An Analysis of Land Use and Land Cover Changes, and Implications for Conservation in Mukumbura (Ward 2), Mt Darwin, Zimbabwe, 2002-2022

Understanding trends of land use land cover (LULC) changes is important for biodiversity monitoring and conservation planning, and identifying the areas affected by change and designing sustainable solutions to reduce the changes. The study aims to evaluate and quantify the historical changes in land use and land cover in Mukumbura (Ward 2), Mt Darwin, Zimbabwe, from 2002 to 2022. The objective of the study was to analyse the LULC changes in Ward 2 (Mukumbura), Mt Darwin, Northern Zimbabwe, for a period of 20 years using geospatial techniques. Landsat satellite images were processed using Google Earth Engine (GEE) and the supervised classification with maximum likelihood algorithm was employed to generate LULC maps between 2002 and 2022 with a five (5) year interval, investigating the following variables, forest cover, barren land, water cover and the fields. Findings revealed a substantial reduction in forest cover by 38.8%, water bodies (wetlands, ponds, and rivers) declined by 55.6%, whilst fields (crop/agricultural fields) increased by 93.3% and the barren land cover increased by 26.3% from 2002 to 2022. These findings point to substantial changes in LULC over the observed years. LULC changes have resulted in habitat fragmentation, reduced biodiversity, and the disruption of ecosystem functions. The study concludes that if these deforestation trends, cultivation, and settlement land expansion continue, the ward will have limited indigenous fruit trees. Therefore, the causes for LULC changes must be controlled, sustainable forest resources use practiced, hence the need to domesticate the indigenous fruit trees in arborloo toilets.

Trends of Land Use and Land Cover Change in the Savannah Ecological of the Protected Area Reserve Partielle de Dosso, Niger

Information on the dynamics of savannah is important to a country's plan to overcome the problems of uncontrolled development and environmental hazards. Taking the reserve partielle de Dosso, Niger as the case study area, this paper analyzed the long-term land use land cover change from 2002 to 2022. Satellite images were processed by using Google Earth Engine (GEE). Therefore, four major land cover classes were identified based on spectral characteristics of Land sat, namely, built-up, vegetation, cropland, bare land and water. The result revealed that barren and built-up areas increased at the expense of vegetation and water. From the four major land use land cover the large area is covered by vegetation which comprises about 192963.5 hectares followed by cropland and water consisting of 32506.43 and 1596.4 hectares respectively. The built-up area gained substantial area (most) during the study period. The reduction in some of the land cover/uses underlines the dangerous trend of the pressure poised by population growth and the changing functionality. Land cover change is influenced by a variety of societal factors operating on several spatial and temporal levels. The area estimates and spatial distributions of the LULC classes produced from the current study will assist local authorities, managers, and other stakeholders in decision-making and planning regarding forest land cover and uses.

Land use and land cover change within the Koshi River Basin of the central Himalayas since 1990

Land change is a cause and consequence of global environmental change.Land use and land cover have changed considerably due to increasing human activities and climate change,which has become the core issue of major international research projects.This study interprets land use and land cover status and the changes within the Koshi River Basin(KRB)using Landsat remote sensing(RS)image data,and employs logistic regression model to analyze the influence of natural and socioeconomic driving forces on major land cover changes.The results showed that the areas of built-up land,bare land and forest in KRB increased from 1990 to 2015,including the largest increases in forest and the highest growth rate in construction land.Areas of glacier,grassland,sparse vegetation,shrub land,cropland,and wetland all decreased over the study period.From the perspective of driving analysis,the role of human activities in land use and land cover change is significant than climate factors.Cropland expansion is the reclamation of cropland by farmers,mainly from early deforestation.However,labor force separation,geological disasters and drought are the main factors of cropland shrinkage.The increase of forest area in India and Nepal was attributed to the government’s forest protection policies,such as Nepal’s community forestry has achieved remarkable results.The expansion and contraction of grassland were both dominated by climatic factors.The probability of grassland expansion increases with temperature and precipitation,while the probability of grassland contraction decreases with temperature and precipitation.

