An agent-based model of agricultural land expansion in the mountain forest of Timor Island,Indonesia

The Mutis-Timau Forest Complex,located on Timor Island,Indonesia,is a mountainous tropical forest area that gradually decreases due to deforestation and forest degradation.Previous modelling studies based on patterns indicate that deforestation primarily occurs at lower elevations and near the boundaries of forests and settlements,often associated with shifting cultivation by local farmers.This study adopts a process-based modelling approach,specifically the agent-based model,to simulate land changes,particularly farmers'expansion of agricultural land around the Mutis mountain forest.The underlying concept of this agent-based approach is the interaction between the human and environmental systems.Farmers,representing the human system,interact with the land,which represents the environmental system,through land use decision-making mechanisms.The research was conducted in the Community Forest of the Timor Tengah Utara District,one of the sites within the Mutis-Timau Forest Complex with the highest deforestation rate.Land use change simulations were performed using agent-based modelling from 1999 to 2030,considering the socio-economic conditions of farmers,spatial preferences,land use decisions,and natural transitions.The results revealed that the agricultural area increased by 14%under the Business as Usual scenario and 5%under the Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation scenario,compared to the initial agricultural area of 245 hectares.The probability of farmers deciding to extend agricultural activities was positively associated with the number of livestock maintained by farmers and the size of the village area.Conversely,the likelihood of farmers opting for agricultural extensification decreased with an increase in the area of private land and the farmer's age.These findings are crucial for the managers of the Mutis-Timau Forest Complex and other relevant stakeholders,as they aid in arranging actions to combat deforestation,designing proper forest-related policies,and providing support for initiatives such as reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation programs or further incentive schemes.

Anthropogenic Threats to Degraded Forest Land in the Savannahs’ Region of Togo from 1984 to 2020, West Africa

This study focuses on the landscape dynamics of the savannahs’ region in the far north of Togo. Based on a literature review and satellite images analysis using GIS and remote sensing, the study aims to ascertain the effects of anthropogenic threats on the forest coverage of the Savannahs’ Region between 1984 to 2020. The objective is to clarify the dynamics of land use in the region from 1984 to 2000 and from 2000 to 2020. The findings indicate a significant decline in forest coverage within the region from 1984 to 2020, a trend attributed to land use patterns. Dry forests in the Savannah region are largely converted to farmlands, housing, dry savannahs or agroforestry parks, leading to a steady reduction in forest areas.

Land Use and Forest Dynamics in the Context of Redd+: Pathway to Sustainable Environmental Management*

Reverting to nature as a major arsenals in a universal fight against Climate Change impact and loss of biodiversity, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), views sustainable Land use and Forest (the main crux of the Glasgow declaration 2021) as the way to go. Forest conservation, protection and management in the context of REDD+ would guarantee sustainable ecosystem and mitigate climate change impacts. At National and subnational levels, the Nigerian REDD+ readiness scheme holds out hope for environmental sustainability. This study throws light into the historical background of trends in land use forest change in Nigeria, and places Nigeria on a “red” stage 3 (Low Forest Cover, High Deforestation Rate-LFHD) status while maintaining optimism that with REDD+ properly implemented in Nigeria, Stage 4: Low forest cover, Low Deforestation Rates (LFLD) and Stage 5: Low forest cover, Negative Deforestation Rates (LFND) can be achieved by 2030 and 2050 respectively, if the trio of reforestation, afforestation and natural restoration is practiced as a matter of national policy and subnational implementation within the context of REDD+. Four (4) broad drivers of deforestation and forest degradation were identified as direct, indirect, pre-disposing and planned /unplanned. The paper concludes that a viable pathway to sustainable environmental management is appropriate monitoring and evaluation of land use and forest dynamics in the context of REDD+.

