Land Reclamation and Restoration MSc

• Tim Brewer

GIS is an important technology for handling geographic data and has wide application for studies of the environment. GIS is used widely by students in the courses listed above in other modules and their group and personal projects and therefore this module provides the opportunity to develop GIS skills that will be of use within a student’s course and in later employment.

• GIS theory - data structures; data formats; data storage; data standards; spatial and non-spatial data; spatial querying; analysis techniques – reclassification, overlay, proximity, mensuration, visualisation, map algebra; hardware and software; system specification; projections; datums; spheriods.
• ArcGIS - overview of ArcGIS, ArcMap, ArcCatalog; ArcToolbox, Spatial Analyst.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

• Examine the functional components of a GIS.
• Define system specifications including projections, data and process modelling.
• Organise, using appropriate data structures, geographic data within a GIS.
• Analyse and evaluate data and prepare digital databases using GIS software.
• Summarise, using maps and tables, the results of GIS based analyses.

• Dr Jacqueline Hannam

Food security, environmental protection depend upon effective management of soil, plant and water interactions in the environment. This module will focus on a fundamental understanding of the science of soil systems and how decisions in land management affect the soil functions related to food production.

• Soil functions, ecosystem goods and services and concepts of soil health.
• Plant responses to solar radiation, temperature, drought and aeration stress.
• Soil texture, bulk density, porosity and structure.
• Soil-water interactions.
• Soil chemistry: Nutrients, pH, CEC, salinity and the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles.
• Soil organisms: diversity and functional importance.
• Land capability for agricultural production, inputs and yields.
• Innovations for agricultural production

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

• Describe the role of soil systems in the context of soil functions, ecosystem services and soil health.
• Explain the principal responses of plants to the climatic environment.
• Quantify key soil physical, chemical and biological properties.
• Evaluate the impact of soil management and agricultural innovation in agricultural production.

Land restoration and reclamation practices in relation to improving soil structural conditions for optimal crop growth and prevention of soil resource losses must be grounded on an understanding of principles from soil science, bio-science and engineering. In addition, effective land restoration and reclamation must also consider the theoretical and practical principles underlying the successful management of soil organic carbon and the application of nutrients and organic manures to land.

• Reasons for tillage and soil management in land restoration and reclamation.
• Basics of soil mechanics: shear strength of soil & Mohr-Coulomb equation, effect of texture, moisture content and bulk density on soil strength; Soil plasticity, Consistency and Atterberg limits.
• Defining and assessing soil structure. Mechanics, assessment and alleviation of soil compaction.
• Soil Bio-EngineeringMicrobiological, chemical and physical changes in soil during storage.
• Risk assessment and treatment of contaminated land.
• Contaminated land and remediation technologies.
• Dynamics and management of soil carbon nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and other nutrients in the context of effective land restoration and reclamation.
• Organic manures, properties and management; Risk assessments of wastes spread to land contaminant sources, loadings and impacts.
• Principles of Phytoremediation.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

• Quantify soil strength and slope failure and apply this to the physical management of soil.
• Assess soil stability and plasticity.
• Quantify soil compaction and advise strategies to minimise compaction and/or rectify the problem.
• Describe the routes to soil physical and biological damage and devise strategies to minimise degradation and ecosystem disruption.
• Evaluate suitable technologies for the remediation of different types of contaminated land.
• Evaluate the dynamics of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus as major nutrients in soils.
• Identify the pathways of contaminants in soils and their impacts to the ecosystem.
• Implement suitable strategies to reduce pollution in soils taking into account the associated risks.
• Identify organic wastes, their nutrient contents and risks associated with their application to land.

• Professor Ronald Corstanje

“Landscape ecology emphasizes the interactions between spatial patterns and ecological processes, that is, the causes and consequences of spatial heterogeneity in a range of scales” (Turner et al. 2001). Landscape ecology provides a foundational framework for problem solving, decision making and planning in land restoration, ecological conservation and natural resources management. It covers topics related to structure, function and change, and it provides the necessary tools to select the appropriate methods to test spatial hypothesis and solve problems at multiple scales. This module is designed to introduce you to a variety of tools that measure and quantify landscape components at different scales, and to understand them in the context of their field of expertise priorities and regulations.