Hydrological response to land use and land cover changes in a sub-watershed of West Liaohe River Basin,China

In recent years, the streamflow of the Laohahe Basin in China showed a dramatic decrease during the rainy season as a result of climate change and/or human activities. The objective of this work was to document significant streamflow changes caused by land use and land cover （LULC） changes and to quantify the impacts of the observed changes in Laohahe Basin. in the study area, the observed streamflow has been influenced by LULC changes, dams, and irrigation from rivers, industry, livestock and human consumption. Most importantly, the growth of population and gross domestic product （GDP） accompanied by the growth in industrial and agricultural activities, which led to LULC changes with increased residential land and cropland and decreased grassland since 2000s. Statistical methods and Variable Infiltration Capacity （VIC） hydrological model were used to estimate the effects of climate change and LULC changes on streamflow and evaportranspiration lET）. First, the streamflow data of the study area were divided into three sub-periods according to the Pettitt test. The hydrological process was then simulated by VIC model from 1964 to 2009. Furthermore, we compared the simulated results based on land use scenarios in 1989, 1999 and 2007, respectively for exploring the effect of LULC changes on the spatio-temporal distribution of streamflow and ET in the Laohahe Basin. The results suggest that, accompanied with climate change, the LULC changes and human water consumption appeared to be the most likely factors contributing to the sig- nificant reduction in streamflow in the Laohahe Basin by 64% from1999 to 2009.

Evaluating the impacts of land use and land cover changes on surface air temperature using the WRF-mosaic approach

Satellite-derived land surface data in 1980 and 2010 were used to represent land use and land cover（LULC） changes caused by the rapid economic development and human activities that have occurred over the past few decades in East Asia and China. The effects of LULC changes on the radiation budget and 2-m surface air temperature（SAT） were explored for the period using the Weather Research and Forecasting（WRF） model. The mosaic approach, which considers the N-most abundant land use types within a model grid cell（here, N = 3） and precisely describes the subgridscale LULC changes, was adopted in the integrations. The impacts of LULC changes based on two 36-year integrations showed that SAT generally decreased, with the sole exception being over eastern China, resulting in decreased SAT in China（-0.062 °C） and East Asian land areas（EAL,-0.061 °C）. The LULC changes induced changes in albedo, which influenced the radiation budget. The radiative forcings at the top of the atmosphere were-0.56 W m-2 across the whole of China, and-0.50 W m-2 over EAL. Meanwhile, the altered roughness length mainly influenced near-surface wind speeds, large-scale and upward moisture fluxes, latent heat fluxes, and cloud fractions at different altitudes. Though the impacts caused by the LULC changes were generally smaller at regional scales, the values at local scales were much stronger.

Land use and land cover change processes in China's eastern Loess Plateau

Using Landsat remote sensing images, we analyzed changes in each land use type and transitions among different land use types during land use and land cover change （LUCC） in Ningwu County, located in the eastern Loess Plateau of China, from 1990 to 2010. We found that grassland, woodland, and farmland were the main land use types in the study area, and the area of each type changed slightly from 1990 to 2010, whereas the area of water, construction land, and unused land increased greatly. For the whole area, the net change and total change were insignificant due to weak human activity intensity in most of the study area, and the LUCC was dominated by quasi-balanced two-way transitions from 1990 to 2010. The insignificant overall amount of LUCC appears to have resulted from offsetting of rapid increases in population, economic growth, and the im- plementation of a program to return farmland to woodland and grassland in 2000. This program converted more farmland into woodland and grassland from 2000 to 2010 than from 1990 to 2000, but reclamation of woodland and grassland for use as farmland continued from 2000 to 2010, and is a cause for concern to the local government.

Application of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System in Land Use and Land Cover Change

The integration and application of remote sensing （RS） and geographic in-formation system （GIS） in the study of the Land Use and Land Cover Change （LUCC） were summarized, as wel as researches on the monitoring dynamic changes in LUCC, driving force and application examples of the integration and the application of RS and GIS in simulation research. The methods and technical ap-proaches of RS and GIS in LUCC research were discussed. Views on the existing problems of the integration and the application of RS and GIS were put forward, and the future developing direction of LUCC technology was forecasted.

