Wetland loss under the impact of agricultural development in the Sanjiang Plain, NE China

Wetland loss has been the major environmental problem in Sanjiang Plain, NE China in recent years because of the dramatic agricultural development. We determined the spatial associations of the wetland loss rates in an 11,000-km² study area for two intervals of period 1 (1975–1989) and period 2 (1989–2004) spanning 30 years by using geographic information systems. The landscape of this area was simple with five categories, composed of ten types, and including three natural wetland types—open water, marsh, and wet meadow. Extensive agriculture was the principal cultivation form in terms of large size farm units in the area. Agriculture has become the principal land use category replacing natural wetlands over the 30-year period. It has changed the whole landscape of the region and the landscape pattern, causing wetland loss and fragmentation. The wetland loss rate of the area was very different between the two intervals, while wetland loss was not uniform throughout the region and was influenced by the landscape characteristics, such as topography, geomorphology, and the location of the wetlands in the watershed. Despite the remarkable land use changes, the wetlands distribution in the landscapes was similar compared to their original pattern. These results indicated that agricultural development affected the areas more than the distribution pattern of the wetlands in this region.     

Land-Cover Changes and Its Impacts on Ecological Variables in the Headwaters Area of the Yangtze River, China

Land cover changes affect ecological landscape spatial pattern, and evolving landscape patterns inevitably cause an evolution in ecosystem functionality. Various ecological landscape variables, such as biological productivity (plant biomass and stock capacity), soil nutrients (organic matter and N content) and water source conservation capacity are identified as landscape function characteristics. A quantitative method and digital model for analyzing evolving landscape functionality in the headwaters areas of the Yangtze River, China were devised. In the period 1986–2000, patch transitions of the region's evolving landscapes have been predominantly characterized by alpine cold swamp meadow, with the highest coverage tending to be steppified meadow or steppe, and desertification landscape such as sand and bare rock land expansion. As the result of such changes, alpine swamp areas decreased by 3.08 × 10³ km² and the alpine cold sparse steppe and bare rock and soil land increased by 6.48 × 10³ km² and 5.82 × 10³ km², respectively. Consequently, the grass biomass production decreased by 2627.15 Gg, of which alpine cold swamp meadows accounted for 55.9% of this loss. The overall stock capacity of the headwaters area of the Yangtze River decreased by 920.64 thousand sheep units, of which 502.02 thousand sheep units decreased in ACS (Alpine cold swamp) meadow transition. Soil organic matter and N contents decreased significantly in most alpine cold meadow and swamp meadow landscape patches. From 1986 to 2000 the total losses of soil organic matter and total N in the entire headwaters region amounted to 150.2 Gkg and 7.67 Gkg. Meanwhile, the landscape soil water capacity declined by 935.9 Mm³, of which 83.9% occurred in the ACS meadow transition. In the headwater area of the Yangtze River, the complex transition of landscape resulted in sharp eco-environmental deterioration. The main indication for these changes involved the intensity of the climate in this region is becoming drier and warmer, resulting in a gradual degradation of the permafrost.     

Supplementing Land-Use Statistics with Landscape Metrics: Some Methodological Considerations

Landscape monitoring usually relies on land-use statistics whichreflect the share of land-sue/land cover types. In order tounderstand the functioning of landscapes, landscape pattern mustbe considered as well. Indicators which address the spatialconfiguration of landscapes are therefore needed. Thesuitability of landscape metrics, which are computed from thetype, geometry and arrangement of patches, is examined. Two casestudies in a surface mining region show that landscape metricscapture landscape structure but are highly dependent on the datamodel and on the methods of data analysis. For landscape metricsto become part of policy-relevant sets of environmentalindicators, standardised procedures for their computation fromremote sensing images must be developed.     

