engleski

Possibilities of applying gis in forest ecosystem management

The paper describes the array of applications of a geographical information system (GIS) in forest ecosystem management and their role in rationalising field work, cutting costs and planning future activities more successfully. Research was carried out in lowland forests of pedunculate oak (Quercus robur L.) in the north of Croatia. A global position system (GPS) was used to establish a systematic sample of a 100 x 100 m square network in compartments and subcompartments in the field. The centres of the squares were simultaneously the centres of the plots (circles) where measurements were made. A total of 1, 025 plots were established and 37, 619 trees were measured in the study area. Data were statistically processed with cluster analysis, whose results were used for GIS modelling. Research results showed that GIS can support management planning over smaller areas (1 ha) and determine operations (silvicultural treatments, replanting, felling and others) in each plot separately. Furthermore, dealing with problems using a GIS technology releases forestry experts from routine jobs (manual mapping, constructing new layers from the existing ones and similar) and leaves them with more time for decision making in spatial management and planning.

forest ecosystems; regular oak forests; geographical information system (GIS); cluster analysis; global position system (GPS); planning in forestry

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