Article

 

DEGRADATION OF MEDITERRANEAN FOREST ECOSYSTEMS AND SILVICULTURAL MEASURES FOR THEIR RESTORATION

by

Ath. Hatzistathis, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki

P. Gkanatsas, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki

T. Tsitsoni, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki

Th. Zagas, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki

JEL classification : Q290

Abstract

Mediterranean ecosystems suffered and suffer a lot from: deforestation, overexploitation, overgrazing, change of land use and wild fires. As it is known in forest ecosystems the cycle of energy’s flow as well as that of the nutrient elements, are strongly interconnected so, with the harvesting of biomass a part of nutrients are removed and lost from the ecosystem. For this reason, we must always remember that the preservation of the ecological balance depends strongly on the amount and the composition of the biomass which we take from the ecosystem. The article demonstrates that the scientific exploitation of forest ecosystems must be based on the principle of sustainability and that this principle presupposes two other principles: a) the principle of preservation of ecological balance of the ecosystem and b) the principle of conservation of soil productivity.