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Copyright of Journal of Agriculture & Nature / Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Tarım & Doğa Dergisi is the property of Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam Universitesi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Monitoring and understanding of ecosystem dynamics is essential for sustainable management of forest ecosystems. This study investigates the effects of afforestation activities and population factors on spatio-temporal changes of forest ecosystems. Geographic Information System was used to assess temporal and spatial changes between 2002 and 2014 in the Elmalar forest planning unit, located around the eastern Mediterranean city of Kahramanmaraş, Turkey. The results indicated that total forest area increased by 2,279 hectares during the 12-year period with a 20 % cumulative improvement of the forested area. The increase in the productive and total forest areas can be attributed to the afforestation activities carried out in the study area. Notably, with the Green Belt Afforestation Project of GDF carried out in the Elmalar forest planning unit, 1,574 hectares of non-forest areas were afforested which contributed to an increase in total forest areas. Forest areas converted to non-forest area were less compared to forest increased. Increased population growth, internal migrations and resettlements within the study area are the primary reasons for expansion of residential areas, which lead to increased pressure on forest resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

City of Gaziantep, which has many economic, industrial, and social attractions in its region, has witnessed a rapid growth in the last two decades. A spatial modeling system that could provide regional assessments of future development and explore the potential impacts of different regional management scenarios would be useful for the future health of the cities. Therefore, SLEUTH Model was used in this study. SLEUTH is a pixel-based cellular automaton model which has been applied to several cities worldwide and has also been applied to the city of Gaziantep. The model was calibrated using historic time series of built-up areas derived from remote sensing imagery, and future growth was simulated for the year 2040 predicting three different policy scenarios: (1) unmanaged growth with no restrictions on environmental areas such as agriculture and forest, (2) managed growth with moderate protection, and (3) managed growth with maximum protection on environmental areas. The results showed that fertile agricultural land is the most affected natural resource in Gaziantep. 14.300 ha of agricultural land is predicted to be lost by the year 2040 with the unmanaged growth scenario, however, about 8.000 ha of that is predicted to be protected with managed growth scenario in Gaziantep. Finally, it's aimed that the results would be of great potential use for the planners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses GIS to describe and evaluate forest fire risk considering the most important factors affecting fire behavior at fine scales. The study was implemented in Yeşilova Forestry Enterprise in the Mediterranean city of Kahramanmaraş, Turkey. To determine an overall fire risk index for the study area, fire risk rating (extreme, high, moderate, or low) was assigned to decision variables (i.e. species composition, stand development stage, stand crown closure, slope, insolation, settlements, and roads) according to their risk potentials. Additionally, the visibility analysis of fire towers was carried out for monitoring of forests in the case study area. Finally, visibility analysis and a forest fire risk map were evaluated together for determining the efficiency of fire towers. Results indicated that more than half of the total forested area (65.7%) was classified as low category in the fire risk map. According to visibility analysis, the existing fire tower was able to monitor only 37% of forest areas; therefore, it was essential to consider new fire towers for monitoring the overall study area. After locating a potential new fire tower in the study area, it was found that about 71.8% of the area was with the visible zones of two fire towers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]