Course Title: Forest stand dynamics: an ecological foundation to enhance forest management and conservation in temperate forests

Instructors:

Key topics: Stand dynamics, disturbance ecology, single- and multicohort-stands, forest management, conservation.

Date/Time: 22-23 March 2026 (two full days).

Note: The course is designed for 20 students.

Target Audience: The target audience are students (pre-graduate, post-graduate), academic lecturers, practitioners and policy makers.

Language: We will decide the course language according to the Audience (English or Spanish).

Course Summary:

The objective of the course is to introduce the study of forest stand dynamics, the changes in forest structures and compositions change over time as a result of autogenic (growth) and allogenic processes (disturbances). Understanding the dynamic nature of forest stands is central for creating and maintaining a variety of critical ecosystem services sustainably and synergistically, including sustainable supplies of wood products, biodiversity and wildlife habitats, water, wildland fire, forest restoration and others.

Through lectures, local and international examples, and discussions we will explore forest development processes and pathways, concentrating on the driving mechanisms and emergent properties including natural and human disturbances. We will also present examples of natural disturbance-based forest management strategies implemented in temperate forest of Patagonia.

Content will divide in three units: (i) Disturbance Ecology: classification, regimes and components, direct and indirect impacts. (ii) Stand Development patterns: development patterns following major and minor disturbances (single- and multicohort-stands), stages of stand development (stand initiation, stem exclusion, understory reinitiation, complex). (iii) Management and Conservation of Temperate Forests: timber production and conservation management strategies, variable retention, silvopastoral and livestock management. 

Methodology: (i) Theoretical lectures, (ii) Presentation of case studies, (iii) Open discussions and debates. Students will need laptops to access to the pdf material.