Forestry 1110

Forest Mensuration

Course Outline Winter ‘04

Instructor: N. Luckai, BB1009G, Ext. 8624

Technologist:F. Luckai, BB1009B, Ext. 8570

Lectures: Monday and Wednesday, 12:30 pm, RC1002

Labs:Monday 8:30 – 11:30 am, Thursday 11:30-2-30 pm, BB0021

The objective of this course is to introduce the student to the theory and practise of forest mensuration. Practical applications of various inventory and analytical techniques are emphasized.

Before a resource manager can manage anything, he or she must know how much of the resource is there and how it is changing, if change does occur. In natural resources management, remote sensing techniques (aerial photography, satellite imagery) together with global positioning systems are used extensively. Information provided by these tools must be verified using ground level observations. Furthermore, very detailed work, such as that required for research studies, must be done “on the ground”. The first employment a forestry student encounters often involves some mensurational work. Accurate, precise measurements of elemental forest attributes are critical to ecosystem based management as well as to the development and application of the computer based models that now drive most aspects of natural resources planning. A large portion of your career will deal with the acquisition, analysis, interpretation and presentation of data and the knowledge to be gained from these activities. However, even the most sophisticated decision making process will fail if it is based on inaccurate data and faulty interpretation. This course therefore focuses on the responsible collection and analysis of data. The skills learned in this course are utilized from the first stages of a forestry career through to the highest levels of resource management and planning.

Although emphasis is on the measurement of timber and wood products, the principles of mensuration are applicable to all aspects of forest ecosystem inventory.

Grading Scheme

ItemMarks Assigned

Laboratory assignments40%

Laboratory quizzes10%

Mid-term examination10%

Practical examination (a mark of 60% must be achieved)10%

Final examination30%

Total100%
Student progress in the course will be determined through the results obtained in laboratories, quizzes, mid-term and final examinations. The final exam will deal with all material covered in the term. An outdoor practical test will be held at term’s end. Students are expected to supplement the topics covered in lectures by reading from the recommended reading list (on reserve in the Library). Quizzes will be held at the beginning of laboratory sessions (see manual for schedule).

All labs must be submitted in order to satisfy course requirements. Late labs will be assessed but no mark will be recorded. The specific format and content requirements for each submission will be reviewed in the laboratory session; attendance at labs is therefore crucial. All assignments will comply with the specifications outlined in the Forestry Writing Manual and Style Guide. Students are expected to familiarize themselves with upcoming labs prior to the lab session and to be prepared for each laboratory, whether conducted indoors or outdoors.

Lecture Topics:

  1. Introduction – basic units and measurement systems; bias, precision and accuracy
  2. Land measurements – direction and angles, area
  3. Dendrometers and Hypsometers
  4. Basic introduction to inventory (plot and plotless techniques)
  5. Stand, stock and estimate tables
  6. Basal area and tree taper
  7. Volume of a tree (total and merchantable)
  8. Volume tables
  9. Measuring forest products; scaling
  10. Tree growth
  11. Site, stocking and density
  12. Stand growth, stand tables

Required Texts:

1. Forest Measurements Field Manual. 2. Forestry 1110 Laboratory Manual.

Additional References (on reserve in the Library):

Avery, T.E. 1975. Natural resources measurements (2nd Ed.). McGraw-Hill, Inc.
339 pp.

(The fifth edition, Avery and Burkhart 2002, using non-metric units is also available.)

Husch, B., C.I. Miller and T.W. Beers. 1972. Forest Mensuration (2nd Ed.). Ronald Press Co. 410 pp.

Philip, M.S. 1996. Measuring Tress and Forests – An International Approach, CAB International. 310 pp.

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