Course Rationale:
The course will provide students with the skills and knowledge to perform data analysis and create effective visualizations using the R programming language. This course will enhance the ability of students to analyze real-world data, extract insights, and communicate findings effectively. The course covers the fundamentals of data analysis, including data cleaning, organization, manipulation, statistical test and modeling. Additionally, the course covers various techniques for data visualization using popular R packages.
Course Objectives:
The objectives of this course are
● To provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the R programming language, including its syntax, data structures, and built-in functions.
● To teach students how to effectively communicate their findings through the use of clear and compelling data visualizations.
● To equip the student with the skills needed to conduct data analysis of research projects and also apply to introductory-level data analyst jobs.
Course Content:
Getting started: Introduction to R; Installing R, RStudio, and R packages; arithmetic and logical operators; setting up working directory; R script; useful R shortcuts; data transformations; Creating R-objects and vector; importing dataset from MS Excel, CSV and text files; getting data from websites; cbind and rbind; subsetting data; piping (%>%) operator in R (magrittr package); loading files from other programs.
Functions and control flow: data types and structure in R; structure of a function in R; function arguments; defining a function; the “…” argument in a function; Lexical scoping of R functions; Conditional statements: if, else, else if; repeating operations: for loops, nested for loops, while loops.
Exploratory analysis of Forestry data
Statistical tests: T test, Z test, Chi Squared Test; ANOVA with post-hoc tests, Simple Linear Regression, Multiple Linear Regression, Multivariate Analysis: PCA, CCA, NMDS
Basic of Data visualization: Grammar of graphics; the base R and ggplot2 graphic systems; building plots layer by layer.
Data visualization techniques in R:i) Histogram, density plot and pie chart: general histogram; 2d histogram; bin size control and color palette; density chart instead of a histogram; pie chart. ii) Scatter plot and line graph: Create plots with trend line; scatter plot with ellipses; ellipses by group; polygon by group with transparency; connected scatterplot; line graph; iii) Bar graph: Group bar graph; title, color palette and axis titles; built in theme; animated bar graph; linear trend line and confidence interval; iv) Box plot and violin plot: Horizontal box plot; color customization; plot title, subtitle, axis level and caption; axis label and limits; text size and color; plot margin and background; legend position and text; violin box plot; significance brackets for box plot.
Publication ready plots: Density plot and histogram with marginal rug; violin plots with box plots inside; ordered bar chart; lollipop chart; deviation graphs; dot charts plus box plot; PCA graph; time series plots; dendrogram; calendar heat map; improved text rendering support; simple and complex patchwork; modifying the theme of patchwork; controlling layouts and grid of patchwork; import simple graph and make it better in PowerPoint.
Course Rationale:
Forestry science helps manage forests and mitigate climate change. This course covers the complex interactions between forests and the climate system and how forestry helps mitigate and adapt to climate change. Students will learn about impact of climate change, options and strategies for mitigating climate change, various adaptation strategies and different international conventions on climate change. By taking this course, students will also learn the climate threats and mitigation opportunities of forestry sector in the context of Bangladesh.
Course Objectives:
The objectives of this course are
● To provide the concept of climate change, global warming and vulnerability caused by climate change.
● To help the students understand the impacts climate change on different ecosystems, biodiversity and resources.
● To introduce the students with the mitigation measures, strategies, carbon trading and carbon sequestration.
● To describe different forms of adaptation strategies, their benefits and limitations with relevant case studies.
● To provide an overview of the many national and international conventions and organizations concerned with climate change.
Course Content:
Introduction: Definition, types and characteristics of climate and climate change; Global warming and climate change; climate change scenario; patterns of climate change; climate change refugee; key uncertainties, climate change and vulnerability; research gaps and priorities. Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCMs). Carbon Credit Projects.
Impact of climate change on biodiversity, different forest ecosystem, land uses, wetland resources, sea level rise and food security.
Climate change mitigation: Policies and measures for mitigating climate change; options for climate change mitigation; climate change mitigation and carbon trading; Methods of measuring organic carbon in above (Trees, shrubs, herbs and litters) and below ground (Soil); potential contribution of forestry sector in carbon sequestration.
Adaptation to climate change: Definition, forms and types of adaptation; Costs and benefits of adaptation to climate change, sector-specific adaptation practices, options and constraints; Adaptation strategies in the forestry sector, different case studies.
International convention on climate change: Kyoto protocol (Clean Development Mechanism), Agenda 21, Conference of the Parties (COPs), UN framework convention on climate change etc. Recent treaties and development on forestry and climate change. Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
Role of national and International organizations in climate change adaptation and mitigation: IPCC; FAO, World Bank; IIED, UNFCCC, BCAS, UNEP, CBD, BCCTF, DoE, BFD, etc.; other funding sources.
