Ecological and Forest Restoration
A.Y. 2023/2024
Learning objectives
This course will introduce the key concepts, methods and processes for planning, carrying out, and monitoring effective ecological and forest restoration.
The lecturer will implement: (i) in-presence lecture sessions to stimulate the discussion with the students on the topics treated; (ii) field lessons to further develop the students' practical capacity; (iii) teaching labs to consolidate the learning; (iv) tests to verify the learning progresses.
The lecturer will implement: (i) in-presence lecture sessions to stimulate the discussion with the students on the topics treated; (ii) field lessons to further develop the students' practical capacity; (iii) teaching labs to consolidate the learning; (iv) tests to verify the learning progresses.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding.
o Understand the causes and consequences of forest ecosystem degradation and deforestation, and identify restoration goals.
o Describe and analyze forest climate and the physical, chemical, and biological properties of forest soils.
o Describe the different strategies of forest restoration via natural and artificial regeneration.
o Summarize the ecological characteristics of forest species and distinguish the dynamics of ecological succession.
o Recall forest restoration strategies, barriers and opportunities at an international, European and national level.
o Understand the different stages of forest restoration programs, from seed collection and nurseries to tree planting or proforestation.
Applying knowledge and understanding.
o Analyze the vulnerability of forest ecosystems to climate change and assess their resistance and resilience.
o Monitor the severity of disturbance, degradation and deforestation using remote sensing techniques.
o Plan an intervention to restore forest vegetation following deforestation, degradation or natural disturbances.
o Assess and monitor the outcomes of forest restoration in terms of carbon sink and biodiversity.
o Understand the causes and consequences of forest ecosystem degradation and deforestation, and identify restoration goals.
o Describe and analyze forest climate and the physical, chemical, and biological properties of forest soils.
o Describe the different strategies of forest restoration via natural and artificial regeneration.
o Summarize the ecological characteristics of forest species and distinguish the dynamics of ecological succession.
o Recall forest restoration strategies, barriers and opportunities at an international, European and national level.
o Understand the different stages of forest restoration programs, from seed collection and nurseries to tree planting or proforestation.
Applying knowledge and understanding.
o Analyze the vulnerability of forest ecosystems to climate change and assess their resistance and resilience.
o Monitor the severity of disturbance, degradation and deforestation using remote sensing techniques.
o Plan an intervention to restore forest vegetation following deforestation, degradation or natural disturbances.
o Assess and monitor the outcomes of forest restoration in terms of carbon sink and biodiversity.
Lesson period: Second semester
Assessment methods: Esame
Assessment result: voto verbalizzato in trentesimi
Single course
This course can be attended as a single course.
Course syllabus and organization
Single session
Responsible
Lesson period
Second semester
Prerequisites for admission
Basic knowledge of principles of vegetation ecology.
English language level B2.
English language level B2.
Assessment methods and Criteria
The learning outcomes will be successfully verified by passing a final exam with a score from 18 to 30. 40% of the score (0-12) will be attributed to an ecological and forest restoration project carried out individually according to the methods and criteria that will be published on the MS Teams page of the course. 20% of the score will be attributed to the oral presentation (with slides) of the project (0-6 points), and 40% (0-12 points) to in.course exercises to be carried out individually.
Forest ecology and restoration design
Course syllabus
28/2 Forests of the world. Forest ecosystem services. Threats to forests: Deforestation and forest degradation. ASSIGNMENT 1
6/3 Impacts of climate change and extreme events on forests. Climate change scenarios. Disturbance ecology, disturbance regimes, resistance and resilience. What is restoration? How to define the desired state? EU Restoration Law
13/3 Abiotic components of restoration; site analysis and abiotic factors; Light, temperature, water, and nutrients; Ellenberg indicators. ASSIGNMENT 2
20/3 Ecosystems functioning; population and community ecology; interactions between organisms and species; successions; the global reforestation potential. ASSIGNMENT 3
22/3 Debate on global restoration potential. Restoration of urban forests and climate adaptation. Rehabilitation of polluted sites (webinar Massimo Fagnano, University of Naples).