Distribution Characteristics of Soil Total Nitrogen in Low-efficiency Forest Land in the Northern Windy Desert Area of Jingbian County

[Objectives]The paper was to investigate the distribution characteristics of soil total nitrogen in low-efficiency forest land in the northern windy desert area of Jingbian County.[Methods]The distribution of soil total nitrogen in the 0-40 cm soil layer of 5 towns in the northern windy desert area of Jingbian County was studied through field sampling and laboratory detection.[Results]The average soil total nitrogen contents of Hongdunjie Town,Haizetan Town,Huanghaojie Town,Ningtiaoliang Town,Dongkeng Town and windy desert area in the 0-20 cm soil layer were 0.259,0.224,0.242,0.248,0.431 and 0.275 g/kg,respectively.The soil total nitrogen content in Dongkeng Town was higher than those in other towns,while there was little difference among other regions.The average total nitrogen contents in the 20-40 cm soil layer were 0.239,0.285,0.113,0.262,0.349 and 0.241 g/kg,respectively.The soil total nitrogen content in Huanghaojie Town was slightly lower than those in other towns,while that in Dongkeng town was higher.The variation coefficient of soil total nitrogen content in the survey area was greater than 30%,and there was great difference in spatial distribution.With the increase of soil depth,there was little change in soil total nitrogen content,namely the soil total nitrogen contents in 5 towns and windy desert area were not statistically different in the 0-40 cm soil layer.According to the nutrient grading standard of the second national soil survey,the soil total nitrogen content in the survey area was in the deficiency grade.[Conclusions]The research will provide a scientific guidance for the healthy and sustainable development of vegetation in arid regions.

Distribution Characteristics of Soil Organic Carbon in Degraded Forest Land in the Sandstorm Area of Jingbian County,Shaanxi Province

[Objectives]To explore the distribution characteristics of soil organic carbon in degraded forest land in the sandstorm area of Jingbian County,Shaanxi Province.[Methods]The distribution characteristics and abundance of 0-20 cm shallow soil organic carbon in 5 towns in the sandstorm area in the north of Jingbian County were studied by field sampling and indoor detection.[Results]The average soil organic carbon contents in Hongdunjie Town,Haizetan Town,Huanghaojie Town,Ningtiaoliang Town and Dongkeng Town were 2.93,3.21,2.53,2.54 and 4.08 g/kg,respectively,which were all lower than the national background value(31.00 g/kg).The coefficients of variation of soil organic carbon content in Hongdunjie Town,Huanghaojie Town and Dongkeng Town were 59.04%,35.97%and 47.55%,respectively,with higher coefficients of variation and larger differences in spatial distribution.The organic carbon content of Haizetan Town and Dongkeng Town was above the abundance,accounting for 70%and 50%,which were relatively rich,while the soil organic carbon content of Hongdunjie was relatively scarce.The average content of soil organic carbon in the sandstorm area was 3.03 g/kg,which was also lower than the national background value.The coefficient of variation was 46.53%,showing high coefficient of variation and large difference in spatial distribution.In addition,20.41%of the average content of soil organic carbon in the sandstorm area was in the deficient level,and 79.59%were in the medium or above level.[Conclusions]The study of distribution characteristics of soil organic carbon in degraded forest land in the sandstorm area of Jingbian County will better serve the precise management of soil resources.

Land use and cover change and influencing factor analysis in the Shiyang River Basin,China

Land use and cover change(LUCC)is the most direct manifestation of the interaction between anthropological activities and the natural environment on Earth's surface,with significant impacts on the environment and social economy.Rapid economic development and climate change have resulted in significant changes in land use and cover.The Shiyang River Basin,located in the eastern part of the Hexi Corridor in China,has undergone significant climate change and LUCC over the past few decades.In this study,we used the random forest classification to obtain the land use and cover datasets of the Shiyang River Basin in 1991,1995,2000,2005,2010,2015,and 2020 based on Landsat images.We validated the land use and cover data in 2015 from the random forest classification results(this study),the high-resolution dataset of annual global land cover from 2000 to 2015(AGLC-2000-2015),the global 30 m land cover classification with a fine classification system(GLC_FCS30),and the first Landsat-derived annual China Land Cover Dataset(CLCD)against ground-truth classification results to evaluate the accuracy of the classification results in this study.Furthermore,we explored and compared the spatiotemporal patterns of LUCC in the upper,middle,and lower reaches of the Shiyang River Basin over the past 30 years,and employed the random forest importance ranking method to analyze the influencing factors of LUCC based on natural(evapotranspiration,precipitation,temperature,and surface soil moisture)and anthropogenic(nighttime light,gross domestic product(GDP),and population)factors.The results indicated that the random forest classification results for land use and cover in the Shiyang River Basin in 2015 outperformed the AGLC-2000-2015,GLC_FCS30,and CLCD datasets in both overall and partial validations.Moreover,the classification results in this study exhibited a high level of agreement with the ground truth features.From 1991 to 2020,the area of bare land exhibited a decreasing trend,with changes primarily occurring in the middle and lower reaches of the basin.The area of grassland initially decreased and then increased,with changes occurring mainly in the upper and middle reaches of the basin.In contrast,the area of cropland initially increased and then decreased,with changes occurring in the middle and lower reaches.The LUCC was influenced by both natural and anthropogenic factors.Climatic factors and population contributed significantly to LUCC,and the importance values of evapotranspiration,precipitation,temperature,and population were 22.12%,32.41%,21.89%,and 19.65%,respectively.Moreover,policy interventions also played an important role.Land use and cover in the Shiyang River Basin exhibited fluctuating changes over the past 30 years,with the ecological environment improving in the last 10 years.This suggests that governance efforts in the study area have had some effects,and the government can continue to move in this direction in the future.The findings can provide crucial insights for related research and regional sustainable development in the Shiyang River Basin and other similar arid and semi-arid areas.

