International cooperation for modeling Pinus

brutia

forests in Syria

Zuheir Shater , Timo Pukkala, Bassel Kraid, Sergio DeMeguil, Marc Palahi

Coniferous forests occupy about 145.000 ha in Syria, concentrated particularly in the Baer-Bassit and AlForoloq region in the coastal mountains.

The stands are quite varied as to age, structure and stand conditions.

Pinus brutia is the main species in Syrian forests and it is accompanied by many trees and shrubs, according to local ecological conditions

These pine forests are found essentially in the humid, subhumid and semi-arid bioclimatic zones.They are very important for their economic, environmental, social and touristic values.Sustainable development of forests and its multiple socio-economic, cultural, and environmental values involve maintaining indefinitely, the productive and renewable capacities, as well as the diversity of the forest ecosystems, precious natural heritage of the long history of the forest vegetation in the region, during the past millennia.

There is a need in the Syrian situation of the forests for explicit attention to those huge areas where the forests are disappearing as a result of clearing for agriculture, where excessive grazing is preventing natural regeneration of trees or where cutting and forest fires are leading to the degradation or disappearance of woodlands.

It is precisely in these forest areas, that the need for sustainable management of the remaining forests is urgent

Project1: INNOVATIVE AND INTEGRATED

APPROACHES, METHODS AND TOOLS FOR MEDITERRANEAN FOREST ECOSYSTEMS

MANAGEMENT

DEVELOPMENT OF SKILLS AND TOOLS FOR THE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT AND

PRESERVATION OF FORESTRY RESOURCES AND THE REVITALISATION OF RURAL

COMMUNITIES IN SYRIA AND LEBANON

OBJECTIVESTo develop some scientific tools for the establishment and planning of the sustainable forest management strategy through:1) Generating new information on the composition, structure and dynamics of the forest systems by means of the application of modern skills of inventory and forest modeling2) Developing tools of support to the forest management in Syria

3) Improving the capacities of the governmental entities responsible for forest planning, conservation and management

4) Sensitize the rural populations on the importance of the conservation of the forest resources and management as well as its sustainable use

Plots Selection

64 plots were measured in the coastal mountains where most P. brutia forests of the country can be found.

19 plots were measured for stand age and dominant height to complement the data (stand age - dominant height)

The plots are spread all over the coastal mountains of Syria

•Location and distribution of the plots:

The plot selection was done according to :

Dominance of Pinus brutia

Homogeneity of the trees in terms of height and age

Density of the plot

The selected stands cover different ages, sites and densities:

Plots in good sites capturing different ages and densitiesPlots in bad sites capturing different ages and densitiesPlots in different intermediate sites capturing different ages and densities

circular sample plots

The plot radius varied depending on the stand density.

Around 50 to 75 trees were measured in most plots.

The selected plots should have been spared any human interference (i.e. pruned or damaged by fires) for the past ten years.

Measured variables

Tree diameter at breast height; radial growth of one or two past 10-year periods; tree height of 11 sample trees; age of 5 dominant trees; bark thickness of 11 sample trees.

Measured variables

Tree diameter at breast height; radial growth of one or two past 10-year periods; tree height of 11 sample trees; age of 5 dominant trees; bark thickness of 11 sample trees.

UTM coordinates of the plot centre. 1st tree azimuth and first tree distance ElevationSlope and exposition (aspect)Parent rock type and soil depth

Plot No. Radius NoGrPer Xcenter Ycenter Elev Aspect Slope %

54 11 2 771080 3972200 590 35 16

1stTrAzi 1stTrDist cm MainSpe

230 50 1

Soil Type Soil depth 1 Soil depth 2 Soil depth 3 Soil depth 4 Soil depth 5

10 14 16 33 12 30

Date: 03/06/2008

Nro Spe D H Id1-10 Id11-20 Bark Age

cm m mm mm mm years

14805 1 28.2 0 9 18 0 014806 1 25 0 6 13 0 014807 1 8.5 5.7 7 14 4 014808 1 23.5 12.1 7 13 17 014809 1 14.8 0 5 12 0 014810 1 24.6 0 11 23 0 014811 1 15 0 6 14 0 014812 1 16.1 0 11 20 0 014813 1 25.8 11.6 9 22 29 014814 1 29.2 0 18 33 0 014815 1 19 0 12 26 0 014816 1 18.6 0 11 21 0 014817 1 22 0 11 21 0 014818 1 32.5 13.4 19 33 25 6814819 1 16.4 0 10 21 0 014820 1 19.5 0 13 25 0 014821 1 11.9 0 11 22 0 014822 1 18.8 0 10 19 0 014823 1 20.7 0 6 15 0 014824 1 24.4 0 9 13 0 014825 1 17.3 0 6 12 0 014826 1 9.3 8.3 7 20 18 014827 1 10.9 0 7 13 0 0

Municipality: Mahmiee2

Description:

Models

Model for dominant heightModel for diameter incrementHeight modelSelf-thinning modelTree volume model

Model for dominant height

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

0 20 40 60 80 100

Age (years)

Dom

inan

t hei

ght (

m)

Hg=18.299(1-e-0.080T)1.976

Model for diameter increment

id : 10-year diameter increment (cm)G : stand basal area (m2/ha)BAL : basal area of trees larger than the subject tree (m2/ha)

SI : site indexSlo : steepness of the slope (%),

Asp : aspect in radians d :breast height diameter (cm).

ln(id) = -1.793 -0.0221G -0.0183BAL +1.387ln(SI)-0.0545 ln(Slo+1)cos(Asp) -0.0630ln(d)

(R2) : 0.446 ; (SDR): 0.573

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

0 10 20 30

Site index, m

10-y

ear g

row

th, c

m

NorthEastWestSoluth

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

0 20 40 60 80Diameter, cm

10-y

ear g

row

th, c

m

NorthEastWestSoluth

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

0 10 20 30 40

BAL, m2/ha

10-y

ear g

row

th, c

m

NorthEastWestSoluth

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

0 10 20 30 40

Basal area, m2/ha

10-y

ear g

row

th, c

m

NorthEastWestSoluth

Height model

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

0 10 20 30 40 50 60Diameter, cm

Hei

ght,

m

Ddom=16cm,Hdom=10mDdom=25cm,Hdom=16mDdom=45cm,Hdom=25m

h = Hdom×(d/Ddom) 0.543-0.230d/Ddom

(R2) : 0.862 ; (SDR): 2.12

Self-thinning model

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

0 10 20 30 40

Mean diameter, cm

Num

ber o

f tre

es p

er h

a (N

max

)

SI=10mSI=15mSI=20mSI=25m

ln(Nmax) = 10.824 -1.828ln(Dmean)+0.656ln(SI)

(R2) : 0.924 ; (SDR): 0.169

Tree volume

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

0 20 40 60 80Diameter, cm

Vol

ume,

m3

H = 8mH =16mH =24m

v = 0.0000383d 1.976 h 0.952 (R2) : 0.992v = 0.0000304d 2.852 (R2) : 0.957

Use of the models in simulation

The models were used to simulate the development of Pinus brutia stands in Syria

Input data: tree diameters (d)dominant height (Hdom) stand age (T)

Next steps

2nd phase of the project: Development of skills and tools for the sustainable management and preservation of forestry resources and the revitalization of rural communities in Syria and Lebanon

Pinus brutia model joining data from EasternMediteranean countries