3/4 FIELD TRIP parco nord milano: urban forest restoration
11/4 Mountain forests: management and restoration for climate resilience. Mountain afforestation; Restoration of hydrogeological protection; Restoration in forests affected by natural disturbances; Restoration of the natural fire disturbance regime
3/5 FIELD TRIP Campo dei Fiori: post-disturbance restoration.
7-8/5 FIELD TRIP Val Malga: Forest mensuration. Project data collection.
15/5 Forests as carbon sinks, climate mitigation in the forest sector. Forest carbon accounting. Exercise on quantifying forest ecosystem services with INVEST. ASSIGNMENT 4
22/5 Forest nurseries (seminar Barbara Mariotti, University of Florence)
29/5 Restoration of riparian, lowland and alluvial woods; river restoration; Restoration following biological invasions; Role of animals in forest restoration (webinar Jorge Castro, University of Granada)
5/6 Valuation of forest ecosystem services (seminar Mauro Masiero, University of Padua)
7/6 FIELD TRIP Parco del Ticino: restoration of riparian forests and heathlands. Management of invasive tree species.
12/6 Crisis and restoration of biodiversity; Levels of biodiversity and their measurement; rewilding; management of forest plantations; Principles of landscape ecology and ecological networks. ASSIGNMENT 5.
6/3 Impacts of climate change and extreme events on forests. Climate change scenarios. Disturbance ecology, disturbance regimes, resistance and resilience. What is restoration? How to define the desired state? EU Restoration Law
13/3 Abiotic components of restoration; site analysis and abiotic factors; Light, temperature, water, and nutrients; Ellenberg indicators. ASSIGNMENT 2
20/3 Ecosystems functioning; population and community ecology; interactions between organisms and species; successions; the global reforestation potential. ASSIGNMENT 3
22/3 Debate on global restoration potential. Restoration of urban forests and climate adaptation. Rehabilitation of polluted sites (webinar Massimo Fagnano, University of Naples).
3/4 FIELD TRIP parco nord milano: urban forest restoration
11/4 Mountain forests: management and restoration for climate resilience. Mountain afforestation; Restoration of hydrogeological protection; Restoration in forests affected by natural disturbances; Restoration of the natural fire disturbance regime
3/5 FIELD TRIP Campo dei Fiori: post-disturbance restoration.
7-8/5 FIELD TRIP Val Malga: Forest mensuration. Project data collection.
15/5 Forests as carbon sinks, climate mitigation in the forest sector. Forest carbon accounting. Exercise on quantifying forest ecosystem services with INVEST. ASSIGNMENT 4
22/5 Forest nurseries (seminar Barbara Mariotti, University of Florence)
29/5 Restoration of riparian, lowland and alluvial woods; river restoration; Restoration following biological invasions; Role of animals in forest restoration (webinar Jorge Castro, University of Granada)
5/6 Valuation of forest ecosystem services (seminar Mauro Masiero, University of Padua)
7/6 FIELD TRIP Parco del Ticino: restoration of riparian forests and heathlands. Management of invasive tree species.
12/6 Crisis and restoration of biodiversity; Levels of biodiversity and their measurement; rewilding; management of forest plantations; Principles of landscape ecology and ecological networks. ASSIGNMENT 5.
Teaching methods
The course includes 2 CFU of lesson time, 1 CFU of guided exercises, and 2 CFU of field trips.
The lecturer will use:
a) Lectures and group discussion to provide theoretical concepts, and develop critical thinking skills;
b) Lab activities to consolidate knowledge learned during the lectures, and develop applied ecology competences useful in the professional practice;
c) Exercises and quiz to verify the acquisition of knowledge and competences;
d) Field trips to learn how to measure, describe and assess forest stands.
Attendance of lectures is strongly recommended.
The lecturer will use:
a) Lectures and group discussion to provide theoretical concepts, and develop critical thinking skills;
b) Lab activities to consolidate knowledge learned during the lectures, and develop applied ecology competences useful in the professional practice;
c) Exercises and quiz to verify the acquisition of knowledge and competences;
d) Field trips to learn how to measure, describe and assess forest stands.
