PRR-C05-i03-I-000081 - BeeLand - Apicultura e Polinização: Impacto na Biodiversidade e Sustentabilidade dos Territórios

Publicações

Integrating Multicriteria Decision Analysis for Beekeeping Suitability: Insights from a Portuguese Honey PDO Landscape

Publication . Silveira, Carlos; Roque, Natália; Leitão, Bruno; Fernandez, Paulo; Anjos, Ofélia; Vilas-Boas, Miguel

Beekeeping plays a vital role in biodiversity conservation and local economy development, as bees are key pollinators of numerous wild plant species and agricultural crops. Accordingly, understanding the suitability of rural territories is essential to provide an overview on bee activity and support the development of more sustainable beekeeping practices. This study presents an enhanced multicriteria approach for mapping beekeeping suitability, applied to a Portuguese region renowned for its honey with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). The methodology integrates topographic, environmental and climatic criteria closely linked to bee ecology, whose relevance was prioritised in each category following expert perceptions and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). For these criteria, high-quality spatial data were compiled and processed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to evaluate landscape favourable conditions and limiting factors for beekeeping. Results indicate a comparable and significant influence of environmental and climatic criteria (43% each) relative to topographic ones (14%). Within each category, hillside exposure (63%), flora (53%) and rainfall (50%) contributions are particularly remarkable in defining the beekeeping suitability. When crossing the final suitability map with the apiary influence range, most apiaries were found in areas classified as very high suitability. This information provides valuable insights for beekeepers and policymakers, helping to optimize the beekeeping management and enhance the honey quality, particularly in PDO areas. Moreover, the proposed approach offers a scalable and adaptable framework that can be applied to other regions with beekeeping potential.Graphical AbstractThis diagram provides a concise overview of the study's core components and methodologies focused on evaluating land suitability for beekeeping. It presents a multicriteria framework developed using analytical and geoprocessing tools (AHP and GIS) and expert perceptions orientated towards mapping beekeeping suitability in a Portuguese region with PDO-certified honey production. To that end, high-quality spatial datasets covering landscape characteristics (i.e., topographic, environmental and climatic criteria) were selected, compiled and analysed for their relative importance in each category. When assigning weightings to each spatially normalised criterion (common scale with values between 0 and 1), the weighted sum result expresses the relative beekeeping suitability within and across the criteria categories. The final suitability map, which represents the weighted sum of the categories, shows a territory of excellence for the development of beekeeping activity, as it almost entirely falls into the high and very high classes. For this output, environmental and climatic categories had a significant and comparable contribution (43% each), whereas hillside exposure (63%), flora (53%) and rainfall (50%) were individually the most influential criteria. By spatially overlaying the final beekeeping suitability with the apiary influence range, it was found that most apiaries are located in areas classified as very high suitability. This integrated approach is therefore a scalable and adaptable decision-support tool to enhance apiary planning and landscape management, helping stakeholders to align ecological potential with sustainable beekeeping practices.

2026Artigo científico

Acesso aberto

Ver mais

Entidade financiadora

European Union

Programa de financiamento

PRR - Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência

Número da atribuição

PRR-C05-i03-I-000081