Mapping and Floristic Diversity of the Nakpadjouak Community Forest, Tami Canton, Togo (West Africa)

Since 2015, community forests have been promoted in Togo as an alternative to protect areas from degradation and as a means of contributing to forest landscape restoration. The study focuses on the Nakpadjouak Community Forest (NCF) in Tami (Togo, West Africa) which contributes to community forests sustainable management. It aims in (i) mapping forest ecosystems and analysing their dynamic and (ii) characterizing the floristic diversity of the NCF. The ecosystems were mapped and their dynamic was evaluated based on Google Earth images of 2014 and 2020. Floristic and forestry inventories were carried out using the transect technique in a sample of 20 plots of 50 m × 20 m. The NCF was made up mainly by wooded/shrub savannahs (95.37%) and croplands/fallow (4.63%) in 2014. These two land use types undergone changes over the 6 years prior to 2020. By 2020, the NCF had 3 land use types: wooded/shrub savannahs (77.59%), open forest/wooded savannahs (22.23%), and croplands/fallows (0.18%). A total of 89 plant species belonging to 70 genera and 28 families were recorded within the NCF. The dominant species are: Heteropogon contortus (L.) P.Beauv. and Combretum collinum Fresen. followed by Pteleopsissuberosa Engl. & Diels, Annona senegalensis Pers. The most common species are: Lannea acida A.Rich. s.l., A. senegalensis, Vitellaria paradoxa C.F.Gaertner subsp. paradoxa, C. collinum and Acacia dudgeonii Craib ex Holland. Due to its small area of just 40 hectares and its diverse plant life, this community forest of Savannahs Region is a significant biodiversity hotspot and warrants conservation efforts.

Exploring Trees Diversity and Ecological Value of Mountain Forests in the Blue Nile Region of Sudan

We carried out this research at Abu-Gaddaf Natural Forest Reserve (ANFR) which is located east of Blue Nile River, in Blue Nile State, Sudan. It aims at exploring tree composition assessing their diversity indices, and ecological importance values. For survey of types and estimation of density of tree species in the forest, we randomly distributed 97 circular sample plots (0.1 hectare (ha)). In each sample plot we identified all trees to the species level, recorded their frequencies and computed species diversity and importance value indices (IVI). A total of 13 tree species, which belong to 12 genera and nine families, were identified in the tree layer of the forest. Mean tree density in ANFR was 116 trees/ha, composed mainly of Boswellia papyrifera (Del.) Hochst. (48), followed by Combretum hartmannianu (19) and Lannea fruticosa (18). Fabaceae was the most common family followed by Combretaceae and Malvaceae. B. papyrifera Delile Hochst was the most abundant while Acacia seyal was the least abundant species. Species richness (R = 1.71), evenness (E = 0.69), dominance (0.24) indices and Simpson’s Index of Diversity (D' = 0.76) suggest a moderate diversity, moderate numbers of individuals in each species and a moderate community stability. The research provides empirical results on diversity and ecological importance value of species, signifies the urging need to safeguard threatened species and to prioritize them for conservation, as well as the need to promote management of abundant species to provide multiple forest ecosystem services.