Attendance of lectures is strongly recommended.
Teaching Resources
Slides and course notes; study material provided by lecturers on MS Teams channels.
Recommended texts:
- Stanturf J., Lamb D., Madsen P. (2012) Forest Landscape Restoration, Springer.
- Lamb D. (2014) Large-scale Forest Restoration, Routledge.
- Mansourian S., Parrotta J. (2018) Forest Landscape Restoration. Integrated Approaches to Support Effective Implementation, Routledge.
- Van Andel J., Aronson J. (2012) Restoration Ecology: The New Frontier, Second edition, Wiley
- Howell E.A., Harrington J.A., Glass B.S. (2011) Introduction to Restoration Ecology, Island Press
- Rieger J., Stanley J., Traynor R. (2014) Project Planning and Management for Ecological Restoration. Island Press
- Holl K.D. (2020) Primer of ecological restoration. Island Press
Recommended texts:
- Stanturf J., Lamb D., Madsen P. (2012) Forest Landscape Restoration, Springer.
- Lamb D. (2014) Large-scale Forest Restoration, Routledge.
- Mansourian S., Parrotta J. (2018) Forest Landscape Restoration. Integrated Approaches to Support Effective Implementation, Routledge.
- Van Andel J., Aronson J. (2012) Restoration Ecology: The New Frontier, Second edition, Wiley
- Howell E.A., Harrington J.A., Glass B.S. (2011) Introduction to Restoration Ecology, Island Press
- Rieger J., Stanley J., Traynor R. (2014) Project Planning and Management for Ecological Restoration. Island Press
- Holl K.D. (2020) Primer of ecological restoration. Island Press
Remote sensing and functional ecology
Course syllabus
Remote Sensing module
Presentation: monitoring natural resources, RS applications, RS pros and cons, course contents and resources, software
Introduction: RS history, platforms/sensors, satellite orbits, missions, geo-spatial data/digital images, raster/vectors, data access and availability, Copernicus browser, Earth Explorer, GEE basics (code editor, scripts, docs, assets, repository, catalogues)
Basic principles: Electromagnetic Spectrum (EM) and radiation, laws and physical quantities, interaction biosphere/EM radiation, from measurements to surface properties (reflectance), spectral properties, GEE basics (code editor, scripts, docs, assets, repository, catalogues)
Data characteristics: satellite swath width, sensor bandwidth, processing levels, image resolutions, geometric correction, GEE: image and feature collections, metadata, filtering, visualization, Import/Export
Image visualization and processing: image access, RGB true and false colour visualization, vegetation indices VIs, band maths, thresholds GEE mosaics and Composites from Image Collections, clip, masking, band math and indices
Val Malga project (GEE): data, images, features
RS of vegetation: spectral signature, leaf optical properties, plants/canopy components, LAI, soil, phenology, Vegetation Indices
GEE Vectors and tables, raster/vector conversions, zonal statistics
Classification principles and techniques: image interpretation, thematic classification, supervised and unsupervised classification, object-based classification, GEE: Earth Engine Objects, computation on Image collections, functions, reducers
Change detection techniques: algorithms and applications, change detection workflow, implementation in GEE of classification and change detection algorithms
Machine learning algorithms: definition, minimum distance algorithms, support vector machines, Random Forest, K-means, implementation of ML algorithms in GEE
Validation and accuracy assessment: protocols, reference data, confusion matrix and accuracy metrics, regression techniques, implementation in GEE
Time series analysis: definition of a time series, time series of vegetation indices/NDVI, trend analysis, interpolation, time series visualization, compositing techniques, time series analysis in GEE
Functional Ecology Module
Field trips and in-field training as follows:
(1) Botanic gardens in Milan and the hinterland of Milan - General botany to aid tree identification
(2) The Seveso and Meda Oak Woodland - Environmental recovery of the world's first large scale chemical/industrial disaster
(3) Woodland understorey recovery project, Cislago - A visit to a project for the control of invasive Prunus serotina and the recovery of the understorey herb layer
(4) The Red Oak control project and Native Flora Centre at Monte Barro park - A visit to an ongoing project for the control of the naturalized species Quercus rubra, with a visit to the Lombardy Region's main plant conservation centre, including a germplasm bank and plant propagation laboratory.
