Sustainable design and improvement of infrastructure in Greek Mediterranean mountain rangeland
The improvement works of rangelands’ infrastructure contribute to a positively prolong of the utilization of rangelands, increasing income of the communities due to rent increase, producing more healthy livestock products and the stay of the residents in rural mountainous due to the improvement of the income of farmers and the working and living conditions. The environmentally friendly planning and design of an infrastructure work must take into account not only technical or economic parameters but also the influence of the structure (direct or indirect) in the natural and social environment, the functionality and feasibility. The forest technical grassland facilities intended to: maximizing benefits, better protection and exploitation of grassland, the approach of the rangelands, upgrade conditions of stay of stock breeders in the meadows and ensure rapid communication and transportation. This paper deals with the design stages of rangeland Forest Technical installations and through the investigation of one or more alternatives for the required opening up of the area with the rangeland constructions choosing the most appropriate alternative based on technical and financial and environmental criteria.
Configuration of a multicriteria model to estimate the efficiency of irrigation water consumption
The water resources in Mediterranean are under ongoing pressures due to the semi-arid conditions of the region. Irrigated agriculture remains the major consumer of freshwater. It was estimated that more than 70% of irrigation water is considered inefficient due to series of problems. The aim of this paper was the development of a multi-criteria decision-making tool in order to evaluate which factors influenced the water consumption during irrigation in Greek cultivations. It was used both qualitative and quantitative criteria, such as the type of crops, the irrigation methods etc. The potential reduction of water consumption for irrigation will strengthen the development indirectly, through the implementation of sustainable grassland management.
Grazing adjustment as a restoration and conservation measure of Juniperetum excelsae silvopastoral woodlands
The priority habitat type 9562 *Grecian juniper woods (mainly Juniperus excelsa M.-Bieb.) is met in Prespa. These silvopastoral woodlands sustain characteristic floristic and ecological elements, unique in Europe, resulted from the long lasting anthropogenic influence, mostly through the implementation of extensified livestock husbandry. Recently, the habitat type appears signs of degradation due to the outspread of broadleaved woody species. The major goal of the Project LIFE JunEx (Restoration and Conservation of the Priority Habitat Type *9562) is the determination of measures to restore Grecian juniper woods. From the actions foreseen in the Project, the reintroduction of extensive grazing, after selective logging of the woody broadleaved species in a selective corridor (path) holds a prominent position. The purpose of this paper is the organization of grazing activity. It is estimated that the use of forage material in the selective corridor should be made from 744.5 sheep equivalents based on a sustainable management plan. Furthermore, the maintenance of the existing rain tank (95 m3) and the construction of a new one (115 m3) are proposed. Finally the construction of an animal shelter for housing 1000 sheep equivalents is proposed.
Surveying shrublands boundaries using permanent reference stations HEPOS (HEllenic POsitioning System)
The protection of rangeland ecosystems presupposes the boundaries determination of the land they occupy, their recording and their inventory. The Global Positioning System (GPS) contributes to achieving the above purpose. The network of permanent GPS reference stations that developed at global and European level and the implementation of network RTK positioning techniques provide high accuracies in Real-Time positioning. Additional benefits of these developments are the reduction of the time and the cost of surveying. The first Network of Permanent GPS Reference Stations in Greece developed by “Ktimatologio S.A.” company is named HEPOS System (HEllenic POsitioning System). The system provides high accuracy satellite-based positioning services. The aim of the paper is to investigate the positioning accuracy in shrublands boundaries determination using GPS receiver and HEPOS system in real time (Real Time) positioning. The evaluation is carried out by means of a comparison of the results obtained from using the Leica GS09_GNSS receiver and the implementation of RTK techniques Single-Base, VRS and Network DGPS of HEPOS system, with the coordinates extracted from using the total station Leica TRC 407 whose measurements are taken as «true values». The measurements were carried out in the Public Forest of Vertiskos Mountain, manages from the Forest Service of Nigrita Serres and the results of the research shows that the most accurate method is Network DGPS.
Relationship of the structure and pattern of pastoral landscapes with desertification risk
Desertification is a major environmental issue, with profound social and economic implications. It is consider being a part of the evolutionary forces of the planet, which destroys productive areas and threatens traditional landscapes. Mountainous Greece reserves pastoral (traditional) landscapes with steep elevation that are being threatened with collapse when are overgrazed. Research dealing with the study of landscape in relation to desertification threats is rare and for that reason it came as an objective of the study. So the aim of the present study was to investigate the possible relationship between the landscape structure and pattern with desertification risk. Five local communities (Kolchiko, Lofiskos Kryoneri, Exalofos, Ossa) of Lagadas county were chosen as study area, which constitute a typical pastoral landscape of Central Macedonia. Landscape pattern were evaluated with landscape indices (fragmentation, edge, shape, interspersion and diversity metrics). The risk of desertification was evaluated by a simplified version of ESAI (Environmentally Sensitive Area’s Index). According to ESAI, four different types of areas concerning desertification were identified: the critical, the fragile, the potential and the non-threatened. Remote sensing and GIS software (ERDAS Imagine 9.1, FRAGSTATS 3.3 and ArcView 9.3) was used for data processing. The results showed that there is possible correlation between desertification risk and landscape indices measuring fragmentation, Edge Density, Diversity and Interspersion. It is concluded that the previous landscape indices in correlation with ESAI can potentially be used as indicators of desertification risk.
