title: Mapping the optimal forest road network based on the multicriteria evaluation technique: the case study of Mediterranean Island of Thassos in Greece.
abstract: The sustainable management of forest resources can only be achieved through a well-organized road network designed with the optimal spatial planning and the minimum environmental impacts. This paper describes the spatial layout mapping for the optimal forest road network and the environmental impacts evaluation that are caused to the natural environment based on the multicriteria evaluation (MCE) technique at the Mediterranean island of Thassos in Greece. Data analysis and its presentation are achieved through a spatial decision support system using the MCE method with the contribution of geographic information systems (GIS). With the use of the MCE technique, we evaluated the human impact intensity to the forest ecosystem as well as the ecosystem's absorption from the impacts that are caused from the forest roads' construction. For the human impact intensity evaluation, the criteria that were used are as follows: the forest's protection percentage, the forest road density, the applied skidding means (with either the use of tractors or the cable logging systems in timber skidding), the timber skidding direction, the visitors' number and truck load, the distance between forest roads and streams, the distance between forest roads and the forest boundaries, and the probability that the forest roads are located on sights with unstable soils. In addition, for the ecosystem's absorption evaluation, we used forestry, topographical, and social criteria. The recommended MCE technique which is described in this study provides a powerful, useful, and easy-to-use implement in order to combine the sustainable utilization of natural resources and the environmental protection in Mediterranean ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, Pedion Areos, 38334, Volos, Greece. stampeki@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Stergios
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9563-959X
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tampekis
authors.affiliation: Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, Pedion Areos, 38334, Volos, Greece.
authors.forename: Stavros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sakellariou
authors.affiliation: Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, Pedion Areos, 38334, Volos, Greece.
authors.forename: Fani
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Samara
authors.affiliation: Department of Agriculture Crop Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly, Fytokou Street, N. Ionia, 38446, Volos, Greece.
authors.forename: Athanassios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sfougaris
authors.affiliation: Institute of Forest Sciences, Chair of Forest Operations, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Freiburg, Verfahrenstechnik Werthmannstraße 6, 79085, Freiburg i.Br, Germany.
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jaeger
authors.affiliation: Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, Pedion Areos, 38334, Volos, Greece.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Christopoulou
mesh_terms: D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D016468:Forestry / Q000379:methods; D065928:Forests; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006115:Greece; D008521:Mediterranean Islands; D014186:Transportation
keywords: Environmental impact assessment; Forest road network; GIS; Multicriteria evaluation; Natural resources; Spatial layout