Mapping the Climatic Suitability for Olive Groves in Greece

Oliviculture constitutes a fundamental Mediterranean rural activity and predominantly for Greece as it primarily accounts for the country’s substantial socio-economic development. Even though the olive tree represents one of the best acclimated species, its overall performance may be significantly impacted by changes of the climate expressed by the extreme weather conditions commonly observed in recent decades. Thus, by considering the lack of scientific detection on the climate suitability evaluation of the olive groves especially over the entire Greek territory, a conjunction between the geomorphological parameters’ mapping of Greece (altitude, aspect, slope and terrain roughness) and the respective required atmospheric conditions mandatory for the olive’s qualitative and quantitative attribution (temperature, precipitation, frost days) has been performed. Every parameter is reclassified to translate its value to a score, and the final suitability map is the outcome of the aggregation of all score maps. Individually, the overall geomorphological and climate suitability for oliviculture is high in Greece given the extensive area resulting as optimal geomorphological and climatic conditions (34.44% and 59.4%, respectively) and overall optimal pedoclimatic conditions (56.61%) for oliviculture. The model maybe characterized by simplicity, usability, flexibility and efficiency. The present modelling procedure may constitute means for identifying suitable areas for sustainable and productive development of the olive culture.