FWF 313 Measurements and Sampling

Transcription

1 Department of Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries Year: 2017 University of Tennessee Semester: Spring FWF 313 Measurements and Sampling Instructors: John Zobel 51A McCord Hall Joshua Granger 136 Plant Biotech Bldg Teaching Assistant: Bryan Fitzgerald 216 Plant Biotech Bldg. Schedule of Classes: Lecture Friday, 8:00 9:50 am Labs Tuesday, 8:15 10:55 am, or 12:40 3:25 pm Office Hours: Prerequisites: TBD STAT 201 Introduction to Statistics, or MATH 115 Statistical Reasoning Required Text: Avery, T.E., and H.E. Burkhart Forest Measurements, 5 th edition (or the 3 rd or 4 th ). Reading assignments will be announced weekly via the course website on Blackboard. Everyone (especially forestry majors - Forest Resources Management Concentration) should retain this text for your senior year as it will be useful in FORS 329 and FWF 416. Note: As many students buy textbooks online, this course caters to that trend. The UT bookstore does not carry the text, but rather several bookseller websites allow you to find the 3 rd, 4 th, or 5 th editions (all acceptable) at a significantly reduced cost. Please use these or other outlets for obtaining our required text. If you have any trouble, please let your instructors know. Another note: A new copy of the latest edition (5 th ) has been pricy ($200+). However, the new publisher (Waveland Press) has significantly reduced the cost by producing a paperback version ($72). Unless you find significant savings by purchasing the 3 rd or 4 th editions, I would stick with the 5 th. Waveland Press ($72): 873&pgtitle=Forest +Measurements%3A+Fifth+Edition+by+Thomas+Eugene+Avery%2C+Harold+E.+Burkhart or Amazon ($70): Eugene/dp/ / ref=sr_1_1?ie=utf8&qid= &sr=8-1&keywords=forest+measurements Other sites that may carry the book (used or new) include Barns and Noble, alibris, Direct Textbook, and Abebooks, among others.

2 Course objectives and expected outcomes: In order to better understand and manage any natural resource, it is necessary to know something about the abundance, condition, size, and distribution of that resource. Accurate determination of these characteristics will increase your understanding of the resource and help you make the best possible decisions about how that resource should be managed. Your ability to successfully employ measurement and sampling tools to assess natural resources will support and justify many of your decisions as a natural resource manager. At the end of the course you should be able to do the following: Properly identify and use forest measurement equipment Understand a variety of methods for conducting natural resource sampling Understand the use of correlation and regression analysis and its application to natural resources relationships Employ computer software in data management and sample evaluation Summarize and interpret data collected in a natural resources inventory This course will give you experience in using typical measurement tools, implementing basic sampling methods, and applying your mathematical and statistical abilities to natural resource problems. Students completing this course should understand the key steps in designing, carrying out, and summarizing a natural resource sample. Students should be able to design and complete natural resource samples using the equipment and methods discussed in class. Method of Evaluation: Grading Scale: Lab exercise reports 40% A 90% C % Lab practicum 15% B % D % Midterm exam 20/30/30+% B % F <60% Final exam 25/35/35+% C % Grading Policies: (1) Laboratory exercise reports are due by 11:59pm via BlackBoard on the following Thursday. Students must be present in a lab session to be eligible to submit a lab report for that lab. Late exercises will not be accepted for any reason. (2) No makeup exams will be given for any circumstance. (3) You may regain the points lost from failure to submit laboratory reports on time (or at all), or from missing the midterm exam. Each exam will have three versions: A, B, and C. Version A will have the fewest questions and will comprise 20% (midterm) and 25% (final) of your grade. Version B will be longer, having additional questions and representing 30-35% of your grade. Finally, version C will be the longest, accounting for % of your grade. You may choose any version, but only the longer exams will replace up to two labs (version B) or all missing scores (version C). Note: you are free to drop any lab or midterm exam grade if you wish (e.g., you did poorly). Those points can then be made up on a longer version of the next exam. Also, any questions answered correctly on longer exams that were unnecessary (e.g., you turned in all labs, but you chose to take version B anyway), those questions will act as extra credit (maximum 10% of your exam grade). Those that must take Version C cannot earn extra credit.

3 (4) You cannot drop the lab practicum, or defer those points to an in-class exam. (5) Partial credit may be given on exams if all steps and calculations for a particular problem are included as part of the answer. We love giving partial points, but you must show your work to be eligible. Blackboard: The course site on Blackboard ( will be the main source of course information. Lab exercise instructions and locations, assigned readings, other course materials, and course grades will all be provided via blackboard. You are expected to check the site and remain up-to-date. Laboratories: Many of the labs will take place outdoors and students should be prepared for field conditions. Labs will generally be conducted in all weather conditions, and students should plan on labs lasting the entire allotted time. Bring a calculator and clipboard to all labs. Labs may require written reports or the completion of lab worksheets. Each student or crew must complete their own calculations, reports and worksheets. Students are encouraged to work together, compare answers, and discuss lab topics, but the work you submit must be your own. In professional life the quality of your work will often be judged on how well you can present what you have done. Lab reports will have a component of the grade based on the quality of the presentation. Further, some portion of your lab grades will be dependent on your ability to make accurate measurements in the field. Student: Responsibilities 1. Read syllabus and other material provided by instructor 2. Attend and participate in lectures and laboratories 3. Take good notes in class and labs 4. Review notes periodically and ask about information not understood 5. Learn (rather than memorize) the material presented by the instructor 6. Apply editorial and content-related instructor comments to improve technical writing skills 7. Complete and submit laboratory exercises 8. Pass exams (and course) Instructors: 1. Present material in a clear, organized, and understandable manner at an appropriate pace to encourage learning 2. Answer questions (both in and out of classroom) concerning material presented in class 3. Provide classroom and laboratory environment conducive to learning 4. Provide constructive editorial and content-related feedback on laboratory writing assignments 5. Accurately assess and report the level of understanding achieved by each student in the course

