Course Description

Climate change is a major threat to the capacity of forest ecosystems to provide ecological, economic and social services. Climate modeling tools for forestry applications are becoming increasingly available for forest managers and local authorities to understand the potential effects of climate change and to develop regionally specific adaptation and mitigation strategies. It is crucial to nurture future professionals with the knowledge and skills to use new modelling tools and interpret model predictions in forest planning and management practices, and to develop forest resources management strategies to maintain and improve the resilience and productivity of forest ecosystems under a rapidly changing climate.

This online course will introduce the concepts and urgencies of climate change and its potential impacts on global forest systems. The course will also introduce various climatic and ecological modeling tools for forestry applications, including adaptive management strategies. Subsequent course modules will encompass introductions to climatic and ecological models, more specifically addressing applications to forestry to increase the resilience and viability of forest ecosystems. Students will master skills and techniques to: 1) use climatic models to generate spatial climate data; 2) build ecological models; and 3) interpret and apply model output to forest management practice. Finally all concepts will be reviewed and synthesized through case studies and applied to a final group project.

Target Audience

The course is designed for undergraduate and graduate students who are interested in professional forestry and forest adaptation to climate change.

Course Prerequisites

This course has no prerequisites, but a basic knowledge of ecology is needed to take full advantage of the material that is provided. Some basic knowledge of R programming will make the modeling part easier but not compulsory as we assume students with no experience in using R.