Land cover changes and fragmentation in mountain neotropical ecosystems of Oaxaca, Mexico under community forest management

Changes in land cover have a direct impact on forest ecosystem goods and services. In this study, changes in land cover in Sierra de Juarez–Oaxaca ecosystems were estimated using a consistent processing of Landsat images and OBIA methodology. Additionally, landscape analyses using FRAGSTAT were conducted. In 2014, Sierra de Juarez–Oaxaca was covered by approximately 84% of forests, mainly pine-oak and cloud forests. After extensive deforestation until 2001, this trend was reversed and the forest cover surface area in 2014 was slightly higher than in 1979. The comparison of the landscape structure of the forested and agricultural lands suggests an increase in habitat heterogeneity. However, interspersion and juxtaposition indices, showing the patch shape by patch area and perimeter, were similar throughout the study period(1979–2014). Social and economic drivers can explain this situation: namely, community organization, forest enterprises, payment for ecosystem services programs, and changes of agricultural activity. Communities in the Sierra of Oaxaca have reforested degraded lands, created community forest enterprises, and preserved the forest under conservation schemes like those proposed by the Mexican payment for ecosystem services programs. However, their sustainable management faces internal challenges and has become highly dependent on political and institutional decisions beyond their control.

Integrated use of GIS, remote sensing and multi-criteria decision analysis to assess ecological land suitability in multi-functional forestry

The Zagros forests are a treasure of valuable oak forests, but they have been severely degraded from long-term misuse. Geographic information systems （GIS） and multi-criteria decision analysis （MCDA） have been increasingly used to improve the management of vulnerable ecosystems to prevent further degradation and increase the sustainability of land use. This study presents a methodology to assess land suitability using remote sensing （RS） to obtain wall-to-wall data for the calculations, GIS to analyze the data, and MCDA to rank alternative land uses. The criteria and subcriteria affecting the suitability of land for different uses were identified and weighted using an analytic hierarchy process. Variables used as subcriteria were assessed using satellite data and other sources of information such as existing maps and field surveys. Numerical values for the subcriteria were classified, and each class was given a priority rating according to expert judgments. Based on the ratings and weights of the subcriteria, a priority map was created for each land use using the weighted linear combination method. The priority maps for different land uses were overlaid to obtain a preliminary land use map, which often indicated several simultaneous land uses for the same location. The preliminary map was further edited by removing unrealistic, mutually exclusive land-use combinations. The study tested and demonstrated the potential of integrating RS, G1S and MCDA techniques for solving complicated land allocation problems in forested regions using a scientifically sound and practical approach for efficient and sustainable allocation of forestland for different uses.

Comparison of foliar nutrient concentrations between natural and artificial forests of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica on sandy land, China

In order to examine the causes of degradation of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica plantations on sandy land, the foliar concentrations of N, P, K and C were analyzed and compared between the field grown P. sylvestris var. mongolica trees from two provenances （natural forests and plantations）. The results indicated that natural tree needles had lower N, P and C concentrations, and higher K concentrations than those of plantation tree needles. For plantation tree needles, ratios of N： P, P. K and N： K increased with tree age before 45 years old; but they were not clear for the natural tree needles. Compared with the conclusions reported on Pinus spp., we found that the foliar N and P concentrations were in the optimal range for both natural and plantation tree needles. This result suggested that N or P might not be the absolute limit factors in plant nutrient for P sylvestris var. mongolica on sandy land. However, foliar K concentrations in both natural and plantation tree needles were much lower than those reported on Pinus spp. （〉4.80 g kg-1）.The N： P ratio of natural needles was in the adequate ranges, but N： P ratio of plantation needles was out of the adequate ranges. These results indicated that there was a better balanced nutrition status in the natural forest than in the plantations. If only considering the foliar nutrient concentrations of P sylvestris var. mongolica from different provenances, it might be concluded that the degradation phenomenon of P. sylvestris var. mongolica plantations was not induced by nutrition deficiency of absolute nutrients of N and P, but might be induced by other mineral nutrients or by the effectiveness of N and P nutrients. The unbalanced nutrition status and relatively quick decomposition of needles in the plantations might also contribute to the degradation.