4 Academic Integrity The honor code for students in this course, and for all courses in FWF, can be simply summarized by one sentence: I will not cheat or tolerate anyone who does. Officially, you are expected to abide by the University of Tennessee Honor Statement as presented in Hilltopics. Some exercises require data collection and reports by groups; however, others will be either conducted as individuals, or require individuals to perform the calculation, interpret the results, and write answers to discussion questions. This does not prohibit you from comparing your results with your group members or from discussing answers with other members of the class. It does prohibit you from submitting the work of others as your own and from providing your work to others to submit as their own. Prohibited Conduct (excerpted from Hilltopics , p ) (1) The Honor Statement prohibits cheating, plagiarism, and any other type of academic dishonesty. (2) Plagiarism is using the intellectual property or product of someone else without giving proper credit. The undocumented use of someone else s words or ideas in any medium of communication (unless such information is recognized as common knowledge) is a serious offense, subject to disciplinary action that may include failure in a course and/or dismissal from the university. Specific examples of plagiarism include, but are not limited to: (a) Using without proper documentation (quotation marks and a citation) written or spoken words, phrases, or sentences from any source; (b) Summarizing without proper documentation (usually a citation) ideas from another source (unless such information is recognized as common knowledge); (c) Borrowing facts, statistics, graphs, pictorial representations, or phrases without acknowledging the source (unless such information is recognized as common knowledge); (d) Collaborating on a graded assignment without the instructor s approval; and (e) Submitting work, either in whole or in part, created by a professional service and used without attribution (e.g., paper, speech, bibliography, or photograph). (3) Specific examples of other types of academic dishonesty include, but are not limited to: (a) Providing or receiving unauthorized information during an examination or academic assignment, or the possession and/or use of unauthorized materials during an examination or academic assignment; (b) Providing or receiving unauthorized assistance in connection with laboratory work, field work, scholarship, or another academic assignment; (c) Falsifying, fabricating, or misrepresenting data, laboratory results, research results, citations, or other information in connection with an academic assignment;

5 (d) Serving as, or enlisting the assistance of, a substitute for a student in the taking of an examination or the performance of an academic assignment; (e) Altering grades, answers, or marks in an effort to change the earned grade or credit; (f) Submitting without authorization the same assignment for credit in more than one course; (g) Forging the signature of another or allowing forgery by another on any class- or University-related document such as a class roll or drop/add sheet; (h) Failing to observe the expressed procedures or instructions relating to an exam or academic assignment; and (i) Engaging in an activity that unfairly places another student at a disadvantage, such as taking, hiding, or altering resource material, or manipulating a grading system. Minor violations of the Honor Statement will decrease your final grade a full letter (i.e. B+ to C+) while major violations will result in a grade of "F" in the course and referral to the College of Agricultural Sciences & Natural Resources Academic Review Board. The board may elect to exclude violators from the university. The severity of the violation is at the discretion of the instructor. Full details of the university policy on academic dishonesty are in Hilltopics. Other forms of misconduct will also not be tolerated, including disruptive or unprofessional behavior in the classroom or laboratory. A student deemed to be disruptive by the instructor will be required to leave the class or lab that day. Repeated classroom disruptions may result in failure of the course. Grade Issues Issues related to grades or academic coursework should first be addressed with the Bryan, then me, then the appropriate department head, and finally the dean of the college in which the course is offered. If an appropriate solution cannot be reached through discussions with these individuals, the Director of the Student Success Center (for undergraduate students) or the staff of the Office of Graduate Student Services (for graduate students) can offer assistance regarding the best "next steps" for problem resolution. Issues related to academic advising should be addressed first with the advisor, then the director of the appropriate advising center, then the dean of the appropriate college, and finally with the Assistant Provost for Student Success. But hey, no one really expects to ever use this, right? I ll do my best to keep it that way.

6 FWF Measurements and Sampling Preliminary Course Schedule Lecture: Week Date Topics* 1 Jan. 13 Introduction/mapping, government surveys, and topographic maps 2 Jan. 20 Statistics review 3 Jan. 27 Intro. to compass function and determination of direction 4 Feb. 3 Tree diameter and height determination (regression?) 5 Feb. 10 Introduction to sampling 6 Feb. 17 Timber inventory overview/line-plot cruising 7 Feb. 24 Sampling with probability proportional to size 8 March 3 Midterm Exam 9 March 10 Sampling wildlife populations 10 March 17 Spring Break! 11 March 24 Sampling wildlife populations continued 12 March 31 Sampling of wildlife habitat 13 April 7 Sampling fish resources (guest: Dr. Brian Alford) 14 April 14 No class - Spring Holiday 15 April 21 Resource Assessment Planning 16 April 28 TBA 17 May 5 Final Exam (8:00 10:00 am) Lab: Week Date Topics* 2 Jan. 17 Excel overview/refresher 3 Jan. 24 Intro. to land measurements and basic field measurement of distance 4 Jan. 31 Intro. to compass use and basic field measurement of direction 5 Feb. 7 Field assessment of tree diameter and height 6 Feb. 14 Simple random sampling 7 Feb. 21 Line-plot cruising 8 Feb. 28 Study session(s) 9 March 7 Variable radius plot sampling 10 March 14 Spring Break! 11 March 21 Sampling wildlife populations 12 March 28 Mast Estimation 13 April 4 Sampling wildlife populations continued 14 April 11 Sampling for habitat suitability indexes 15 April 18 Sampling fish resources (guest: Dr. Brian Alford) 16 April 25 Resource Assessment Planning *Subject to change without notice, void where prohibited.