scholarly journals Processes of Forest Cover Change since 1958 in the Coffee-Producing Areas of Southwest Ethiopia

Land ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 278
Author(s):  
Tola Gemechu Ango ◽  
Kristoffer Hylander ◽  
Lowe Börjeson
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Spatial Relations ◽  
Forest Area ◽  
Forest Cover Change ◽  
Southwest Ethiopia ◽  
Forest Policies ◽  
Forest Sites

We investigated the spatial relations of ecological and social processes to point at how state policies, population density, migration dynamics, topography, and socio-economic values of ‘forest coffee’ together shaped forest cover changes since 1958 in southwest Ethiopia. We used data from aerial photos, Landsat images, digital elevation models, participatory field mapping, interviews, and population censuses. We analyzed population, land cover, and topographic roughness (slope) data at the ‘sub-district’ level, based on a classification of the 30 lowest administrative units of one district into the coffee forest area (n = 17), and highland forest area (n = 13). For state forest sites (n = 6) of the district, we evaluated land cover and slope data. Forest cover declined by 25% between 1973 and 2010, but the changes varied spatially and temporally. Losses of forest cover were significantly higher in highland areas (74%) as compared to coffee areas (14%) and state forest sites (2%), and lower in areas with steeper slopes both in coffee and highland areas. Both in coffee and highland areas, forest cover also declined during 1958–1973. People moved to and converted forests in relatively low population density areas. Altitudinal migration from coffee areas to highland areas contributed to deforestation displacement due to forest maintenance for shade coffee production in coffee areas and forest conversions for annual crop production in highland areas. The most rapid loss of forest cover occurred during 1973–1985, followed by 2001–2010, which overlapped with the implementations of major land and forest policies that created conditions for more deforestation. Our findings highlight how crop ecology and migration have shaped spatial variations of forest cover change across different altitudinal zones whilst development, land, and forest policies and programs have driven the temporal variations of deforestation. Understanding the mechanisms of deforestation and forest maintenance simultaneously and their linkages is necessary for better biodiversity conservation and forest landscape management.

scholarly journals Understanding Current and Future Fragmentation Dynamics of Urban Forest Cover in the Nanjing Laoshan Region of Jiangsu, China

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenjuan Shen ◽  
Xupeng Mao ◽  
Jiaying He ◽  
Jinwei Dong ◽  
Chengquan Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Markov Model ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Urban Forest ◽  
Detection Algorithm ◽  
Forest Area ◽  
Spatiotemporal Pattern ◽  
Forest Cover Change ◽  
Forest Interior ◽  
Land Cover Maps

Accurate acquisition of the spatiotemporal distribution of urban forests and fragmentation (e.g., interior and intact regions) is of great significance to contributing to the mitigation of climate change and the conservation of habitat biodiversity. However, the spatiotemporal pattern of urban forest cover changes related with the dynamics of interior and intact forests from the present to the future have rarely been characterized. We investigated fragmentation of urban forest cover using satellite observations and simulation models in the Nanjing Laoshan Region of Jiangbei New Area, Jiangsu, China, during 2002–2023. Object-oriented classification-based land cover maps were created to simulate land cover changes using the cellular automation-Markov chain (CA-Markov) model and the state transition simulation modeling. We then quantified the forest cover change by the morphological change detection algorithm and estimated the forest area density-based fragmentation patterns. Their relationships were built through the spatial analysis and statistical methods. Results showed that the overall accuracies of actual land cover maps were approximately 83.75–92.25% (2012–2017). The usefulness of a CA-Markov model for simulating land cover maps was demonstrated. The greatest proportion of forest with a low level of fragmentation was captured along with the decreasing percentage of fragmented area from 81.1% to 64.1% based on high spatial resolution data with the window size of 27 pixels × 27 pixels. The greatest increase in fragmentation (3% from 2016 to 2023) among the changes between intact and fragmented forest was reported. However, intact forest was modeled to have recovered in 2023 and restored to 2002 fragmentation levels. Moreover, we found 58.07 km2 and 0.35 km2 of interior and intact forests have been removed from forest area losses and added from forest area gains. The loss rate of forest interior and intact area exceeded the rate of total forest area loss. However, their approximate ratio (1) implying the loss of forest interior and intact area would have slight fragmentation effects on the remaining forests. This analysis illustrates the achievement of protecting and restoring forest interior; more importantly, excessive human activities in the surrounding area had been avoided. This study provides strategies for future forest conservation and management in large urban regions.

