《land suitability for short rotation coppices》.pdfVIP

Chapter 11 Land Suitability for Short Rotation Coppices Assessed through Fuzzy Membership Functions Piermaria Corona, Riccardo Salvati, Anna Barbati and Gherardo Chirici Abstract In the land planning process, land suitability can be regarded as a bridg- ing phase linking land resources assessment to the decision-making process. The inherent conflicts and the complex network of socio-economical and ecological con- straints affecting land use planning call for a flexible decision-making support tool able to incorporate multiple evaluation criteria, including several stakeholders point of views. Land suitability gives transparent indications to decision-makers concern- ing land uses which can be sustainable fostered in the land under consideration, allowing areas to be ranked according to their degree of suitability for a specific land use. The resulting maps lend efficient support to negotiation when addressing issues of sustainable development as well as economic competitiveness. Within this framework this paper aims to: (i) outline relevant LSA experiences, with a distinc- tive focus on MCE GIS-based techniques; (ii) present a case study of MCE applying fuzzy modelling to predict the productive response of land when afforested with target forest plantation species. Drawing from the case study experience, the MCE proved to be a valuable tool for decision-making (i.e. to quantify on a broad scale land physical suitability for an expansion of SRF plantations for energy biomass production in Italy). 11.1 Introduction Land evaluation is a powerful tool to support decision-making in land use planning: it deals with the assessment of the (most likely) response of land when used for specified purposes; it requires the execution and interpretation of surveys of climate, soil, vegetation and other aspects of land in terms of the requirements of alternative forms of land use. Land suitability assessment (LSA) can be regarded as a specific case of la