The land ecological evolutional patterns in the source areas of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers in the past 15 years, China

Based on land ecological classification of the source regions of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers and field investigation, two phases of TM remote sensing data obtained in 1986 and 2000 were compared. From spatial variations and type transformation trends, the spatial changes and evolutional patterns of land ecosystem in the source regions of the two rivers were analyzed using the analytical method of landscape ecological spatial patterns. Results show that middle and high-cover high-cold steppe areas degraded considerably by 15.82%, high-cover high-cold meadow areas by 5.15%, while high-cold swamp meadow areas decreased by 24.36%. Lake water area was reduced by 7.5%, especially the lakes in the source region of the Yangtze River. Land desertification is developing rapidly and the average of desertified land area has increased by 17.11%. Desertified land in the source region of Yellow River is expanding at an annual rate of 1.83%. Analysis of the evolutional pattern of land ecotypes shows that the general tendencies of spatial evolution in the regions are coverage reduction and desertification of high-cold steppe, cover reduction and steppification of high-cold meadows, and desiccation of swamp meadows. As a result, land ecological spatial distribution pattern in the region is changing and the state of eco-environment declining.     

GIS based mapping of land cover changes utilizing multi-temporal remotely sensed image data in Lake Hawassa Watershed,Ethiopia

Classifying multi-temporal image data to produce thematic maps and quantify land cover changes is one of the most common applications of remote sensing. Mapping land cover changes at the regional level is essential for a wide range of applications including land use planning, decision making, land cover database generation, and as a source of information for sustainable management of natural resources. Land cover changes in Lake Hawassa Watershed, Southern Ethiopia, were investigated using Landsat MSS image data of 1973, and Landsat TM images of 1985, 1995, and 2011, covering a period of nearly four decades. Each image was partitioned in a GIS environment, and classified using an unsupervised algorithm followed by a supervised classification method. A hybrid approach was employed in order to reduce spectral confusion due to high variability of land cover. Classification of satellite image data was performed integrating field data, aerial photographs, topographical maps, medium resolution satellite image (SPOT 20 m), and visual image interpretation. The image data were classified into nine land cover types: water, built-up, cropland, woody vegetation, forest, grassland, swamp, bare land, and scrub. The overall accuracy of the LULC maps ranged from 82.5 to 85.0 %. The achieved accuracies were reasonable, and the observed classification errors were attributable to coarse spatial resolution and pixels containing a mixture of cover types. Land cover change statistics were extracted and tabulated using the ERDAS Imagine software. The results indicated an increase in built-up area, cropland, and bare land areas, and a reduction in the six other land cover classes. Predominant land cover is cropland changing from 43.6 % in 1973 to 56.4 % in 2011. A significant portion of land cover was converted into cropland. Woody vegetation and forest cover which occupied 21.0 and 10.3 % in 1973, respectively, diminished to 13.6 and 5.6 % in 2011. The change in water body was very peculiar in that the area of Lake Hawassa increased from 91.9 km² in 1973 to 95.2 km² in 2011, while that of Lake Cheleleka whose area was 11.3 km² in 1973 totally vanished in 2011 and transformed into mud-flat and grass dominated swamp. The “change and no change” analysis revealed that more than one third (548.0 km²) of the total area was exposed to change between 1973 and 2011. This study was useful in identifying the major land cover changes, and the analysis pursued provided a valuable insight into the ongoing changes in the area under investigation.     

Assessment and monitoring of long-term forest cover changes in Odisha, India using remote sensing and GIS

Deforestation and fragmentation are important concerns in managing and conserving tropical forests and have global significance. In the Indian context, in the last one century, the forests have undergone significant changes due to several policies undertaken by government as well as increased population pressure. The present study has brought out spatiotemporal changes in forest cover and variation in forest type in the state of Odisha (Orissa), India, during the last 75 years period. The mapping for the period of 1924–1935, 1975, 1985, 1995 and 2010 indicates that the forest cover accounts for 81,785.6 km² (52.5 %), 56,661.1 km² (36.4 %), 51,642.3 km² (33.2 %), 49,773 km² (32 %) and 48,669.4 km² (31.3 %) of the study area, respectively. The study found the net forest cover decline as 40.5 % of the total forest and mean annual rate of deforestation as 0.69 %?year^?1 during 1935 to 2010. There is a decline in annual rate of deforestation during 1995 to 2010 which was estimated as 0.15 %. Forest type-wise quantitative loss of forest cover reveals large scale deforestation of dry deciduous forests. The landscape analysis shows that the number of forest patches (per 1,000) are 2.463 in 1935, 10.390 in 1975, 11.899 in 1985, 12.193 in 1995 and 15.102 in 2010, which indicates high anthropogenic pressure on the forests. The mean patch size (km²) of forest decreased from 33.2 in 1935 to 5.5 in 1975 and reached to 3.2 by 2010. The study demonstrated that monitoring of long term forest changes, quantitative loss of forest types and landscape metrics provides critical inputs for management of forest resources.     