 

• Introduction to landscape ecology
• Landscape elements (e.g. mosaics, corridor and patches)
• Landscape metrics (e.g. spatial pattern metrics)
• Landscape fragmentation, connectivity, scale and hierarchy
• Species population and sampling, and National vegetation classification
• Introduction to point pattern analysis: Ripley’s K Function
• Spatial aggregation

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

• Explain the key elements of a landscape.
• Discuss the importance of scale in landscape ecology related questions.
• Design strategies to quantify spatial patterns, spatial structures, and species at the relevant scales.
• Select the appropriate quantitative methods to test spatial hypotheses, solve problems, inform monitoring programs, and interpret the findings in the context of conservation priorities and conservation law.
• Evaluate monitoring data to guide decision making in ecosystem management.

• Professor Jim Harris

Successful ecological restoration and rehabilitation requires an integrated understanding of the ecological parameters of a site, together with the physical, chemical, and biotic factors that may influence desired outcomes. However, restoration objectives also need appreciation of the historical context of the site, as well as possible social considerations that may limit the desired outcomes. In short ecological restoration is frequently ‘the art of balancing the possible’. This module covers the breadth of considerations required for ecological restoration and gives you the opportunity to undertake analysis of management planning at both site and landscape scales.

• The principles of ecological restoration.
• Abiotic and biotic controls on community composition.
• Practical techniques for effective habitat creation and restoration.
• Habitat management for faunal conservation.
• Effects of changes in climate and land use on conservation practices.
• Habitat case studies; for example wetland, grassland, woodland, heathland, riparian buffer strips.
• Importance of scale for reconstruction of habitats.

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

• Discuss the principles underlying restoration ecology and ecological restoration in local, national and global contexts;
• Identify the environmental and biological controls on plant community composition and ecosystem structure;
• Describe the mechanisms underlying natural successional patterns in vegetation communities, as well as human-induced changes in habitat-type.
• Relate habitat management to ecosystem function.
• At different scales, plan ecosystem creation or restoration based on the biotic and abiotic context of the area.
• Design and assess the feasibility and appropriateness of a habitat restoration scheme.  

• Dr Robert Simmons

The control of water pollution and sedimentation needs to be based on the correct identification of source areas of sediment, a knowledge of the processes by which water and sediment are moved over the land surface, and an understanding of how these processes are affected by the physical environment and socio-economic factors.  Soil conservation can be achieved through within-field and catchment management by targeting erosion control measures at critical locations in the landscape, producing appropriate designs and gaining the support of interested groups and organisations for their implementation.

• Definitions and agents of water and wind erosion
• On and offsite consequences ad impacts of erosion
• Erosion processes: Detachment, entrainment, transport and deposition
• Rainfall erosivity
• Soil erodibility
• Slope and landcover/management factors affecting erosion
• Role of grass roots for erosion control
• Soil compaction and role in runoff generation
• Socio-economic, regulatory and policy contexts of soil erosion control
• Soil conservation approaches including, soil management, agronomic measures, waterway design, cover crops and terraces
• Soil conservation planning integrating technical and consultation-based multi-stakeholder approaches. 

On successful completion of this module you should be able to:

• Describe the processes of soil erosion, and of sediment transport and deposition.
• Define the environmental impacts of soil erosion, and the need for erosion control and soil conservation.
• Evaluate erosion risk at a field and catchment scale and identify potential sources and sinks of sediment.
• Make appropriate decisions on selection of soil conservation approaches to control erosion, based on a fundamental understanding of erosion processes.
• Select appropriate input parameter values to apply erosion models to predict current erosion status and evaluate different conservation measures.
• Design an erosion control strategy for an individual farm, taking account of its location within a catchment and socio-economic conditions.
• Manage a soil conservation project, set by an external client, which requires, using problem solving techniques, writing a consultancy-style report and meeting deadlines set.