Climate change challenges and opportunities for the forestry sector of Bangladesh
Course Rationale:
Research methodology is a cornerstone of undergraduate forestry education, providing students with the essential skills to design, conduct, and communicate scientific investigations in forestry and environmental sciences. This course introduces fundamental research concepts, ethical practices, and analytical techniques, empowering students to contribute effectively to both academic and applied research in their field.
Course Objectives:
The objectives of this course are to-
● Help students understand fundamental research concepts and design principles.
● Enable students to distinguish between various sampling and data collection methods.
● Develop students' skills in analyzing and interpreting research data.
● Teach students how to write an effective research proposal.
● Improve students' ability to produce ethical academic/scientific writing.
Course Content:
Introduction: research concept, philosophy, purpose and types of research, research process.
Research methods: Phases in forestry Research (pre-fieldwork, fieldwork, post-fieldwork), selection of research methods.
Experimental designs in forestry research: principles of experimental designs, basic experimental designs, identification of variables in research question, Experimental artifacts and their elimination process.
Field sampling: population vs. sample, various sampling methods, sampling design, sample size, sampling and non-sampling errors.
Data analysis: Statistical concepts and their application in forestry, Continuous data and Discrete data, descriptive statistics (data display; data distribution; Bell Curve or Normal Curve; measures of centre and variation in data; probability density function-PDF, test of data normality); inferential statistics (estimation, sampling error, sampling variability, sampling distribution), significance level, degrees of freedom, confidence interval; hypothesis testing (type I and type II errors, Z-test, t-test, χ2 -test, ANOVA); correlation and regression methods (error and sum of squares-SSE, SSR, SST, MS); post-hoc analysis.
Research proposal writing: pros and cons of academic/non-academic research proposal writing, elements of an academic research proposal, identification and formulation of research problems, development of research objectives, questions and hypotheses.
Critical reading and abstracting: strategies in critical reading and abstracting research papers; strategies for reading academic texts/books/journal articles; taking notes from academic texts.
Literature review: why to write a literature review, what literature to review, what questions the review should answer, structure of the literature review, final checklist in literature review.
Writing research reports: from proposal to thesis; writing thesis, scientific report and scientific journal article, their structure; argumentation and reasoning in scientific writing; organization of result and discussion; use of language and technical English in writing; scientific ethics and professionalism; intellectual property and plagiarism; use of graphics in the report, methods of citing references; thesis quality.
Plagiarism: Different forms of plagiarism; demonstration of different forms of plagiarism; scientific ethics and professionalism; intellectual property right.
Course Rationale:
In order to conserve biodiversity, expand forest resources/ecosystems and protect the surrounding environment in the face of continuous human pressure and global climate change scenario, forestry graduates should have practical methodological knowledge on forestry research and contemporary environmental issues.
Course Objectives:
The objectives of this course are
● To acquaint students with basic knowledge of research and it’s design
● To help them differentiate among different sampling and data collection methods
● To help them to develop skills for data collection for getting results.
● To develop skills to write a manuscript and its ethical issues for journal publication.
Course Content:
Data analysis using a computer-aided statistical package (e.g. Introduction to R, SPSS, etc.).
Identification of a research problem/research gap.
Practice of scientific communication.
Using reference managing software (e.g. Mendeley).
Course Rationale:
This course offers a comprehensive understanding of the fundamental principles of Forest Mensuration and Inventory, emphasizing their practical applications in field-level management. Learners will gain insight into modern forest measurement techniques, inventory processes, and related environmental challenges.
Course Objectives:
The objectives of the course are to-
● Facilitate necessary knowledge about the principles and governing rules of measurements of individual trees and stands, sampling, aerial photography and remote sensing.
● Develop skills for the field level assessment of forest resources through modern instruments and techniques to meet the needs of sustainable forest management.
● Acquaint students with the basic tools for the detailed procedure and methodology of forest inventory.
Course Content:
Mensuration
Introduction: Definition, objectives, scope and importance of mensuration, definition of different terms related to forest mensuration and inventory.
Measurement of single trees: Age, Diameter, Basal Area, Height, Bark Thickness, Tree Volume & Biomass, Tree Crown and Foliage, Leaf surface area, leaf weight and sapwood area.
Volume, Log Classes and Weight of Felled Trees: Volume, Log Rules, Grades and Classes, and Weight, Volume Table.
Measurement of Forest Stands: Definition of Forest Stand, Age, Diameter distribution, mean, and other parameters of the diameter distribution, Height distribution, relationship between diameter and height, mean and top heights, Stand density, Diversity and spatial structure, Volume and biomass, Site index, site class, or yield class, Present and future growth, Stand quality and vitality, Yield, and Damages.
Trees stem form: Stem form and shapes of trees, Taper functions and equations, Form factor, Form height, Form quotient, Methods of measuring form.
Tree and Stand Biomass Estimation: Biomass Components, Tree Level Regression Models, Additivity of Biomass Components, Dummy-Variables for Tree Species, Ratio Estimators and Cluster Sampling.
