Forest Soils of the
Cape Provinces, South Africa

 
 

 

 
 

ABOUT

This project focused on development of a team-based learning (TBL) case study and its supporting multimedia material, to enhance teaching and learning experience on the effects of forestry management treatments on soil properties in a Pinus radiata plantation in the Southern Cape forest region of South Africa.

The goal of this project is to provide students with the opportunity to explore an international case and gain an international perspective, while also reflecting on how these specific contexts equate or differ from forestry management practices of British Columbia.

The learning resources were developed for:
  • APBI 402/502 Sustainable Soil Management course offered at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
  • Forest Science 356 module offered as part of the undergraduate BSc Forestry degree at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
    Funding for this project was provided by UBC’s Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund (2018).

An Introduction

 

 
 
The overall goal of the Sustainable Soil Management course at the University of British Columbia is to apply fundamental, unifying soil science principles to forest, grassland, agricultural, and urban ecosystems. The course is based on a modified team-based learning approach to provide scenarios for assessing and managing soil quality in different land use systems. During the course, each student works on three, 4-week-long case studies. Each case is focused one of three areas: soil chemistry, soil physics, or soil biology. For four weeks, students work in groups in a face-to-face classroom setting to address the learning outcomes of the case study. Weekly handouts lead students through the case study via learning outcomes, tasks, and guiding questions.
 
Forest Science Module 356 (Stellenbosch University students) focuses on plantation silviculture. In particular, the period from clear felling through re-establishment and up to canopy closure of the newly planted crop presents a window of opportunity where site management actions (such as slash management, soil preparation and nutrient management) can improve productivity. It is also a window where said operations can enhance or detract from long-term sustainability of the system, depending on which operations are chosen and how they are implemented. Students will use the results from an existing experiment to assess the effects of site management operations during this window of opportunity at re-establishment in this case study.