Impact of land-use management on nitrogen transformation in a mountain forest ecosystem in the north of Iran

Soil inorganic N is one of the most important soil quality indexes, which may be influenced by land-use change. The historical conversion of land-use from native vegetation to agriculture resulted in sharp declines in soil N dynamics. This study was conducted to determine the soil inorganic N concentrations and net N mineralization rate in four common types of land-uses in the mountain forest area in the north of Iran, namely arable land, pine plantation, ash plantation, and beech stand. The soil samples were taken from top mineral soil layer （5 cm） in each site randomly （n=6） during August- September 2010. Beech stand and ash plantation showed significantly higher total nitrogen compared with arable land and pine plantation, while extractable NH4 ＋-N concentration was significantly greater in Beech stand compare to arable soils （p〈0.05）. No significantly difference was found in Net N mineralization, net nitrification and net ammonification rates among different land-uses. Results showed that net N mineralization and ammonification were occurred just in the soil of Ash plantation during the incubation time. Our findings suggested that conversion of Hyrcanian forests areas to pine plantation and agricultural land can disrupt soil natural activities and affect extremely soil quality.

Impacts of anthropogenic and biophysical factors on ecological land using logistic regression and random forest:A case study in Mentougou District,Beijing,China

Ecological land is an important guarantee to maintain urban ecological security and sustainable development.Although increasing studies have been brought to ecological land,with few explorations of the relative importance of anthropogenic-natural factors and how they interact to induce the ecological land evolution.This research sought to fill this gap.In this study,18 factors,including the risk of goaf collapse,fault,prime croplands,were selected from six aspects of topography,geology,climate,accessibility,socio-economic and land control policies.logistic regression(LR)and random forest(RF)models were adopted to identify the anthropogenic and biophysical factors on the dynamic change of ecological land of Mentougou in Beijing from 1990 to 2018.The results show that there was a significant increase in ecological land from 1990 to 2018.The increased area of ecological land reached 102.11 km2 with an increased rate of 0.78,the gravity center of ecological land gradually moved to the northwest.The impact of anthropogenic factors on ecological land was greater than that of natural factors,ecological land was mainly driven by proportion of prime cropland,per capita GDP,land urbanization,temperature,per capita rural income,elevation and aspect factors.Additionally,slope and precipitation were also identified as important predictors for ecological land change.The model comparison suggested that RF can better identify the relationship between ecological land and explanatory variables than LR model.Based on our findings,the implementation of government policies along with anthropogenic factors are the most important variables influencing ecological land change,and the rational planning and allocation of ecological land by Mentougou government are still needed.

Land use change detection in Solan Forest Division,Himachal Pradesh,India

Background： Monitoring the changing pattern of vegetation across diverse landscapes through remote sensing is instrumental in understanding the interactions of human activities and the ecological environment. Land use pattern i the state of Himachal Pradesh in the Indian Western Himalayas has been undergoing rapid modifications due to changing cropping patterns, rising anthropogenic pressure on forests and government policies. We studied land use change in Solan Forest Division of Himachal Pradesh to assess species wise area changes in the forests of the region. Methods： The supervised classification （Maximum likelihood） on two dates of IRS （LISS III） satellite data was performed to assess land use change over the period 1998-2010. Results： Seven land use categories were identified namely, chir pine （Pinus roxburghii） forest, broadleaved forest, bamboo （Dendrocolamus strictus） forest, ban oak （Quercus leucotrichophora） forest, khair （Acacia catechu） forest, culturable blank and cultivation. The area under chir pine, cultivation and khair forests increased by 191 ha （4.55 %）, 129 ha （13.81%） and 77 ha （23.40 %）, whereas the area under ban oak, broadleaved, culturable blank and bamboo decreased by 181 ha （16.58 %）, 152 ha （6.30 %）, 71 ha （2.72 %） and 7 ha （0.47 %）, respectively. Conclusions： The study revealed a decrease in the area under forest and culturable blank categories and a simultaneous increase in the area under cultivation primarily due to the large scale introduction of horticultural cash crops in the state. The composition of forests also exhibited some major changes, with an increase in the area of commercially important monoculture plantation species such as pine and khair, and a decline in the area of oak, broadleaved and bamboo which are facing a high anthropogenic pressure in meeting the livelihood demands of forest dependent communities. In time deforestation, forest degradation and ecological imbalances due to the changing forest species composition may inflict irreversible damages upon unstable and fragile mountain zones such as the Indian Himalayas. The associated common property externalities involved at local, regional and global scales, necessitate the monitoring of land use dynamics across forested landscapes in developing future strategies and policies concerning agricultural diversification, natural forest conservation and monoculture tree plantations.