(5) The future of spruce forests destroyed by the "Vaia" storm (Val Malga, Sonico - BS) - A visit to a forest destroyed by the "Vaia" storm. Analysis of current vegetation and future scenarios.
(6) Soil bioengineering for the stabilization and restoration of mountain slopes
(Alpe Mola, Edolo - BS) - A visit to a mountain area affected by landslides and bioengineering works for soil stabilization and restoration.
Presentation: monitoring natural resources, RS applications, RS pros and cons, course contents and resources, software
Introduction: RS history, platforms/sensors, satellite orbits, missions, geo-spatial data/digital images, raster/vectors, data access and availability, Copernicus browser, Earth Explorer, GEE basics (code editor, scripts, docs, assets, repository, catalogues)
Basic principles: Electromagnetic Spectrum (EM) and radiation, laws and physical quantities, interaction biosphere/EM radiation, from measurements to surface properties (reflectance), spectral properties, GEE basics (code editor, scripts, docs, assets, repository, catalogues)
Data characteristics: satellite swath width, sensor bandwidth, processing levels, image resolutions, geometric correction, GEE: image and feature collections, metadata, filtering, visualization, Import/Export
Image visualization and processing: image access, RGB true and false colour visualization, vegetation indices VIs, band maths, thresholds GEE mosaics and Composites from Image Collections, clip, masking, band math and indices
Val Malga project (GEE): data, images, features
RS of vegetation: spectral signature, leaf optical properties, plants/canopy components, LAI, soil, phenology, Vegetation Indices
GEE Vectors and tables, raster/vector conversions, zonal statistics
Classification principles and techniques: image interpretation, thematic classification, supervised and unsupervised classification, object-based classification, GEE: Earth Engine Objects, computation on Image collections, functions, reducers
Change detection techniques: algorithms and applications, change detection workflow, implementation in GEE of classification and change detection algorithms
Machine learning algorithms: definition, minimum distance algorithms, support vector machines, Random Forest, K-means, implementation of ML algorithms in GEE
Validation and accuracy assessment: protocols, reference data, confusion matrix and accuracy metrics, regression techniques, implementation in GEE
Time series analysis: definition of a time series, time series of vegetation indices/NDVI, trend analysis, interpolation, time series visualization, compositing techniques, time series analysis in GEE
Functional Ecology Module
Field trips and in-field training as follows:
(1) Botanic gardens in Milan and the hinterland of Milan - General botany to aid tree identification
(2) The Seveso and Meda Oak Woodland - Environmental recovery of the world's first large scale chemical/industrial disaster
(3) Woodland understorey recovery project, Cislago - A visit to a project for the control of invasive Prunus serotina and the recovery of the understorey herb layer
(4) The Red Oak control project and Native Flora Centre at Monte Barro park - A visit to an ongoing project for the control of the naturalized species Quercus rubra, with a visit to the Lombardy Region's main plant conservation centre, including a germplasm bank and plant propagation laboratory.
(5) The future of spruce forests destroyed by the "Vaia" storm (Val Malga, Sonico - BS) - A visit to a forest destroyed by the "Vaia" storm. Analysis of current vegetation and future scenarios.
(6) Soil bioengineering for the stabilization and restoration of mountain slopes
(Alpe Mola, Edolo - BS) - A visit to a mountain area affected by landslides and bioengineering works for soil stabilization and restoration.
Teaching methods
The course includes 2 CFU of lesson time, 2 CFU of lab time and 2 CFU of exercises and field trips.
The lecturers will use:
a) Lectures and group discussion to provide theoretical concepts, and develop critical thinking skills;
b) Lab and computer exercises to verify the acquisition of knowledge and competences and computer skills. Course lessons in remote sensing will be integrated with exercise in Google Earth Engine addressing major topics (data access, data visualization, image classification, accuracy assessment).
c) Field trips and exercises to learn how to measure, describe and assess vegetation functional traits.
Attendance of lectures is strongly recommended.
