Spatial prediction of Lactarius deliciosus and Lactarius salmonicolor mushroom distribution with logistic regression models in the Kızılcasu Planning Unit, Turkey.

Integration of non-wood forest products (NWFPs) into forest management planning has become an increasingly important issue in forestry over the last decade. Among NWFPs, mushrooms are valued due to their medicinal, commercial, high nutritional and recreational importance. Commercial mushroom harvesting also provides important income to local dwellers and contributes to the economic value of regional forests. Sustainable management of these products at the regional scale requires information on their locations in diverse forest settings and the ability to predict and map their spatial distributions over the landscape. This study focuses on modeling the spatial distribution of commercially harvested Lactarius deliciosus and L. salmonicolor mushrooms in the Kızılcasu Forest Planning Unit, Turkey. The best models were developed based on topographic, climatic and stand characteristics, separately through logistic regression analysis using SPSS™. The best topographic model provided better classification success (69.3 %) than the best climatic (65.4 %) and stand (65 %) models. However, the overall best model, with 73 % overall classification success, used a mix of several variables. The best models were integrated into an Arc/Info GIS program to create spatial distribution maps of L. deliciosus and L. salmonicolor in the planning area. Our approach may be useful to predict the occurrence and distribution of other NWFPs and provide a valuable tool for designing silvicultural prescriptions and preparing multiple-use forest management plans.