Land Reclamation and Restoration MSc

• Dr Paul Burgess

Human population growth and increased resource use per capita is placing unsustainable demands on the global ecosystem. This module explores sustainability using three approaches.  The “Ecosystem Service” approach provides a framework for society to address key environmental issues such as food production, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, and water use.  The “Circular Economy” approach refers to the development of “restorative” industrial systems that are grounded on the lessons of non-linear, feedback-rich ecosystems.  The third approach is to explore the nexus between renewable energy, food, and other ecosystem services using per capita energy and food consumption. This module introduces and critiques the three approaches and examines their application to resolve real-world problems and create commercial opportunities.  

• Moving from an “Empty World” to a “Full World”
• The Ecosystem Service Approach (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and UK National Ecosystem Assessment)
• Ecosystem processes and succession; the role of energy; feedback systems; biodiversity and system restoration
• Using an ecosystem approach: quantifying trade-offs and synergies; improving water and nutrient management, reducing greenhouse gases emissions, enhancing stability, resistance and resilience
• Introduction to the circular economy: opportunities for businesses; opportunities for consumers
• How design, manufacturing practice and management can contribute to a circular economy
• Case study: trade-offs, synergies, and opportunities to enhance well-being and ecosystem service provision in terms of energy, food, feed and wood for a case study area.

• Critique the “ecosystem services”, “circular economy”, and “per capita energy use” approaches
• Critique associated terms such as “human well-being”, “sustainability”, and “biodiversity”.
• Explain the role of energy and feed-back systems in natural systems
• Explain how an ecosystem service approach can help society to identify and make decisions regarding the use of ecological resources, with a focus on biodiversity, greenhouse gases, nutrient loss, and water use.
• Explain how we can enhance the stability, resistance and resilience of natural systems.
• Explain how the “circular economy” provides commercial opportunities
• Explain how industrial activities such as design and manufacturing can promote a circular economy
• Use a per capita approach to explore the synergies between food, feed, wood, and renewable energy production to guide decision making and identify opportunities in the context of a case-study.

• Tim Brewer

Geographical Information Systems (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 other modules and their 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 a student should be able to:

• Describe 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 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 and landscape restoration 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 and water resource management affect the soil functions related to food production, water quality issues and land restoration.

• Soil functions and ecosystem goods and services
• Plant responses to solar radiation, temperature, drought and aeration stress
• Water potential, flow and rates of movement and infiltration; water release characteristics
• Soil texture, 3-phase soil model, bulk density, soil moisture content, porosity
• Soil chemistry: pH, CEC, salinity and the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles
• Soil biology: diversity, and functional importance
• Soil sampling and soil diversity in the field and landscape (LRR)
• Agricultural soil management, diffuse pollution and soil erosion (EWM)
• Land capability for agricultural production, inputs and yields (FCS).

• Describe the role of soil systems in the context of soil functions and ecosystem services
• Explain the principal responses of plants to solar radiation, temperature, drought and aeration stress
• Quantify key soil physical properties (i.e. soil texture and structure, bulk density, porosity and volumetric and gravimetric water content)
• Explain the transport of water and gases through soil
• Assess the role and contribution of soils in nutrient cycling
• Describe the main classes of organisms in soil and their functional importance in soil systems
• Evaluate the impact of land management on soil functions for agricultural production (FCS), water quality and regulation (EWM) and land restoration (LRR).

Land restoration and reclamation practices in relation to soil tillage, traction and soil compaction must be grounded on an understanding of 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 land management in land restoration and reclamation
• Basics of soil mechanics: shear strength of soil & Mohr-Coulomb equation, effect of texture, moisture content and density on soil strength; Bearing capacity theory; Soil plasticity, Consistency and Atterberg limits
• Mechanics, assessment and alleviation of soil compaction
• Soil loosening - restoration: case study
• Basic soil implement mechanics; choice of implements for particular operations
• Microbiological, chemical and physical changes in soil during storage
• Risk assessment and treatment of contaminated land (workshop)
• 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.

