The anatomy of a woodland: stand profile diagrams as an aid to problem-based learning in undergraduate forestry education

Forestry education is poorly served with published examples of teaching and learning methods that enable students to engage actively with the discipline. This is not the case in other professional disciplines, such as the biology, medicine and engineering, where sub-disciplines have emerged and are devoted to the development and evaluation of optimum learning strategies. In this paper we present a short field-based practical that introduces forestry students to forest stand dynamics, applied forest ecology and silviculture. Students measure a series of tree and stand parameters in 2 contrasting forest types. They then analyze and interpret the data to develop their understanding. Reflective practice is built in by setting questions designed to promote enquiry and the self-identification of future avenues for personal development. The project, as described here, was devised for students at the National School of Forestry, England, but the principles could be applied to almost any learning environment. Planning within curriculum teams would be required to identify the appropriate location for this exercise in specific undergraduate programmes

Sustainable forest management

This article presents a case study of sustainable forest management at Thirlmere Reservoir in the Lake District. The interaction between forest and water resources, and the value of the surrounding landscape, makes Thirlmere an excellent location for demonstrating modern approaches in sustainable forestry. Today, forests are managed for a variety of purposes: environmental, economic and social. This case study shows that such management requires a range of geographical understanding, and illustrates the synoptic approach required at A2

Discrete Symmetries in Covariant LQG

We study time-reversal and parity ---on the physical manifold and in internal space--- in covariant loop gravity. We consider a minor modification of the Holst action which makes it transform coherently under such transformations. The classical theory is not affected but the quantum theory is slightly different. In particular, the simplicity constraints are slightly modified and this restricts orientation flips in a spinfoam to occur only across degenerate regions, thus reducing the sources of potential divergences.Comment: 8 pages, v2: Minor change

Transforming Sitka Spruce Plantations

The TranSSFor project is comparing conventional thinning in Sitka spruce plantations with two alternative thinning regimes

Hooked on osprey – the role of an “iconic” wildlife species in outdoor education

Much of the narrative associated with wildlife and habitat conservation has focused on individual, often iconic species. In the United Kingdom one of the most significant wildlife re-introduction success stories has been that of osprey. Although present in several regions since the 1950s, it was not until 2001 that osprey nested in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria, England. The return of osprey, after an absence of 150 years, was a major opportunity to engage park visitors with new outdoor activities and education. To date, in excess of 1 million visitors have participated in osprey viewing at sites managed by the Lake District Osprey Project. A core feature of the project is an educational program involving the contribution of a team of 100 volunteers. Econometric analysis has demonstrated a net gain to the local economy from osprey eco-tourism of approximately £2M/year. However, there has not yet been a detailed analysis of visitor perceptions of the educational and social value of the osprey project. This presentation will share the results of a research study based at two osprey viewing sites in the Lake District National Park. Interviews were conducted with approximately 300 visitors and incorporated questions, which pertained to demographic information, lifestyle, well-being, attitudes to nature, as well as the learning experience from interacting with osprey project volunteers. Our findings highlight the role that species conservation can play in stimulating outdoor engagement and education, and as a catalyst for physical activity. We discuss some of the opportunities and challenges associated with sustainable wildlife projects, and identify several policy implications

Comparison of three inventory protocols for use in privately-owned plantations under transformation to Continuous Cover Forestry

peer-reviewedInterest is growing in Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) as a management approach among private forest owners in Ireland. Developments in forest policy are directed at promoting CCF as a means of enhancing forest resilience, sustaining forest production and delivering diverse ecosystem services. In 2019 the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) introduced a new pilot funding measure to support the adoption of CCF management in suitable private forests. Currently the area of forest under CCF management is relatively small (estimated at around 1% of the total forest area) and several barriers to wider adoption have been identified. These include the lack of a simple template for the transformation of planted forests to CCF and a monitoring protocol with known inventory costs and outputs. In this study three inventory protocols were compared in terms of their ease of use, the types of data outputs and cost effectiveness in a forest stand at an early stage of transformation to CCF. These protocols were compared to a complete enumeration approach. The inventory protocols being tested were developed by the UK Forestry Commission (FCIN45), a group of French and Belgian researchers (VISUAL) and the Irregular Silviculture Network (ISN). Results indicate that by using modern technology and careful design, a cost-effective inventory protocol can be implemented to collect information of sufficient accuracy to inform management decisions. Advantages and limitations of each protocol are discussed. The ultimate outcome would be the development and adoption of a common inventory and monitoring approach to enable private owners to critically compare stand management and performance. This is essential to support and guide forest managers and forest owners during the transformation process

Power-Ups in Digital Games: The Rewarding Effect of Phantom Game Elementson Player Experience

Power-ups are a type of game reward that allow the player tocustomise their experience by altering gameplay for a shortperiod of time. Despite the wide use of power-ups in videogames, little is known about their effect on gaming experiences.To explore this, we conducted an experimental study that compares the experiences of players depending on their exposureto power-ups in a recreational video game. The results show that players who collected power-ups felt significantly more immersed in the game, experienced more autonomy, but didnot feel more competent or challenged than those who played the game without these collectables. Interestingly, a similareffect was observed for those players who picked up ‘placebo ’power-ups, despite the items having no effect on the gameplay. We provide a discussion of these results and their implications both for games user researchers and game designers

Change of Interest as a Function of Shift in Curricular Orientation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67119/2/10.1177_001316445301300213.pd

Sustainability assessment of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite broadband mega-constellations

The growth of mega-constellations is rapidly increasing the number of rocket launches required to place new satellites in space. While Low Earth Orbit (LEO) broadband satellites help to connect unconnected communities and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, there are also a range of negative environmental externalities, from the burning of rocket fuels and resulting environmental emissions. We present sustainability analytics for phase 1 of the three main LEO constellations including Amazon Kuiper (3,236 satellites), OneWeb (648 satellites), and SpaceX Starlink (4,425 satellites). In baseline scenarios over five years, we find a per subscriber carbon dioxide equivalent (CO$_2$eq) of 0.70$\pm$0.34 tonnes for Kuiper, 1.41$\pm$0.71 tonnes for OneWeb and 0.47$\pm$0.15 tonnes CO$_2$eq/subscriber for Starlink. However, in the worst-case emissions scenario these values increase to 3.02$\pm$1.48 tonnes for Kuiper, 1.7$\pm$0.71 tonnes for OneWeb and 1.04$\pm$0.33 tonnes CO$_2$eq/subscriber for Starlink, more than 31-91 times higher than equivalent terrestrial mobile broadband. Importantly, phase 2 constellations propose to increase the number of satellites by an order-of-magnitude higher, highlighting the pressing need to mitigate negative environmental impacts. Strategic choices in rocket design and fuel options can help to substantially mitigate negative sustainability impacts