Land use and land cover change in Liaocheng Prefecture of China

Liaocheng Prefecture is located in North China Plain with a long reclamation history of more than 10000 years. In this study the author applied data to explain the relationship between land use pattern and physical, social and economic factors and further to find out driving forces which lead to land use changes in such an agricultural region. Data of three different time points on township level were taken into account to explain the land use pattern, and land use changes. And 40-year county level data were applied to analyze the driving forces. Canonical Correlation Analysis was conducted to explain the relationship between land use pattern and social and economic factors; and Linear Regression Analysis was used to find out driving forces of land use change, thus to project the future trend of land use change in Liaocheng Prefecture.

Identifying the Rates and Drivers of Spatiotemporal Patterns of Land Use and Land Cover Changes in the Hurungwe District, Zimbabwe: A GIS and Remote Sensing Approach

Identifying spatiotemporal patterns of land use and land cover changes (LULCC) and their impacts on the natural environment is essential in policy decisions for effective, sustainable natural resource management solutions. This study employed supervised image classification in Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud-based platform to assess the land cover land use changes for the past 30 years (1989-2020), as well as predict the land cover states and the risk of future forest loss in the next ten years, using TerrSet 20 software in Hurungwe district, Zimbabwe. The study findings revealed a net forest area and shrub loss of 32% and 10%, while croplands, water bodies, and bare lands have increased by about 171%, 7%, and 119% between 1989 and 2020, respectively. Croplands are the major contributor to the net change in forests, particularly tobacco farming. The predictive model estimated that by 2030 the district would lose approximately 7% of the current forest cover area, most likely converted into croplands, shrubs, and settlements. The results reinforce the importance of bridging the gap between socioeconomic activities and institutional policies to ensure proper natural resource management. Integrating institutional policy and socioeconomic goals is indispensable to ensure sustainable development.

Land use and land cover changes in small Carpathian catchments between the mid-19^th and early 21^st centuries and their record on the land surface

Land use and land cover(LULC) changes and their impact on the mountain environment were studied in six catchments(～10 km^2 each) in the Polish Western Carpathians from the mid-19^(th) century to the early 21^(st) century. The analysis of cadastral and orthophoto maps indicates that during the investigated period, the forest area increased, quantified by an annual change index(Annch), between +0.12% to +0.27%, with a decrease of arable land index to –0.45% and –2.28% in the analysed catchments. LULC changes were accompanied by a continuous increase in settlement developments(residential and farming houses) by 50%-140% as well as significant changes related to their spatial distribution. Abandonment of arable land and forest succession have resulted in the geomorphological transformation of hillslopes, which predominantly includes a decrease in used road density, their transformation to road cuts and gorges. Overpopulation and the domination agriculture in the past caused the expansion of unpaved roads density and then the fragmentation of hillslopes, as well as the development of agricultural terraces.

Land Use and Land Cover Change on Slope in Qiandongnan Prefecture of Southwest China

This study uses DEM （Digital Elevation Model） data and remote sensing maps of the study area in 1993, 1999, and 2009 to analyze the slope gradient change of land use patterns in Qiandongnan Prefecture, Guizhou province, China. The land use data were classified into five types, forest, farmland, grassland, water and built-up, the slope gradients were divided into four grades. Indices for analyzing land use features were defined by their proportions, transformation matrixes, land use degree and changes The results showed that all land use types can be found at every gradient. Generally, with the slope degree increased, the area of forest being augmented as well, while the area of the other land use types （farmland, grassland and build-up） declined. Moreover, a mass of farmland were shifted from other land use types from o° to 25°, while a quantity of forest were transformed from the other land use types on 〉 25° from 2993 to 2009. In terms of land use degree and changes, the area of farmland and buildup land use types decreased when slope degree increased. Finally, we calculated the five landscape pattern metrics： Patch Density （PD） value, Largest Patch Index （LPI）, Shannon＇s Diversity Index （SHDI）, Area-Weighted Mean Shape Index （AWMSI） and Contagion Index （CONTAG）. The results of metricsanalysis showed that PD values, SHDI values and CONTA values had a similar variation trend, that is, they decreased when slope degree increased. There was no obvious variation trend on LPI value.

