PhD defense: Shaaban Ghalandarayeshi

Shaaban Ghalandarayeshi defends his PhD thesis: 

Characterizing stand structure and growth of natural beech forests for development of sustainable forest practices

Principal supervisor: 
Senior Researcher Thomas Nord-Larsen
Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, DK

Co-supervisors:
Professor Jørgen Bo Larsen
Professor Palle Madsen
Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, DK

Assessment Committee:
Associate Professor Henrik Meilby (chair)
Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen, DK
Professor Arne Pommerening
SLU, Department of Forest Resources Management, SE
Professor Christian Frøland Damgaard
Department of Bioscience – Plant and Insect Ecology, Aarhus University, DK

After the PhD defense there will be a reception in the canteen at Rolighedsvej 23, new building  – and everybody is welcome.

Summary
Understanding of ecological processes and the ability to make reasonable forecasts is pivotal for the development of sustainable forest management practices as the effect of specific treatments may not be visible in the lifetime of the forester. Current forest management practices for oriental beech forests in northern Iran lack such scientific foundation. The objective of the present study is to assist in this process by characterizing growth and stand structure of oriental beech for a range of growing conditions in northern Iran and to provide useful insight for application in sustainable management practices in these forests. Like in Iran, sustainable forest management practices are on the agenda in Denmark. Current understanding of near natural forest management relies to a large extend on a series of studies in Suserup Forest – a natural, nemoral European beech forest in Denmark. However, no attempt was made to quantify the observed patterns. As a reference, stand structure was characterized for mixed species European beech woodlands in Suserup Skov in Denmark.

The thesis is available from the PhD administration office 04.1.417