Outstanding teachers and experienced researchers carry out research activities and teach forestry subjects in full-time or combined bachelor and master study programmes. The Department team is in contact with practical forestry which allows us to set a high standard of teaching and research. We cover the following topics: methods of optimal forest production management, changes in growth and increment of forest tree species in relation to climate change, stem form modelling, local models of assortment tree species composition, and biometrics. For the collection of empirical data, the Department is equipped with mensurational tools and high-tech devices for accurate measurement and mensurational data collection: especially digital callipers, electronic altimeters and telemeters, heavy-duty PCs, GPS and other devices for field calculations and analyses. All equipment is available not only to the teachers and researchers but also to students working on their theses and dissertations.
Teaching
We teach bachelor and master courses, both in Czech and English. We offer the following subjects in study programmes taught in Czech: Forest Mensuration; Forest Management I; Forest Production; Basics of Forest Production; Applied Statistics; Biometrics; Hunting Data Processing. The subjects offered in the English-taught programmes: Forest Mensuration, Forest Management I and Forest (Wood) Production – in the FORESTRY study programme. In the GAME MANAGEMENT study programme: Hunting Data Processing. Both the programmes comprise Biometrics – a subject also guaranteed by our Department. All of these are fundamental subjects for the Forest Management course – a crucial forestry discipline – taught in the master study programme. In the follow-up Czech-taught Forest Engineering master programme (full-time or combined), we teach Forest Management II. In the follow-up English-taught Forestry, Water and Landscape Management master programme, the subject is called simply Forest Management. In Tropical Forestry and Agroforestry, the subject is called Forest Management in TS. We also teach specialized subjects in doctoral study programmes.
Research
Our Department studies theoretical background of management risks on forest management. We also focus on the production of forest stands in changing growth conditions, using the data collected in our research plots. The permanent research plots are also used to study changes in mensurational variables in time and monitor stem forms of sample trees. Special attention is paid to investigation of biomass share of broadleaved tree species based on noncontact terrestrial screening of individual sample trees. We also test spline functions use for representation of stem form curves of individual trees and for regression models of the generalized local stem form curve or for creating local assortment tables based on relative sections. The Department processes data from aerial laser scanning to be used by forest management, especially determining mensurational features: the height and canopy closure. We carry out research in optimization of main felling and develop systems supporting decision making in forest management. Last but not least, we prepare simulations of forest growth and development.
International relations
The Department takes part in the ERASMUS+ international teacher and student exchange programme. Members of the Department participate in IURFO unit 4.04.04. We collaborate with numerous foreign universities and research institutes, e.g. The Institute of Statistical Mathematics Tokyo, Technische Universität München, Georg-August Universität Göttingen, Universidade de Evora, and Technical University in Zvolen etc.
History
The Department of Forest Management has gone through numerous changes. In 1981, the Department of Forest Mensuration and Management of Forestry Research Institute fused with the Department of Economics and Natural Resources Use of the Applied Ecology and Ecotechnology Institute of the College of Agriculture in Prague. The independent Department was re-established in the early 1990s when the Faculty of Forestry in Prague was restored in 1991.
Significant experts who helped to form the reputation of the Department: Prof. Ing. Gabriel JIRSÍK, dr. h. c. Prof. Ing. Dr. Vilibald ŠEVČÍK Ing. Bohumil ŠKODA Prof. Ing. Dr. Václav KORF, DrSc. Doc. Ing. Dr. Josef ŽÁK Prof. Ing. Jan KOUBA, CSc. Prof. Ing. Róbert MARUŠÁK, PhD.