Desertification in Australia: An eye to grass roots and landscapes

Desertification in some form is estimated to have occurred over about 42% of the 5 million km² of arid and semiarid lands in Australia. The most common form of desertification is loss of perennial grasses from grasslands, savannas, and open woodlands, often with a replacement by inedible shrubs. Desertification continues to be a problem, especially during droughts when grazing pressures reduce ground cover, laying bare landscapes to wind and water erosion. But two national programs, Drought Alert and Landcare, are giving new hope in controlling land degradation. Both use a grassroots approach by promoting action through local pastoralist and farmer groups and by encouraging the use of effective techniques for rehabilitating landscapes. A strategic application of ponding banks and contour traps with an eye to the landscape has proven successful in stopping and reversing desertification processes.     

GIS for Environmental Assessment of the Impacts of Urban Encroachment on Rosetta Region, Egypt

Unplanned urban expansion of the new urban cluster of Rosetta City, Egypt is reaching a critical stage. This unplanned expansion of slum areas threatens the land on which the high quality palm trees, by which Rosetta region is known, are cultivated. This research is concerned with studying the manner, rate, extent and impact of the expansion of the urban cluster of Rosetta City. A multi-temporal analysis of mainly the limits of the built up urban areas and their surrounding land cover is the main evaluation technique. By using Geographic Information Systems, it was possible to study the geographic base of the concerned area. An increase in area of the urban clusters of about 0.1 km² occurred from 1917–1945, and a second increase of over 0.07 km² occurred from 1945–1963. Just after the end of the Second World War, an abrupt increase took place in 1963–1993 that reached 1.7 km². The majority of all the urban expansion was unplanned. By studying the topographic map of Rosetta city and the urban clusters on the western bank of the river Nile, it was found that most of the urban conglomeration of the city is located on relatively elevated land. The western part of the urban area is of an elevation varying around 5.0 m, and inclining with moderate slope towards the eastern edge of the city adjacent to the river Nile. The urban expansion on inclined land has caused severe problems with the sanitary drainage, as the city lacks any sanitary drainage systems. Sanitary drainage currently operates through precipitation trenches. Sanitary sewage gather beneath the ground forming continuos streams which reach the basements of many of the monuments present.     

A half-century analysis of landscape dynamics in southern Québec,Canada

We studied landscape dynamics for three time periods (<1950, 1965, and 1997) along a gradient of agricultural intensity from highly intensive agriculture to forested areas in southern Québec. Air photos were analyzed to obtain long-term information on land cover (crop and habitat types) and linear habitats (hedgerows and riparian habitats) and landscape metrics were calculated to quantify changes in habitat configuration. Anthropogenic areas increased in all types of landscapes but mostly occurred in the highly disturbed cash crop dominated landscape. Perennial crops (pasture and hayfields) were largely converted into annual crops (corn and soybean) between 1965 and 1997. The coalescence of annual crop fields resulted in a more homogeneous agricultural landscape. Old fields and forest cover was consistently low and forest fragmentation remained stable through time in the intensive agriculture landscapes. However, forest cover increased and forest fragmentation receded in the forest-dominated landscapes following farm abandonment and the transition of old fields into forests. Tree-dominated hedgerows and riparian habitats increased in areas with intensive agriculture. Observed changes in land cover classes are related to proximate factors, such as surficial deposits and topography. Agriculture intensification occurred in areas highly suitable for agriculture whereas farm abandonment was observed in poor-quality agriculture terrains. Large-scale conversion of perennial crops into annual crops along with continued urbanization exerts strong pressures on residual natural habitats and their inhabiting wildlife. The afforestation process occurring in the more forested landscapes along with the addition of tree-dominated hedgerows and riparian habitats in the agriculture-dominated landscapes should improve landscape ecological value.     