scholarly journals Qualifying Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics and Their Impacts on Ecosystem Service in Central Himalaya Transboundary Landscape Based on Google Earth Engine

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 173
Author(s):  
Changjun Gu ◽  
Yili Zhang ◽  
Linshan Liu ◽  
Lanhui Li ◽  
Shicheng Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Ecosystem Service ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Google Earth ◽  
Forest Cover Change ◽  
Sacred Landscape ◽  
Lulc Changes ◽  
Google Earth Engine

Land use and land cover (LULC) changes are regarded as one of the key drivers of ecosystem services degradation, especially in mountain regions where they may provide various ecosystem services to local livelihoods and surrounding areas. Additionally, ecosystems and habitats extend across political boundaries, causing more difficulties for ecosystem conservation. LULC in the Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL) has undergone obvious changes over the past four decades; however, the spatiotemporal changes of the LULC across the whole of the KSL are still unclear, as well as the effects of LULC changes on ecosystem service values (ESVs). Thus, in this study we analyzed LULC changes across the whole of the KSL between 2000 and 2015 using Google Earth Engine (GEE) and quantified their impacts on ESVs. The greatest loss in LULC was found in forest cover, which decreased from 5443.20 km2 in 2000 to 5003.37 km2 in 2015 and which mainly occurred in KSL-Nepal. Meanwhile, the largest growth was observed in grassland (increased by 548.46 km2), followed by cropland (increased by 346.90 km2), both of which mainly occurred in KSL-Nepal. Further analysis showed that the expansions of cropland were the major drivers of the forest cover change in the KSL. Furthermore, the conversion of cropland to shrub land indicated that farmland abandonment existed in the KSL during the study period. The observed forest degradation directly influenced the ESV changes in the KSL. The total ESVs in the KSL decreased from 36.53 × 108 USD y−1 in 2000 to 35.35 × 108 USD y−1 in 2015. Meanwhile, the ESVs of the forestry areas decreased by 1.34 × 108 USD y−1. This shows that the decrease of ESVs in forestry was the primary cause to the loss of total ESVs and also of the high elasticity. Our findings show that even small changes to the LULC, especially in forestry areas, are noteworthy as they could induce a strong ESV response.

scholarly journals The impact of forest regeneration on streamflow in 12 mesoscale humid tropical catchments

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 2613-2635 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. E. Beck ◽  
L. A. Bruijnzeel ◽  
A. I. J. M. van Dijk ◽  
T. R. McVicar ◽  
F. N. Scatena ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Forest Regeneration ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Impact Analysis ◽  
Forest Area ◽  
Macro Scale ◽  
Annual Time Series ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Annual Time

Abstract. Although regenerating forests make up an increasingly large portion of humid tropical landscapes, little is known of their water use and effects on streamflow (Q). Since the 1950s the island of Puerto Rico has experienced widespread abandonment of pastures and agricultural lands, followed by forest regeneration. This paper examines the possible impacts of these secondary forests on several Q characteristics for 12 mesoscale catchments (23–346 km2; mean precipitation 1720–3422 mm yr−1) with long (33–51 yr) and simultaneous records for Q, precipitation (P), potential evaporation (PET), and land cover. A simple spatially-lumped, conceptual rainfall–runoff model that uses daily P and PET time series as inputs (HBV-light) was used to simulate Q for each catchment. Annual time series of observed and simulated values of four Q characteristics were calculated. A least-squares trend was fitted through annual time series of the residual difference between observed and simulated time series of each Q characteristic. From this the total cumulative change (Â) was calculated, representing the change in each Q characteristic after controlling for climate variability and water storage carry-over effects between years. Negative values of  were found for most catchments and Q characteristics, suggesting enhanced actual evaporation overall following forest regeneration. However, correlations between changes in urban or forest area and values of  were insignificant (p ≥ 0.389) for all Q characteristics. This suggests there is no convincing evidence that changes in the chosen Q characteristics in these Puerto Rican catchments can be ascribed to changes in urban or forest area. The present results are in line with previous studies of meso- and macro-scale (sub-)tropical catchments, which generally found no significant change in Q that can be attributed to changes in forest cover. Possible explanations for the lack of a clear signal may include errors in the land cover, climate, Q, and/or catchment boundary data; changes in forest area occurring mainly in the less rainy lowlands; and heterogeneity in catchment response. Different results were obtained for different catchments, and using a smaller subset of catchments could have led to very different conclusions. This highlights the importance of including multiple catchments in land-cover impact analysis at the mesoscale.