Characterisation of Landscape with ForestFragmentation Dynamics

Land cover (LC) and land use (LU) dynamics induced by human and natural processes play a major role in global as well as regional patterns of landscapes influencing biodiversity, hydrology, ecology and climate. Changes in LC features resulting in forest fragmentations have posed direct threats to biodiversity, endangering the sustainability of ecological goods and services. Habitat fragmentation is of added concern as the residual spatial patterns mitigate or exacerbate edge effects. LU dynamics are obtained by classifying temporal remotely sensed satellite imagery of different spatial and spectral resolutions. This paper reviews five different image classification algorithms using spatio-temporal data of a temperate watershed in Himachal Pradesh, India. Gaussian Maximum Likelihood classifier was found to be apt for analysing spatial pattern at regional scale based on accuracy assessment through error matrix and ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curves. The LU information thus derived was then used to assess spatial changes from temporal data using principal component analysis and correspondence analysis based image differencing. The forest area dynamics was further studied by analysing the different types of fragmentation through forest fragmentation models. The computed forest fragmentation and landscape metrics show a decline of interior intact forests with a substantial increase in patch forest during 1972-2007.

Rapid Urbanization Induced Extensive Forest Loss to Urban Land in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, China

China has experienced rapid urbanizations with dramatic land cover changes since 1978. Forest loss is one of land cover changes, and it induces various eco-environmental degradation issues. As one of China’s hotspot regions, the Guangdong-Hong KongMacao Greater Bay Area(GBA) has undergone a dramatic urban expansion. To better understand forest dynamics and protect forest ecosystem, revealing the processes, patterns and underlying drivers of forest loss is essential. This study focused on the spatiotemporal evolution and potential driving factors of forest loss in the GBA at regional and city level. The Landsat time-series images from 1987 to2017 were used to derive forest, and landscape metrics and geographic information system(GIS) were applied to implement further spatial analysis. The results showed that: 1) 14.86% of the total urban growth area of the GBA was obtained from the forest loss in1987–2017;meanwhile, the forest loss area of the GBA reached 4040.6 km2, of which 25.60%(1034.42 km2) was converted to urban land;2) the percentages of forest loss to urban land in Dongguan(19.14%), Guangzhou(18.35%) and Shenzhen(15.81%) were higher than those in other cities;3) the forest became increasingly fragmented from 1987–2007, and then the fragmentation decreased from2007 to 2017);4) the landscape responses to forest changes varied with the scale;and 5) some forest loss to urban regions moved from low-elevation and gentle-slope terrains to higher-elevation and steep-slope terrains over time, especially in Shenzhen and Hong Kong.Urbanization and industrialization greatly drove forest loss and fragmentation, and, notably, hillside urban land expansion may have contributed to hillside forest loss. The findings will help policy makers in maintaining the stability of forest ecosystems, and provide some new insights into forest management and conservation.

Google Earth Engine Based Three Decadal Landsat Imagery Analysis for Mapping of Mangrove Forests and Its Surroundings in the Trat Province of Thailand

Monitoring and understanding the changes in mangrove ecosystems and their surroundings are required to determine how mangrove ecosystems are constantly changing while influenced by anthropogenic, and natural drivers. Cosistency in high spatial resolution (30 m) satellite and high performance computing facilities are limiting factors to the process, with storage and analysis requirements. With this, we present the Google Earth Engine (GEE) based approach for long term mapping of mangrove forests and their surroundings. In this study, we used a GEE based approach: 1) to create atmospheric contamination free data from 1987-2017 from different Landsat satellite imagery;and 2) evaluating the random forest classifier and post classification change detection method. The obtained overall accuracy for the years 1987 and 2017 was determined to be 0.87 and 0.96, followed by a Kappa coefficient 0.80 and 0.94. The change detection results revealed a significant decrease in the agricultural area, while there was an increase in mangrove forest, shrimp/fish farm, and bareland area. The results suggest that interconversion of land use and land cover is affecting the landscape dynamics within the study area.