Estimation of late twentieth century land-cover change in California

We present the first comprehensive multi-temporal analysis of land-cover change for California across its major ecological regions and primary land-cover types. Recently completed satellite-based estimates of land-cover and land-use change information for large portions of the United States allow for consistent measurement and comparison across heterogeneous landscapes. Landsat data were employed within a pure-panel stratified one-stage cluster sample to estimate and characterize land-cover change for 1973?C2000. Results indicate anthropogenic and natural disturbances, such as forest cutting and fire, were the dominant changes, followed by large fluctuations between agriculture and rangelands. Contrary to common perception, agriculture remained relatively stable over the 27-year period with an estimated loss of 1.0% of agricultural land. The largest net declines occurred in the grasslands/shrubs class at 5,131 km² and forest class at 4,722 km². Developed lands increased by 37.6%, composing an estimated 4.2% of the state??s land cover by 2000.     

Decadal time-scale monitoring of forest fires in Similipal Biosphere Reserve,India using remote sensing and GIS

Analyzing the spatial extent and distribution of forest fires is essential for sustainable forest resource management. There is no comprehensive data existing on forest fires on a regular basis in Biosphere Reserves of India. The present work have been carried out to locate and estimate the spatial extent of forest burnt areas using Resourcesat-1 data and fire frequency covering decadal fire events (2004–2013) in Similipal Biosphere Reserve. The anomalous quantity of forest burnt area was recorded during 2009 as 1,014.7 km². There was inconsistency in the fire susceptibility across the different vegetation types. The spatial analysis of burnt area shows that an area of 34.2 % of dry deciduous forests, followed by tree savannah, shrub savannah, and grasslands affected by fires in 2013. The analysis based on decadal time scale satellite data reveals that an area of 2,175.9 km² (59.6 % of total vegetation cover) has been affected by varied rate of frequency of forest fires. Fire density pattern indicates low count of burnt area patches in 2013 estimated at 1,017 and high count at 1,916 in 2004. An estimate of fire risk area over a decade identifies 12.2 km² is experiencing an annual fire damage. Summing the fire frequency data across the grids (each 1 km²) indicates 1,211 (26 %) grids are having very high disturbance regimes due to repeated fires in all the 10 years, followed by 711 grids in 9 years and 418 in 8 years and 382 in 7 years. The spatial database offers excellent opportunities to understand the ecological impact of fires on biodiversity and is helpful in formulating conservation action plans.     

Sampling for landscape elements—a case study from Lower Saxony,Germany

The estimation of coverage, i.e., the proportion of the total area in a study region covered by a given target class, is essential to many aspects of environmental monitoring. We analyze and compare the efficiency of different sample-based approaches for the estimation of coverage of different land cover classes from aerial imagery in a case study in Lower Saxony, Germany on the basis of the estimated standard errors. A complete delineation of vegetation classes in n?=?279 aerial photo plots of 400 × 400 m thrown onto the study region of 1,117.7 km² in accordance with a systematic grid is compared to different configurations of line intercept sampling and clusters of points. The observation designs under study are characterized by different complexity and total size of the observation units and therefore also to the efforts related to yield a single observation. Especially for those classes that cover a relatively large proportion of the sampling frame, our results show that difference in performance between the different designs are negligible. A cluster of four transects of 200 m each allows estimating the area of land cover classes with high coverage with nearly similar precision as a complete mapping of fixed area plots of 16 ha each. Clusters of points show unexpected high precision for the estimated coverage of land cover classes with relatively high coverage.     

Land use patterns and urbanization in the holy city of Varanasi, India: a scenario

Rapid urbanization and increasing land use changes due to population and economic growth in selected landscapes is being witnessed of late in India and other developing countries. The cities are expanding in all directions resulting in large-scale urban sprawl and changes in urban land use. The spatial pattern of such changes is clearly noticed on the urban fringes or city peripheral rural areas than in the city center. In fact, this is reflected in changing urban land use patterns. There is an urgent need to accurately describe land use changes for planning and sustainable management. In the recent times, remote sensing is gaining importance as vital tool in the analysis and integration of spatial data. This study intends to estimate land use pattern in a planned and unplanned urban setup and also to analyze the impact of change in land use pattern in the Varanasi urban environment. The results indicate that the planned urban setup had a higher tree cover to that of unplanned area in the Varanasi City, although a considerable disparity existed within the planned urban setups. The results emphasize the need to critically review concepts of urban planning and give more consideration to the preservation and management of urban tree cover/greenspace.     

Determining the size of a complete disturbance landscape: multi-scale,continental analysis of forest change

The scale of investigation for disturbance-influenced processes plays a critical role in theoretical assumptions about stability, variance, and equilibrium, as well as conservation reserve and long-term monitoring program design. Critical consideration of scale is required for robust planning designs, especially when anticipating future disturbances whose exact locations are unknown. This research quantified disturbance proportion and pattern (as contagion) at multiple scales across North America. This pattern of scale-associated variability can guide selection of study and management extents, for example, to minimize variance (measured as standard deviation) between any landscapes within an ecoregion. We identified the proportion and pattern of forest disturbance (30 m grain size) across multiple landscape extents up to 180 km². We explored the variance in proportion of disturbed area and the pattern of that disturbance between landscapes (within an ecoregion) as a function of the landscape extent. In many ecoregions, variance between landscapes within an ecoregion was minimal at broad landscape extents (low standard deviation). Gap-dominated regions showed the least variance, while fire-dominated showed the largest. Intensively managed ecoregions displayed unique patterns. A majority of the ecoregions showed low variance between landscapes at some scale, indicating an appropriate extent for incorporating natural regimes and unknown future disturbances was identified. The quantification of the scales of disturbance at the ecoregion level provides guidance for individuals interested in anticipating future disturbances which will occur in unknown spatial locations. Information on the extents required to incorporate disturbance patterns into planning is crucial for that process.     

Compositing climate change vulnerability of a Mediterranean region using spatiotemporally dynamic proxies for ecological and socioeconomic impacts and stabilities

The study presents a new methodology to quantify spatiotemporal dynamics of climate change vulnerability at a regional scale adopting a new conceptual model of vulnerability as a function of climate change impacts, ecological stability, and socioeconomic stability. Spatiotemporal trends of equally weighted proxy variables for the three vulnerability components were generated to develop a composite climate change vulnerability index (CCVI) for a Mediterranean region of Turkey combining Landsat time series data, digital elevation model (DEM)-derived data, ordinary kriging, and geographical information system. Climate change impact was based on spatiotemporal trends of August land surface temperature (LST) between 1987 and 2016. Ecological stability was based on DEM, slope, aspect, and spatiotemporal trends of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), while socioeconomic stability was quantified as a function of spatiotemporal trends of land cover, population density, per capita gross domestic product, and illiteracy. The zones ranked on the five classes of no-to-extreme vulnerability were identified where highly and moderately vulnerable lands covered 0.02% (12 km²) and 11.8% (6374 km²) of the study region, respectively, mostly occurring in the interior central part. The adoption of this composite CCVI approach is expected to lead to spatiotemporally dynamic policy recommendations towards sustainability and tailor preventive and mitigative measures to locally specific characteristics of coupled ecological–socioeconomic systems.     

A Landscape Approach for Detecting and Evaluating Change in a Semi-Arid Environment

Vegetation change in the American West has been a subject of concern throughout the twentieth century. Although many of the changes have been recorded qualitatively through the use of comparative photography and historical reports, little quantitative information has been available on the regional or watershed scale. It is currently possible to measure change over large areas and determine trends in ecological and hydrological condition using advanced space-based technologies. Specifically, this process is being tested in a community-based watershed in southeast Arizona and northeast Sonora, Mexico using a system of landscape pattern measurements derived from satellite remote sensing, spatial statistics, process modeling, and geographic information systems technology. These technologies provide the basis for developing landscape composition and pattern indicators as sensitive measures of large-scale environmental change and thus may provide an effective and economical method for evaluating watershed condition related to disturbance from human and natural stresses. The project utilizes the database from the North American Landscape Characterization (NALC) project which incorporates triplicate Landsat Multi-Spectral Scanner (MSS) imagery from the early 1970s, mid 1980s, and the 1990s. Landscape composition and pattern metrics have been generated from digital land cover maps derived from the NALC images and compared across a nearly 20-year period. Results about changes in land cover for the study period indicate that extensive, highly connected grassland and desertscrub areas are the most vulnerable ecosystems to fragmentation and actual loss due to encroachment of xerophytic mesquite woodland. In the study period, grasslands and desertscrub not only decreased in extent but also became more fragmented. That is, the number of grassland and desertscrub patches increased and their average patch sizes decreased. In stark contrast, the mesquite woodland patches increased in size, number, and connectivity. These changes have important impact for the hydrology of the region, since the energy and water balance characteristics for these cover types are significantly different. The process demonstrates a simple procedure to document changes and determine ecosystem vulnerabilities through the use of change detection and indicator development, especially in regard to traditional degradation processes that have occurred throughout the western rangelands involving changes of vegetative cover and acceleration of water and wind erosion.     

