Monitoring forest structure at landscape level: a case study of Scots pine forest in NE Turkey

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the change in spatial-temporal configuration of secondary forest succession and generate measurements for monitoring the changes in structural plant diversity in Yalnizçam Scots pine forest in NE Turkey from 1972 to 2005. The successional stages were mapped using the combination of Geographic Information System (GIS), Global Positioning System (GPS), aerial photos and high resolution satellite images (IKONOS). Forest structure and its relationship with structural plant diversity along with its changes over time were characterized using FRAGSTATS. In terms of spatial configuration of seral stages, the total number of fragments increased from 572 to 735, and mean size of patch (MPS) decreased from 154.97 ha to 120.60 ha over 33 years. The situation resulted in forestation serving appropriate conditions for plant diversity in the area. As an overall change in study area, there was a net increase of 1823.3 ha forest during the period with an average annual forestation rate of 55.25 ha year(-1) (0.4% per year). In conclusion, the study revealed that stand type maps of forest management plans in Turkey provide a great chance to monitor the changes in structural plant diversity over time. The study further contributes to the development of a framework for effective integration of biodiversity conservation into Multiple Use Forest Management (MUFM) plans using the successional stages as a critical mechanism.

Spatio-Temporal Dynamics in Land Use and Habitat Fragmentation within a Protected Area Dedicated to Tourism in a Sudanian Savanna of West Africa

“…Consequently, landscape metrics are widely used in the literature to study large natural areas, forest dynamics, natural parks or urban expansion among others (Baskent & Kadiogullari, 2007;Pôças et al, 2011;Terzioğlu et al, 2009). These metrics can be derived for one of three levels: patch level (defined for individual patches), class level (characteristics of all patches in a given class), and landscape level (integrated over all patch types or classes over the extent of the data).…”

Evaluation of forest cover change using remote sensing techniques and landscape metrics in Moncayo Natural Park (Spain)

“…These metrics display numerical information about landscape composition, configuration and dimension as well as allow comparisons of different times and even help to recreate future scenarios (Vila, Varga, Llaus as, & Palom, 2006). Consequently, landscape metrics are widely used in literature to study large natural areas, forest evolution, natural parks or urban expansion among others (Baş kent & Kadıo gulları, 2007;Çakır et al, 2008;Keles et al, 2008;Terzio glu et al, 2009).…”

“…Several studies evidence the value of these indices for the evaluation of protected areas, Mediterranean forests and mountainous areas (Bracchetti, Carotenuto, & Catorci, 2012;Cohen, Varga, Vila, & Barrussaud, 2011;Geri, Rocchini, & Chiarucci, 2010;Lasanta et al, 2006;Pelorosso, Della Chiesa, Tappeiner, Leone, & Rocchini, 2011). In this context, many studies using remote sensing techniques and landscape ecology metrics can be found in the literature (Baş kent & Kadıo gulları, 2007;Çakır et al, 2008;Keles et al, 2008;Pôças, Cunha, Marcal, et al, 2011;Teixido, Quintanilla, Carreño, & Guti errez, 2010;Terzio glu, Baş kent, & Kadıo gulları, 2009).…”

Analysis of Land Use Change and Forestation in Response to Demographic Movement and Reduction of Forest Crime

“…In these studies, land-use/land-cover change (Sancar et al,. 2009;Özen Turan et al, 2010;Şen et al, 2015), forest dynamics (Başkent & Kadıoğulları, 2007;Günlü et al, 2009;Kadıoğulları, 2013;Padilla et al, 2010;Kadıoğulları et al, 2014), forest succession (Terzioğlu et al, 2009;Terzioğlu et al, 2010), spatial changes of land-cover types (Özen Turan et al, 2010;Paudel & Yuan, 2012;Meneses et al, 2017), population growth (Bewket, 2002), pasturing (Calvas et al, 2013), urbanization (Dewan et al, 2012;Alphan & Nil, 2016;Alphan, 2017) and global market forces (Beilin et al, 2014) have all been examined by researchers. In these studies, many references such as satellite images and forest-management plan maps have been used.…”