Characterizing changes in land cover and forest fragmentation from multitemporal Landsat observations(1993-2018)in the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve,Nepal

Natural forces and anthropogenic activities greatly alter land cover,deteriorate or alleviate forest fragmentation and affect biodiversity.Thus land cover and forest fragmentation dynamics have become a focus of concern for natural resource management agencies and biodiversity conservation communities.However,there are few land cover datasets and forest fragmentation information available for the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve(DHR)of Nepal to develop targeted biodiversity conservation plans.In this study,these gaps were filled by characterizing land cover and forest fragmentation trends in the DHR.Using five Landsat images between 1993 and 2018,a support vector machine algorithm was applied to classify six land cover classes:forest,grasslands,barren lands,agricultural and built-up areas,water bodies,and snow and glaciers.Subsequently,two landscape process models and four landscape metrics were used to depict the forest fragmentation situations.Results showed that forest cover increased from 39.4%in 1993 to 39.8%in 2018.Conversely,grasslands decreased from 38.2%in 1993 to 36.9%in 2018.The forest shrinkage was responsible for forest loss during the period,suggesting that the loss of forest cover reduced the connectivity between forest and nonforested areas.Expansion was the dominant component of the forest restoration process,implying that it avoided the occurrence of isolated forests.The maximum value of edge density and perimeter area fractal dimension metrics and the minimum value of aggregation index were observed in 2011,revealing that forests in this year were most fragmented.These specific observations from the current analysis can help local authorities and local communities,who are highly dependent on forest resources,to better develop local forest management and biodiversity conservation plans.

Land Use/Land Cover and Forest Canopy Density Monitoring of Wafi-Golpu Project Area, Papua New Guinea

This study aims to examine the use of Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System (GIS) technology in land use/land cover mapping to aide sustainable planning and development in the Wafi-Golpu project area. At the same time, this study examines an existing method of Forest Canopy Density (FCD) model to estimate forest canopy density of the proposed deforestation site, which is known as the Advanced Exploration Feasibility Study Activities (AEFSA) area within the Wafi-Golpu Project site. The FCD model calculates the forest canopy density using the three (3) indices of vegetation, soil and shadow from the Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) satellite image of year 2013. In this study an attempt has been made to monitor the forest loss or degradation during deforestation in a natural forest stand of the Wafi-Golpu project area using forest FCD mapping and monitoring model and the findings of the study will assist the project planners and developers with their work on forest rehabilitation and reforestation for the purposes of sustainable forest management. The result of the work shows that a considerable amount of forest loss will be undertaken during the AEFSA deforestation exercise and also the findings show that a reliable land use/land cover map will greatly assist sustainable development in a resource project development period.

Spatiotemporal variation of forest land and its driving factors in the agropastoral ecotone of northern China

As an important natural resource,forest land plays a key role in the maintenance of ecological security.However,variations of forest land in the agropastoral ecotone of northern China(AENC)have attracted little attention.Taking the AENC as an example and based on remote-sensing images from 2000,2010 to 2020,we explored the spatiotemporal variation of forest land and its driving factors using the land-use transfer matrix,spatial autocorrelation analysis and spatial error model.The results showed that from 2000 to 2020,the total area of forest land in the AENC increased from 75,547.52 to 77,359.96 km^(2) and the changes were dominated by the transformations among forest land,grassland and cropland,which occurred mainly in areas with the elevation of 500-2000 m and slope of 15°-25°.There was obvious spatial agglomeration of forest land in the AENC from 2000 to 2020,with hot spots of forest land gathered in the southern marginal areas of the Yanshan Mountains and the low mountainous and hilly areas of the Loess Plateau.The sub-hot spots around hot spots moved southward,the sub-cold spots spread to the surrounding areas and the cold spots disappeared.The spatiotemporal variation of forest land resulted from the interactions of natural environment,socioeconomic and policy factors from 2000 to 2020.The variables of average annual precipitation,slope,terrain relief,ecological conversion program and afforestation policy for barren mountains affected the spatial pattern of forest land positively,while those of annual average temperature,slope and road network density influenced it negatively.