scholarly journals Trends of forest area and population and the impact of population on forest area per hectare in Serbia without APS

2012 ◽  
pp. 183-196
Author(s):  
Nenad Rankovic
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Population Growth ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Forest Policy ◽  
Forest Area ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
The Impact

Socio-economic changes throughout history have shaped the attitude towards the forest and most significant ones are changes in terms of population. Over the centuries population and population density have had a significant impact on deforestation and the reduction of forest areas. Therefore, it is important to check what kind of trends are concerned and how population growth affects forest areas, forest cover and forest area per capita. These elements are important for assessing the direction, intensity of activity and the degree of success in the implementation of all forest policy measures in Serbia.

Simulating forest cover change in the northeastern U.S.: decreasing forest area and increasing fragmentation

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 2401-2419
Author(s):  
Alison B. Adams ◽  
Jennifer Pontius ◽  
Gillian Galford ◽  
David Gudex-Cross
Keyword(s):  
Forest Cover ◽  
Forest Area ◽  
Forest Cover Change

scholarly journals An overview of maritime pine private non-industrial forest in the centre of Portugal: A 19-year case study

2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 198-213
Author(s):  
Cristina Alegria ◽  
Maria Canavarro Teixeira
Keyword(s):  
Forest Cover ◽  
Forest Health ◽  
Small Diameter ◽  
State Policies ◽  
Effective Field ◽  
Pine Forest ◽  
Maritime Pine ◽  
Forest Cover Change ◽  
Forest Policies ◽  
Industrial Forest

Abstract Portuguese national policies for forests were developed considering related themes such as climate change, forest health, fire and the protective functions of forests. In Portugal, maritime pine forest is mainly private non-industrial and its area is in decline. Therefore, the aim of this study was two-fold: first, to assess maritime pine forest characteristics over a 19-year period; second, to analyse forest cover change over that period. In the end, the implementation of state policies was explored. A study area highly forested by continuous areas of naturally regenerated maritime pine in the centre of Portugal was used. To assess maritime pine forest characteristics, two sets of inventory data collected in previous studies (1991-1996 and 2007-2010) were used. To analyse forest cover change, the official land cover maps for 1990 and 2007 were used. This study findings highlighted that study area’s trends over the past years were the following: first, the decrease of maritime pine forest areas and its management decline (stands less stable, under-stocked, with large amounts of small-diameter poles and enlarged tree size variability); second, the increase of scrubland areas; third, the increase of eucalyptus afforestation with no regard for protection areas; and fourth, the absence of native oaks or introduction of other broadleaves as recommended by the state policies. Therefore, it is argued that there is a need for effective field monitoring actions with regard to the implementation of state policies. Additionally, selective incentives are key to mobilise private non-industrial forest to achieve the goals of state forest policies.

scholarly journals Motif: an open-source R tool for pattern-based spatial analysis

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jakub Nowosad
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Analysis ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
R Package ◽  
Growth Monitoring ◽  
Forest Cover Change ◽  
Land Cover Data ◽  
Wide Range

*Context* Pattern-based spatial analysis provides methods to describe and quantitatively compare spatial patterns for categorical raster datasets. It allows for spatial search, change detection, and clustering of areas with similar patterns. *Objectives* We developed an R package **motif** as a set of open-source tools for pattern-based spatial analysis. *Methods* This package provides most of the functionality of existing software (except spatial segmentation), but also extends the existing ideas through support for multi-layer raster datasets. It accepts larger-than-RAM datasets and works across all of the major operating systems. *Results* In this study, we describe the software design of the tool, its capabilities, and present four case studies. They include calculation of spatial signatures based on land cover data for regular and irregular areas, search for regions with similar patterns of geomorphons, detection of changes in land cover patterns, and clustering of areas with similar spatial patterns of land cover and landforms. *Conclusions* The methods implemented in **motif** should be useful in a wide range of applications, including land management, sustainable development, environmental protection, forest cover change and urban growth monitoring, and agriculture expansion studies. The **motif** package homepage is https://nowosad.github.io/motif.

scholarly journals Local Government Forestry Expenditure and Forest Land Cover: A Preliminary Lesson from Decentralized Indonesia

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
Firda Hidayati ◽  
Yogi Vidyattama ◽  
Cameron Gordon
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Population Growth ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Negative Association ◽  
Forest Land ◽  
Negative Change ◽  
Wood Extraction ◽  
Forest Land Cover

