A comparison of multicriteria decision analysis techniques for determining beekeeping suitability

Abstract

Over the past decade, the importance of the beekeeping activities has been emphasized in the field of biodiversity, ecosystems, agriculture, and human health. Thus, deciding correct beekeeping activities seems essential to maintain and improve productivity and efficiency. Due to this importance, considering the economic contributions of beekeeping to the rural area, the need for suitability analysis concept has been revealed. At this point, multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) and geographical information system (GIS) integration provides efficient solutions to the complex structure of decision-making process for beekeeping activities. In this study, site suitability analysis for beekeeping via analytical hierarchy process (AHP), the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), and vise kriterijumska optimizacija I kompromisno resenje (VIKOR) was carried out to increase honey productivity and compare MCDA techniques for Konya city in Turkey. Slope, elevation, aspect, distance to water resources, roads and settlements, precipitation, and flora criteria were included to determine suitability. The requirements, expectations, and limitations of beekeeping activities were specified with the participation of experts and stakeholders. The final suitability maps resulted from each method were validated with existing 117 beekeeping locations and Turkish Statistical Institute 2015 beekeeping statistics for Konya province. Considering existing beekeeper locations, AHP has 82%, VIKOR 88%, and TOPSIS 91% overlapping rates with the suitability maps. According to the correlation R values between total beekeeper count and suitability rates, VIKOR has 0.70, TOPSIS 0.68 and AHP 0.66.

An Easy Mixed-Method Analysis Tool to Support Rural Development Strategy Decision-Making for Beekeeping

“…Beekeeping is an important agricultural activity globally that contributes to sustainable rural area development in two ways-economic (income) support and ecological support from honey bees [1][2][3][4][5].…”

An Application of a Fuzzy TOPSIS Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Algorithm for Dry Bulk Carrier Selection

“…Step 6. Table 10 is derived from the weighted normalized fuzzy decision matrix, normalized fuzzy decision matrix, and fuzzy weights matrix by using Equations ( 17) and (18). Step 7.…”

“…In [17], Python codings for the application of the TOPSIS method are provided. In the literature, there exist several MCDA comparison studies such as [18]. Some studies compare different versions of a method, and others focus on comparing different methods.…”

Spatial differentiation of comprehensive suitability sustainable development for urban human settlements based on GIS：A case study of Liaoning Province, China

“…The spatial layout and development any particular human settlement are constituted by that settlement's unique natural conditions and the subjective initiatives of its founders and inhabitants. Existing research on human settlements mainly explore ve major systems-namely, the natural ecological environment (Cui et al, 2018;Qiu et al, 2019), human culture (Ahamed et al, 2020), social economy (Cui et al, 2018;Yang et al, 2020), living conditions, and architectural supports (Nouri et al, 2017)-and zoom in on select areas with speci c development conditions (Wei et al, 2013;Jiao et al, 2012;Bathrellos et al, 2013), such as special geographical environment regions (Alatawi et al, 2020;Milanesi et al, 2015;Buruso, 2018), natural regions subject to environmental protections, agricultural and animal husbandry cities (Weisong et al, 2019;Sarı et al, 2020), mining cities, and riverside cities or cities located by a lake basin (Casarotto et al, 2019;Chavez-Rosales et al, 2019;Nouri et al, 2017). The spatial scale of this research extends across global, regional, urban, community (Wei et al, 2020), and architectural levels (Jin et al, 2016;Wei et al, 2020;Hou et al, 2016).…”

“…A human settlement is a multi-disciplinary and multi-level surface space system closely connected to human activities (Li et al, 2012). As spaces where human beings live, human settlements are the geographic bases for humans to engage in productive life activities; accordingly, settlements have long attracted widespread attention from geographers, ecosystem scholars, and sociologists (Yang et al, 2018;Sarı et al, 2020;Pourebrahim et al, 2011). Today, the acceleration of urbanization has prompted domestic and foreign scholars to increasingly focus on what makes a human settlement suitable for a good life (Li et al, 2018;Li et al, 2017).…”