Any effort to estimate the value of a tropical forest needs to consider the non-market values. Prominent among these are biodiversity and ecosystem services including hydrology, nutrient cycling, and carbon sequestration.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module, you should be able to:
Explain the concept of biodiversity (=biological diversity) at all its levels.
Explain how silvicultural interventions might influence hydrological services from forests.
Recognize the local and global climate contributions of forests.
Fundamental Topics
Instructions: Read Topics 3.1 - 3.2 from the embedded FODE014 e-Notebook below for Module 3.
Self-check Quiz (For certificate learning only)
After reading fundamental concepts for this topic, take up to 5 minutes to take an online self-check quiz for the topic. The main purpose of the quiz is for you to self-check how well you grasp the contents for this topic. You can take the quiz a second time if necessary. When you are ready, click the link Online Quiz 3 to start taking the quiz.
Recommended Supplementary Readings
Wolosin, M. and N. Harris. 2018. Tropical forests and climate change: The latest science. World Resources Institute Working paper, 1-13.
On the Module 3 Discussion board, post a 50-100 word explanation of an important forestry tradeoff in your study area.
Graded Assignments
Follow the instructions at Module 3 Assignment to complete and submit the assignments for this module.
Summary
This module introduces the topic of forest valuation, with discussions of biodiversity and ecosystem services. With Planet Earth undergoing the 6th Global Extinction Crisis in its history, forest managers have to do what they can to make sure that biodiversity is retained. Similarly, the retention of forest ecosystem services from managed areas is of the utmost importance to society.
Self Review (For self learning)
Please use the reflection question below as study guide to conduct self-review for the topic:
What values do tropical forest have beyond what is readily marketable (e.g. timber)?