The lecturers will use:
a) Lectures and group discussion to provide theoretical concepts, and develop critical thinking skills;
b) Lab and computer exercises to verify the acquisition of knowledge and competences and computer skills. Course lessons in remote sensing will be integrated with exercise in Google Earth Engine addressing major topics (data access, data visualization, image classification, accuracy assessment).
c) Field trips and exercises to learn how to measure, describe and assess vegetation functional traits.
Attendance of lectures is strongly recommended.
Teaching Resources
Lectures and lecture slides; further materials will be made available during the course.
Reference texts:
- Schulze D., et al. (2019) Plant Ecology. Springer
- Wegmann M., Leutner B., Dech S. (2016) Remote sensing and GIS for ecologists. Pelagic Publishing
Reference texts:
- Schulze D., et al. (2019) Plant Ecology. Springer
- Wegmann M., Leutner B., Dech S. (2016) Remote sensing and GIS for ecologists. Pelagic Publishing
Soil dynamics in ecosystem restoration
Course syllabus
Forest and natural soils in general: soil-based ecosystem services (carbon
stock, climate mitigation, surface and groundwater quality control, biodiversity
support, paleoenvironmental proxies)
Soil formation processes and factors, and soil diversity in different habitats
Soil degradation processes associated to deforestation and forest
degradation, erosion, desertification, vulnerability to climate change and
extreme events.
Ecological properties of recovering sites and identification of reference soils
to be used for recovery.
Soil recovery in the main forest and natural habitats subjected to degradation,
from tropics to boreal and mountain ecosystems
Notes of legislation and economy of soil recovery
Field activities: soil characterization, description and sampling in the field
stock, climate mitigation, surface and groundwater quality control, biodiversity
support, paleoenvironmental proxies)
Soil formation processes and factors, and soil diversity in different habitats
Soil degradation processes associated to deforestation and forest
degradation, erosion, desertification, vulnerability to climate change and
extreme events.
Ecological properties of recovering sites and identification of reference soils
to be used for recovery.
Soil recovery in the main forest and natural habitats subjected to degradation,
from tropics to boreal and mountain ecosystems
Notes of legislation and economy of soil recovery
Field activities: soil characterization, description and sampling in the field
Teaching methods
The course includes 3 CFU of lesson time, 0.5 CFU of lab time and 0.5 CFU of field trips.
The lecturer will use:
a) Lectures and group discussion to provide theoretical concepts, and develop critical thinking skills;
b) Lab exercises to verify the acquisition of knowledge and competences;
c) Field trips to learn how to measure, describe and assess soils.
Attendance of lectures is strongly recommended.
The lecturer will use:
a) Lectures and group discussion to provide theoretical concepts, and develop critical thinking skills;
b) Lab exercises to verify the acquisition of knowledge and competences;
c) Field trips to learn how to measure, describe and assess soils.
Attendance of lectures is strongly recommended.
Teaching Resources
Lectures and lecture slides;
further materials will be made available during the course
further materials will be made available during the course
Forest ecology and restoration design
AGR/05 - FOREST MANAGEMENT AND SILVICULTURE - University credits: 5
Field activity: 24 hours
Practicals: 16 hours
Lessons: 20 hours
Practicals: 16 hours
Lessons: 20 hours
Professor:
Vacchiano Giorgio
Remote sensing and functional ecology
BIO/03 - ENVIRONMENTAL AND APPLIED BOTANY
ICAR/06 - SURVEYING AND MAPPING
ICAR/06 - SURVEYING AND MAPPING
Field activity: 48 hours
Computer room practicals: 32 hours
Lessons: 8 hours
Computer room practicals: 32 hours
Lessons: 8 hours
Soil dynamics in ecosystem restoration
AGR/14 - PEDOLOGY
GEO/05 - ENGINEERING GEOLOGY
GEO/05 - ENGINEERING GEOLOGY
Field activity: 24 hours
Laboratories: 4 hours
Lessons: 18 hours
Laboratories: 4 hours
Lessons: 18 hours
Professor:
D'Amico Michele Eugenio
Educational website(s)
Professor(s)
Reception: