Forest Resources Management in Spain

6 undergraduate credits or 3 graduate credits

 

Spain is characterized by a unique combination of Mediterranean and maritime forest types that are vulnerable to wide annual climatic fluctuations and potential future climatic shifts. Forests worldwide have been managed for a diversity of ecosystem services that are dictated by local society's needs; superimposed on those needs are a cultural, historical, political and biophysical context.

An international perspective on forest management strategies provides keener insight into alternative ways of managing for specific resources, and ways to balance the demands for a complex array of ecosystem services. This 10-day, six-credit program is led by faculty from OSU and University of Valladolid in Palencia, Spain. On daily field trips, we will explore diverse Spanish forest ecosystem types, the resources and objectives for which they are managed, and global pressures that affect management decisions.