| Abstract: | Biodiversity refers to the variety and variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes in which they occur. The importance of biodiversity has been conceptually well recognized in plantation forestry. Even if stress of biodiversity varies according to the forest plantation use, cautious adjustments of standard planning and cultivation techniques oriented to biodiversity can generally give significant benefits, not only in terms of plantation sustainability and stability, but also in terms of landscape enhancement and maintenance of ecotope productivity. In this perspective, basic and operational aspects of introducing biodiversity ideas into forest plantation planning, establishment and management are discussed, underlying that afforestation may represent a useful means of enhancing biodiversity within the northern Meditteranean landscapes, both on chorological and topologic scales. |
