Abstract
Turkey has more than 21.67 million ha forest areas and 10.11 million ha of these forest areas are still degraded or highly degraded in 2012 year. These areas can only be transformed into a productive state with implementation of rehabilitation treatments. Determination of the priority of degraded forest areas for the rehabilitation is important issue and affected by many parameters in Turkey. Some important indicators such as slope, aspect, elevation, social pressure, roads near forest and tree species, were used to determine priority of forest rehabilitation areas by using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). In this study, we developed a spatial database including topographic parameters, forest stand type maps and stand type parameters, forest stratification, roads and settlement areas and its proximity tables with forest stands. Slope, aspect and elevation maps of the study area were created by employing a digital elevation model (DEM) produced from contour curves (10 m height accuracy). The study area is naturally covered by Pinus brutia, Pinus nigra, Abies cilicica, Cedrus libani, Juniperus spp., and Quercus spp., the most widely distributed species in the Mediterranean region. Total degraded forest areas consist of 2.880 sub compartments with 11.363 ha. Finally, we designed a priority map of the forest rehabilitation based on these sub compartments and other indicators by using GIS techniques. It is shown that 6364 ha of degraded forest areas has high priority index value (>=16 and =<19) and 1254 ha of degraded forest areas has very high priority values with higher than 19 priority index value. Key words: Forest rehabilitation, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), forest management plans, Digital Elevation Model (DEM), priority areas, slope, aspect, proximity, degraded forest.
Highlights
IntroductionForest rehabilitation has always been a sophisticated issue based on wood production and ecological and social services of forest areas in Turkey
Instead of forestry depending on only wood production, what is expected as a forestry concept to answer ecologic, economic and social functions in spoiled forest regions is to have maximum benefit from progress and growth energy of current stands, and to make forest areas efficient with rehabilitation requiring less work and costs by preserving current species in the region without
According to the priority index of rehabilitation are asbased on degraded forest stand type map in the 2012, there are four classes: low, medium
Summary
Forest rehabilitation has always been a sophisticated issue based on wood production and ecological and social services of forest areas in Turkey. In Turkey, conifers, broadleaved and mixed area in spoiled forest regions, whichhas no chance of being recovered by natural rejuvenation and silvicultural treatment, and the bare spaces in these forest regions are considered for rehabilitation. In this perspective, forest rehabilitation practices have been applied to large areas and three different pythogeographical regions These treatment operations, purposely, make important contributions to decrease erosion rate, preserve the soil and manage it in a sustainable way, preserve water bodies, prevent sedimentation in dams, lakes and ponds and guarantee water and electricity generation, minimize floods and overflows, especially, minimize the negative effects of climate change and desertification
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