Even though government of Indonesia invests billions of rupiah to tackle deforestation, its effectiveness has been questionable. This study analyses changes in rates of forest cover in Indonesia and their association with forestry expenditures (FE) spent by the provincial governments. Based on 2007 to 2010 data, linear multiple regression results indicate that FE is not enough to tackle the negative change in forest land cover that could represent deforestation. Moreover, it was found that FE have negative association with forest land cover and therefore, can be associated to deforestation. This negative association remains when other factors that affect forest land cover such as wood extraction, agriculture outcome, forestry outcome, population growth and population density and initial environmental conditions have been controlled.AbstrakWalaupun pemerintah Indonesia telah menginvestasikan trilyunan rupiah untuk mengurangi deforestasi, akan tetapi efektifitasnya dipertanyakan. Penelitian ini menganalisa tingkat perubahan luasan tutupan hutan di Indonesia and asosiasinya dengan Pengeluaran Sektor Kehutanan (PSK) yang dibelanjakan oleh pemerintah provinsi. Berdasar data tahun 2007 sampai 2010, hasil regresi multiple linier mengindikasikan bahwa PSK tidak cukup untuk mengurangi akibat negatif dalam perubahan hutan dan lahan yang dapat mngakibatkan deforestasi. Lebih lanjut, ditemukan bahwa PSK berhubungan erat pengurangan luasan hutan, yang dapat dikaitkan dengan deforestasi. Asososiasi yang negatif ini tetap terjadi walaupun faktor lain yang memengaruhi tutupan hutan seperti penebangan kayu, hasil pertanian, hasil kehutanan, pertumbuhan populasi dan kepadatan populasi dan kondisi awal lingkungan telah dikontrol.Kata kunci: Deforestasi, Hutan Tropis; Populasi Penduduk; Tutupan Hutan; Pengeluaran untuk Reboisasi HutanJEL classifications: E62; Q58; H76

Investigating the interactions between Forest Cover Change and Hydroclimatic patterns in the Bolivian Amazon basin over the last 30 years

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sly Wongchuig Correa ◽  
Jhan Carlo Espinoza ◽  
Hans Segura ◽  
Thomas Condom ◽  
Clémentine Junquas
Keyword(s):  
Land Cover ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Hydrological Modeling ◽  
European Space Agency ◽  
Forest Cover Change ◽  
Wet Season ◽  
Climatic Index ◽  
Bolivian Amazon

<p>Large evidences support the strong impacts on rainfall amount and the increasing of dry-season length on the Amazonian forest. All of these effects are usually attributed to large scale atmospheric circulation and to land cover changes as part of anthropogenic effects. In this research we assess statistical and modeling approaches to investigate the interaction between changes in forest cover and hydroclimate processes on a regional and local scale.</p><p>Henceforth, the deforestation areas and climatic indexes for the southern Amazon basin (south of 14°S) were evaluated. The deforestation map was estimated for the 1992-2018 period, based on global land cover maps at 300 m of spatial resolution produced by the European Space Agency (ESA) Climate Change Initiative (CCI) by using several remote sensing datasets. The CHIRPS rainfall dataset (P) for the 1981-2018 period was used to estimate the dry day frequency (DDF, P<1mm) and the wet day frequency (WDF, P>10mm). In addition, the mean actual seasonal evapotranspiration (AET) was GLEAM and ET-Amazon evapotranspiration datasets for the 1980-2018 and 2003-2013 periods respectively. In order to determine the local and the regional climatic effect for each pixel of the climatic index (DDF, WDF and AET), the deforestation fraction was estimated considering different spatial radii of influence (20 to 50 km).</p><p>The first results indicate a particular pattern in the southern Bolivian Amazon where two groups of areas were identified, considering the common period of analysis (1992-2018). One of them shows a significant relationship between increasing trend of DDF and decreasing trend of WDF while deforestation fraction is high, what mainly occurs during the wet season. In addition, this region is clearly placed in areas with values of deforestation fraction above ~30%, a closest value to the usually estimated Amazon Tipping Point (~40%). Below this value, the second group is also located in regions with positive trends of DDF and negative trends of WDF. This region has probably a strongest link with the large-scale climate.</p><p>Considering these preliminary results, the statistical approaches developed in this research could give some insights about the interactions between forest change and the regional hydro climatology, which might improve the understanding of this interaction based on large-scale hydrological modeling.</p>

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