiversity (habitat) and soils. Forest management approaches are investigated with regards to the issue of long-term sustainability, recognizing the often challenging and conflicting demands on forestry to satisfy a diverse set of values given ecological, social, and economic constraints.