The concept of landscape structure, forest continuum and connectivity as a support in urban forest management and landscape planning

Pirnat, Janez (author), Hladnik, David (author)

Close-to-nature urban forests and remnants of natural vegetation represent an important opportunity for urban residents to experience daily perception of and access to the natural environment. Despite there being a high percentage of forest cover (59%) and a favorable structure of the prevailing forested landscapes in Slovenia, urban expansion and infrastructure-driven development has severely weakened the connectivity and conservation of urban and suburban forests. The majority of urban settlements lie within walking distance of the surrounding forests (<1 km). However, only close-to-nature forests with relatively low silvicultural inputs offer ecosystem services sufficient to fulfil the supply and demand of the expanding urban population. In order to estimate the conservation of forests in the open space of Slovenian settlements, we used a spatial model of landscape structure and forest connectivity. The model can be enhanced with patterns of corridors and stepping stones of natural vegetation in the landscape matrix to provide support in the decision-making process of landscape planning and the conservation of urban and suburban forests.

• Language: English
• Keywords: urban expansion, landscape structure, spatial model, conservation of forests
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2018
• Number of pages: 14 str.
• Numbering: Vol 9, iss. 10, art. 584
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-114179
• UDC: 630*922.2
• ISSN on article: 1999-4907
• DOI: 10.3390/f9100584
• COBISS.SI-ID: 5189542
• Publication date in RUL: 19.02.2020

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Forests
• Shortened title: Forests
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 1999-4907
• COBISS.SI-ID: 3872166

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.
• Licensing start date: 01.10.2018

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: urbanizacija, krajinska zgradba, prostorski model, ohranjanje gozdov

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: P4-0059
• Name: Gozd, gozdarstvo in obnovljivi gozdni viri

• Funder: Other - Other funder or multiple funders
• Funding programme: Pahernik Foundation