An assessment of the optimal scale for monitoring of MODIS and FIA NPP across the eastern USA

Robust monitoring of carbon sequestration by forests requires the use of multiple data sources analyzed at a common scale. To that end, model-based Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and field-based Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data of net primary productivity (NPP) were compared at increasing levels of spatial aggregation across the eastern USA. A total of 52,167 FIA plots and colocated MODIS forest cover NPP pixels were analyzed using a hexagonal tiling system. A protocol was developed to assess the optimal scale as an optimal size of landscape patches at which to map spatially explicit estimates of MODIS and FIA NPP. The optimal mapping resolution (hereafter referred to as optimal scale) is determined using spatially scaled z-statistics as the tradeoff between increased spatial agreement as measured by Pearson’s correlation coefficient and decreased details of coverage as measured by the number of hexagons. Spatial sensitivity was also assessed using land cover assessment and forest homogeneity using spatially scaled z-statistics. Pearson correlations indicate that MODIS and FIA NPP are most highly correlated when using large hexagons, while z-statistics indicate an optimal scale at an intermediate hexagon size of 390 km². This optimal scale had more spatial detail than was obtained for larger hexagons and greater spatial agreement than was obtained for smaller hexagons. The z-statistics for land cover assessment and forest homogeneity also indicated an optimal scale of 390 km².     

Spatial and temporal dynamics of land use pattern in Eastern Turkey: a case study in Gümüşhane

Recognition and understanding of landscape dynamics as a historical legacy of disturbances are necessary for sustainable management of forest ecosystems. This study analyzed spatial and temporal changes in land use and land cover patterns in a typical mountain watershed in the Gumushane district along the Northeastern part of Turkey. The area is investigated by comparing LANDSAT images from 1987 to 2000 and evaluated the temporal changes of spatial structure of forest conditions through spatial analysis of forest cover type maps from 1971 and 1987 using GIS and FRAGSTATS™. The results show a general decreasing trend in area of natural land cover types including broadleaf and conifer forests as well as coppice between 1971 and 1987 (0.54%, respectively). In contrast, between 1987 and 2000 this natural land cover types show increasing trend (1.6%). In parallel with forest dynamics, the area of managed land including lowland and upland agricultural areas, rangelands and grasslands increased during the first period and decreased during second period. In terms of spatial configuration, Gümüşhane forests aren’t generally fragmented by intensive forest utilization in the latter periods. This is partially due to out-migration of rural population in Gümüşhane. Nevertheless, land use pattern significantly changed over time depending on a few factors such as unregulated management actions, social pressure and demographic movements. The study revealed that demographic movements have a major effect on landscape dynamics.     

基于遥感和Markov模型的新疆生产建设兵团土地利用变化

通过对兵团土地利用空间格局变化分析,选择合适的土地利用政策保护生态环境。运用RS和GIS技术对兵团近10年土地利用/覆被变化及景观格局空间变化进行分析,并在此基础上运用Markov模型对未来30年土地利用变化进行预测。2000—2010年,新疆生产建设兵团景观多样性升高,连通性增强,形状愈来愈简单,景观格局整体变化不大;草地、灌丛、湿地、荒漠和冰川/永久积雪面积减少,耕地和城镇面积增加,森林保持稳定;人为干扰对土地利用结构的变化具有重要作用,土地利用强度受人为活动影响的同时受土地利用政策影响;在未来30年间耕地和城镇面积继续增加,除森林基本保持不变外其他土地利用类型均减小。兵团城镇用地与草地和耕地之间的矛盾逐渐显现,势必引起兵团生态格局的变化。因此,必须实行合适的土地利用政策保护环境。