Mapping forest site quality at national level

Abstract

Determining site quality is essential in order to develop sustainable forest management, allowing more appropriate silvicultural decisions to be made. However, most studies carried out in Spain have focused on a few species and at local scale, which makes it difficult to apply the findings or conduct studies at larger scales. The aim of this study is to obtain a site quality map at national scale for the main forest species (Pinus sylvestris, Pinus uncinata, Pinus pinea, Pinus halepensis, Pinus nigra, Pinus pinaster, Pinus canariensis, Pinus radiata, Abies alba, Juniperus thurifera, Quercus robur, Querus petraea, Quercus pyrenaica, Quercus faginea, Quercus ilex, Quercus suber, Populus nigra, Eucalyptus globulus, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Fagus sylvatica, Castanea sativa, Quercus pubescens, Populus × canadensis, Betula alba). National Forest Inventory (NFI) data has been used to develop site quality models using the site form (SF) concept (dominant height- dominant diameter relationship). Universal Kriging techniques have been used to identify both the geographical trend linked to site factors (climatic, soil and physiographic variables) and their spatial autocorrelation to estimate the SF for every species. Finally, the information was interpolated for each tile of the Spanish National Forest Map in which the species considered was present, thus obtaining a SF national map for each species.The results reveal biologically consistent SF models, indicating that both NFI data and SF are suitable for studying site quality at national level. The variables used differ among the species analyzed, altitude being the most important variable for estimating SF models, while aridity and soil variables are less important.The results obtained could provide an important tool for forest managers working at national level with the main forest species in Spain. This methodology could be used for larger areas, such as at European level, and would allow some species to be analyzed at larger scales.