The Assessment of Favourability and Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of Pinus Mugo in the Romanian Carpathians Using GIS Technology and Landsat Images

Abstract

Favourability classification for forest species represents a fundamental activity for deriving technological solutions in forestry, as specialists need detailed information about the ecological requirements of forest species from environmental factors: climate, pedological characteristics and morphometric characteristics of the study area. The purpose of the present study was the use of the qualitative data extracted from the ecological records of the Pinus mugo species and the generation of a complex geospatial database for the entire territory of Romania. The results were represented by a collection of thematic maps generated on favourability classes for the Romanian Carpathians, as well as for the major landform subunits which had been the basis for the statistical analysis of the results. The validation of the results was performed by comparing the results obtained through the application of the model which used the frequency points reported in the European Atlas of the Forest Tree Species from Europe, 2016. In order to identify the spatio-temporal dynamics, LANDSAT satellite images from 30 years were used, which enabled the identification of the expansion and the reduction in size of the Pinus mugo area at a zonal level, a process which is dependent on natural factors, like climatic variations, or anthropic factors (overgrazing or works of cleaning the montain pastures).