On successful completion of this module the student will be able to:

• Understand the principles of soil strength/failure and apply this to the physical management of soil
• Understand issues of soil stability and plasticity
• Quantify soil compaction and devise 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 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.

• Deeks, Dr Lynda L.K.

Improvement of land quality and the reclamation of degraded land are needed to ensure the sustainable delivery of ecosystem goods and services. Landscapes can be engineered to deliver these services by application of a base understanding of fundamental environmental properties and interrelationships of soil, vegetation and water. This understanding is grounded in basic soil physics, hydrology, hydraulics, geotechnics and agronomy. Land managers and engineers can design and implement appropriate land, water and vegetation management through interventions such as drainage, soil conservation, slope stabilisation and irrigation. This understanding and skills set are also the basis for management of projects involving land forming, reclamation, restoration and protection, which require selection, design, engineering and maintenance of appropriate structures.

• Managing plant and soil water status through estimates of crop water requirements; development of field water budget. Evapotranspiration, drainage, runoff, seepage, soil water storage, and capillary rise
• Concept of land capability and land quality, criteria used for assessing land capability and its classification. USDA scheme, Canadian Land Inventory.
• Slope stability; mechanisms of slope failure. The stability of shallow slope failures, Taylor’s stability numbers.
• Landscape design, land forming, earth moving and landscape modification. Top and sub soil management and vegetation establishment. Design of earth embankment storage dams.
• Hydrology; peak and catchment yield, design of runoff
• Hydraulics calculation of channel discharge capacity using Manning‟s Equation (and others). The design of channels, waterways weirs, spillways, culverts and control structures
• Drainage; drainage machinery selection and performance, types of drainage problems and their recognition. Design for water table control: use of Hooghoudt and Glover Dumm equations and the Ernst equation for sub irrigation design; the Miers approach; practical issues of drainage design: selection of materials, drainage maintenance, pipe surround, backfill and pipe sizing
• Managing plant and soil water status through estimates of crop water requirements; development of field water budget. Evapotranspiration, drainage, runoff, seepage, soil water storage, and capillary rise
• Crop responses to salinity and sodicity; management of saline and sodic soils; the leaching process.

• Explain the concept of land capability and carry out land capability classification.
• Calculate the stability of slopes and design of simple support
• Design, specify, handling soil and set out earthworks for landforming, landscaping and water storage.
• Calculate runoff and yield for catchment
• Design channels/ waterways and simple hydraulic structures.
• Design appropriate water table control systems for drainage and sub irrigation
• Specify appropriate machinery and mechanisation for drainage installation and maintenance
• Irrigation design and estimation of crop water requirements and soil water deficits in different environments
• Calculate leaching requirements for saline and sodic soil conditions.

• Dr Ronald Corstanje

Landscape ecology emphasises 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 students 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 a student 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.

• 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 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.

• Run-off and sediment production in drainage basins; erosion processes - mechanics of raindrop splash, overland flow, rill flow, gully erosion; sediment delivery to water bodies; strategies for erosion control
• Rainfall erosivity
• Soil erodibility
• Soil loss prediction: USLE; Modified MMF; SERAM-DST
• Land use planning
• Soil conservation planning integrating technical and consultation-based multi-stakeholder approaches
• Soil erosion control by engineering structures (terraces and waterways), agronomic methods on arable and grassland, soil management, including conservation tillage techniques; agroforestry; gully erosion control.

• 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 in a catchment and identify potential sources and sinks of sediment.
• Make appropriate decisions on erosion control, based on a fundamental understanding of the 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.
• Gain experience of managing a soil conservation project, set by an external client, which requires, using problem solving techniques, writing a consultancy-style report and meeting deadlines set.

• Professor Jim Harris

Successful ecological restoration 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 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
• Contaminated land and remediation technologies
• Contaminated land issues and market size
• Importance of scale for reconstruction of habitats.

On successful completion of this module a student should be able to:

• Understand 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
• Evaluate suitable technologies for the remediation of different types of contaminated land
• 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.