Multicriteria evaluation of sensitivity to renaturalisation of black pine reforestations and Turkey oak stands in Tuscany

Abstract

Renaturalisation is a reference approach for the sustainable management of forest ecosystems with simplified structure and composition. Georeferenced information on forest stand sensitivity to renaturalisation is critical to support forest planning in prioritizing this kind of silvicultural interventions on a large scale. In this paper we apply
multicriteria evaluation to assess sensitivity to renaturalisation of black pine refo restations (Pinus nigra Arn.) and Turkey oak (Quercus cerris L.) stands in Tuscany. We use fuzzy membership functions to model sensitivity to renaturalisation with regard to the following factors, mapped by raster GIS layers: i) eco-biological efficiency of forest stands, assessed through an index based on remote sensing data, used to define the degree of silvicultural opportunity of renaturalisation interventions; ii) context factors (adjacency to other forest types and diversity of forest types in the neighborhoods of the examined forest stand), intended as constraints affecting (positively or negatively) silvicultural opportunity; iii) accessibility and size of the examined forest stand, affecting the feasibility of intervention. Single factor fuzzy values are combined by means of a multiplicative function in a synthetic index of sensitivity to localize, on a large scale, priority areas for renaturalisation interventions. Site specific indicators of sensitivity to renaturalisation may help in linking large scale delineation of sensitive areas to the operational planning of silvicultural interventions.