+

The Chair of Amelioration

Chair: The Chair of Amelioration

Head of Chair: Ljubomir Letić

Deputy Head of Chair: Sara Lukić

Chair Secretary: Vesna Nikolić

Chair Development: 

The chair of amelioration is one of 3 Chairs at the Department of Environmental Engineering for soil and water resources protection. Seven members participate in the work of the chair, of which one professor, one associate professor, two assistant professors, 2 teaching assistants and one laboratory technician. The Laboratory for soil quality monitoring and the Center for terrestrial ecosystem critical load assessment are integral parts of this chair.

Teachers and associates of the chair teach in undergraduate and master academic studies, and the teachers actively participate in teaching at doctoral studies. Members of the Chair participate in scientific research and cooperate with numerous institutions and colleagues from home and abroad.

In accordance with the Bologna process, which began at the Faculty of Forestry in Belgrade in 2006/07 with the enrollment of the first generation of students at the undergraduate level, the Chair organizes and conducts classes in 5 compulsory and 4 elective subjects. In master studies within the study program Environmental Engineering for soil and water resources protection in , module 2 – Degradation and protection of soil resources, classes are taught in 3 mandatory and 2 elective subjects of the Chair.

Within different projects the Chair of amelioration is engaged in the study of the following issues: forest and agricultural soils, habitats degraded to different degrees with often extreme environmental conditions, measures and techniques of land reclamation in degraded habitats and selection of species for afforestation, field-protective forest belts and their role in wind erosion control. In addition to studying aquatic ecosystems (water as a biotope) their revitalization and renaturalisation. In the last five years study within the fields at the Chair, are focused on:

–  Determining the  current state, the level of soil pollution, physical and chemical degradation of soils, soil quality, sediment quality, degradation of soil and water as a result of global changes;

–  Research of the impact of air pollution on soil acidification processes and research of the impact of parent rock and plants on the processes of soil acidification;

– Research of the impact of soil moisture regimes on the habitats of hygrophile species in mudflats of large rivers.
           Within the study of natural resources, previous research of the Chair points to the necessity and importance of a more complex study of soil and water (as biotopes) aimed at a more relevant formulation of processes in ecosystems, as well as the development and use of model and further development of high quality databases.

Department of Amelioration of the Faculty of Forestry was established in 1949. According to the 1988 statute the following subjects were developed at the Chair : Forest hydrology, Anti erosion agro-ecosystems (current soil conservation), Forest soil reclamation, Amelioration of agricultural land (the current soil amelioration), Use of water in forest areas and Forest and the environment.

According to the latest accreditation the Chair of Amelioration organizes and implements courses in the following compulsory subjects at the undergraduate level: Forest soil ameliorations 1, Forest soil ameliorations 2, soil amelioration, Use of waters in forest areas, Soil conservation; and elective subjects: Soil physics air pollution and forest soil, Tailings reclamation, Soil and bioengineering techniques.
         In  master studies classes are organized and conducted in the following subjects: Soil and water degradation and global changes, Forest hydrology, Agro-forestry systems, Soil chemistry and the environment, Environmental effects of forest amelioration works.

In  doctoral studies teachers of the Chair participating in the teaching of the following subjects: Methodology of scientific and research work , Pollution, quality and protection of soils  and Phytoremediation and Hydrologic and psamologic effects of erosion control works.

In many years of work of the Chair of Amelioration a whole series of very important projects  have been implemented funded by ministries and economic organizations, so that the results are of great importance and research work got interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary character. Scientific research at the Chair of Amelioration covers many research areas, and some of them are: forest ecosystems and their impact on changes in the environment, research of the effect of erosion processes on the state of soil and vegetation, and sustainable management of soil and water.

The results of research conducted at the Chair of Amelioration are available in the form of published papers, reports and database of stored data. The results are also available in the form of reports, studies and projects carried out in cooperation with economic subjects.

In the period from 1978 to 1989 studies of ecosystems disturbance and environmental degradation were conducted at the Chair. Then, from 1991 to 2001 studied issues were forest ecosystems in terms of the impact of air polluters on forest ecosystems and the importance of forest ecosystems for the preservation of basic natural resources in Serbia as well as study of the improvement of their protective and regulatory functions.

After 2001, the research work has been characterized by two groups of projects: projects of national programs and projects of technological development. In the group of projects in the field of technological development research has been focused on the solving of current problems in controlling degradation and mitigation of its consequences, which should significantly contribute to the improvement of production, economic benefits and advanced theoretical and material basis for improving the state of forests and forest plantations.