Abstract

DIAS, Susana Saraiva; FERREIRA, Alfredo Gonçalves  and  GONCALVES, Ana Cristina. Definition of Aptitude Areas for Forest Species as a Function of Edapho-Climatic Characteristics. Silva Lus. [online]. 2008, vol.16, n.Especial, pp.17-35. ISSN 0870-6352.

The species ecological-cultural characteristics give indications of their adaptability for different edafo-climatic conditions. In classical silviculture, aptitude is defined by the site quality index, according to the forest stands. The methodology presented in this article has the main goal of defining the aptitude areas, for different species, only as a function of the ecologico-cultural characteristics of the species and the edafo-climatic characteristics of the site, enhancing its use independently of the presence of forest stands. The definition of potential aptitude areas allows the detailed characterisation and evaluation, in terms of biophysical aptitude, giving an important contribution to the process of decision making. On the other hand, the implemented spatial analysis processes constitute an innovative contribution, in a perspective of biophysical evaluation of forest aptitude scenarios and of effective operationalisation of a wide set of information with an high level of geographical detail. In this paper the areas of potential aptitude were calculated for the five most representative species, in terms of area, for Alto Alentejo, namely cork oak, holm oak, umbrella pine, maritime pine and eucalyptus.

Keywords : potential aptitude; forest species; GIS; site quality index.

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