Teaching and research in forest ecology at UNB, 1942 to present

Abstract

The purposes of this paper are to review the history of forest ecology courses at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in relation to the social context, summarize recent developments in forest ecology research at UNB, and identify critical areas for future research. Based on the UNB Undergraduate Calendar (1942 to present), the first forest ecology course was offered in 1957. Until the 1980s, forest ecology courses were generally related to silviculture and forest production. Since then, courses reflected increasing public concern with biodiversity and sustainable forest management. Research in the Forest Ecology Laboratory at UNB has emphasized forest ecosystem response to disturbance, including tree regeneration and herbaceous-layer recovery following silvicultural treatments. From this work, a disturbance severity model was developed for characterizing any kind of disturbance. Future research is needed to test the model across additional disturbance types, particularly new silvicultural treatments that are being used in forest ecosystem management. Key words: teaching, forest ecology, research, disturbance, herbaceous layer, biodiversity, sustainable forest management, ecosystem management