Growth and Yield: Definitions. Growth of Single Trees (Growth parameters, Stem analysis, Single-tree models); Site Class and Site Index (Definition, Site index curves, Site index equations); Growth of Stand (Estimating stand growth based on actual measurements, Stand table projection, Recent developments).
Inventory
Introduction: Definition, Objectives and types of forest inventory.
Sampling for Forest Inventories: random, systematic, cluster, two-phase, 3-P, multistage and stratified sampling designs, statistical concepts and their application in inventory, relative efficiency of sampling designs, subjective and objective sampling designs, principles and application of point sampling.
Choice of plot size and shape, permanent sample plots and recurrent forest inventory.
Carbon Inventory: Sampling, above and below ground carbon assessment, REDD+
Inventory planning and reporting: Forest inventory planning and procedure; application of remote sensing and GIS techniques in forest inventory planning and design; collection of data from the field, different types of errors in inventory; processing and report writing.
Course Rationale:
This course provides practical knowledge on forest mensuration and inventory in the context of forest resource assessment and management.
Course Objectives:
The objectives of this course are to-
Help the students to develop the ability to operate instruments commonly used for forest mensuration and inventory.
Provide knowledge on data collection from forest plots.
Foster the analytical and critical knowledge to prepare an inventory plan.
Course Content:
Demonstration of instruments commonly used in forest mensuration and inventory.
Use of different instruments to measure diameter and height, slope correction.
Field exercises in tree and stand measurements.
Construction of growth curve, form factor, biomass equation and volume table.
Demonstration and practice of different sampling techniques followed in forest inventory including- point sampling, cluster sampling, transects,
Preparation and execution of an inventory plan.
Course Rationale:
This course will provide knowledge on the basic concepts of the IUCN protected area categories, their management focusing on wildlife management and ecotourism. The main emphases of this course are to increase benefits of the local community around the forest protected areas, improve the recreational opportunities and restore the environmental sustainability of the forest by conserving biodiversity specially the wildlife. Moreover this course will create sentiments on remnant wildlife diversity, conservation of their habitat and inform how national and international organizations are working on wildlife conservation.
Course objectives:
The objectives of the course are to-
●Facilitate the students achieve necessary skills to solve the relevant field level issues regarding community based forest management in the forest protected area.
●Help them conceptualize basic theories of ecotourism in the protected area and their importance in Bangladesh.
●Provide knowledge of the functions of wildlife with the environment of forest and their services for the forest and society.
●Make the students understand the basic ecological principles of population dynamics, population census, and their habitat and adaptations in ecosystems.
●Provide basic ideas about protected areas and wildlife related policy and legislation as well as the role of national and international organizations on wildlife conservation.
Course Content:
Protected Area Management
Introduction: History, concepts and objectives, importance and legal status of protected areas, IUCN protected area management categories.
Protected Areas of Bangladesh: Problems and prospects, objectives, existing management systems, concepts and principles of co-management, co-management in Bangladesh; history, types and status.
Protected Area Management Techniques: Planning and design, administration and maintenance, facility improvement and development, management capacity and Buffer zone
Measuring protected area management effectiveness: IUCN Framework to Measure the Effectiveness of Protected Area Management, Numeric Methodology to Evaluate Protected Area Systems, Procedure to Rate Management Effectiveness in Protected Wilderness Areas, Monitoring System,
Eco-tourism: Concepts and principles of ecotourism, importance of ecotourism, role of different organizations in promoting eco-tourism in Bangladesh. Concept and types of tourist carrying capacity; relationship between impact and use level, methods of tourist carrying capacity assessment, Numerical-based carrying capacity assessment- definition and assessment procedure of Physical carrying capacity (PCC), Real carrying capacity (RCC) and Effective or permissible carrying capacity (ECC).
Wildlife Management
Introduction: Definition, importance, and scope of wildlife management in Bangladesh, Human Dimensions of Wildlife Management.
Important wildlife of Bangladesh and status and distribution: (Classes: Amphibia, Reptilia, Aves and Passerine birds, Mammalia).
Habitat and Adaptations: Macro and microhabitats components, Territory and home range, adaptive radiations and modifications.
Population dynamics: Census/counting, density, age and sex ratio, natality and mortality, populations of reptiles, birds and mammals, Predator-Prey Relationships
Behavioral Aspects: Wildlife behavior in Changing Environment of Bangladesh
Principle and Role of Wildlife Conservation: Conservation planning, conservation of threatened species and wildlife resources, Wildlife Restoration
Wildlife Management: Management status, bio-ecological basis, population, habitat evaluation and improvement, food availability, breeding biology, mortality and diseases, migration, re-introduction and habitat restoration, invasion, farming, legal and illegal trades, research and training, NGOs and international cooperation, human elephant and human tiger conflict in Bangladesh.
Wildlife Policy and Legislation: Salient feature of the Bangladesh Wildlife (Conservation and security) Act 2012.
International organizations: WWF, IUCN, CITES and WCPA and their role in wildlife conservation.