Investigating the Use of Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques to Detect Land Use and Land Cover Change: A Review

The accuracy of change detection on the earth’s surface is important for understanding the relationships and interactions between human and natural phenomena. Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have the potential to provide accurate information regarding land use and land cover changes. In this paper, we investigate the major techniques that are utilized to detect land use and land cover changes. Eleven change detection techniques are reviewed. An analysis of the related literature shows that the most used techniques are post-classification comparison and principle component analysis. Post-classification comparison can minimize the impacts of atmospheric and sensor differences between two dates. Image differencing and image ratioing are easy to implement, but at times they do not provide accurate results. Hybrid change detection is a useful technique that makes full use of the benefits of many techniques, but it is complex and depends on the characteristics of the other techniques such as supervised and unsupervised classifications. Change vector analysis is complicated to implement, but it is useful for providing the direction and magnitude of change. Recently, artificial neural networks, chi-square, decision tree and image fusion have been frequently used in change detection. Research on integrating remote sensing data and GIS into change detection has also increased.

Shrinking greenery： Land use and land cover changes in Kurram Agency, Kohi Safid Mountains of north-western Pakistan

Deforestation and other Land Use and Land Cover(LULC) changes, driven by variety of physical and anthropogenic factors, have altered the mountainous environment. Mountains around the world including northern and north western belts of Pakistan are highly sensitive to deforestation and other LULC changes, which have profound impacts on various sectors of bio-physical and socio-economic systems. Assessment of LULC changes has high significance for protection, conservation and monitoring mountainous environment. The present study is an attempt to assess the landscape changes with particular reference to forest cover depletion in Kurram Agency located in the north western mountain belt of Pakistan. For detailed comparative analysis the study area has been divided into three sections, which coincide with the present administrative divisions of the Agency, i.e., Upper,Lower and Central Kurram. Temporal span of this study covers four decades. In this study, land use map of 1970 and land sat satellite imageries of 1987, 2000 and 2014 were used as spatial data sets. The images were processed and classified into six LULC classes through geospatial packages and change detection maps were prepared for each division and time period.Findings of the study reveal two trends in the four major LULC categories. Forest and rangeland have shrunk, on average, by 15% and 7.5% respectively while, bare soil and rocks outcrops have expanded by 89% and agriculture land by 7.2% in Kurram agency.The water bodies and snow cover have minor fluctuation in its land area. Major causes of shrinking greenery is attributed to high influx of Afghan refugees and high energy demand of growing population. However, with outflow of the refugees from Kurram agency the general trend in forest cover has reverted and deforestation rate has slowed down.

Land Use and Land Cover Change Detection in the Saudi Arabian Desert Cities of Makkah and Al-Taif Using Satellite Data

Land use/land cover (LULC) changes have become a central issue in current global change and sustainability research. Saudi Arabia has undergone significant change in land use and land cover since the government embarked on a course of intense national development 30 years ago, as a result of huge national oil revenues. This study evaluates LULC change in Makkah and Al-Taif, Saudi Arabia from 1986 to 2013 using Landsat images. Maximum likelihood and object-oriented classification were used to develop LULC maps. The change detection was executed using post-classification comparison and GIS. The results indicated that urban areas have increased over the period by approximately 174% in Makkah and 113% in Al-Taif. Analysis of vegetation cover over the study area showed a variable distribution from year to year due to changing average precipitation in this environment. Object-based classification provided slightly greater accuracy than maximum likelihood classification. Information provided by satellite remote sensing can play an important role in quantifying and understanding the relationship between population growth and LULC changes, which can assist future planning and potential environmental impacts of expanding urban areas.

The land use and land cover change database and its relative studies in China

In the mid-1990s, we established the national operative dynamic information serving systems on natural resources and environment. During building the land-use/land-cover change (LUCC) database for the mid-1990s, 520 scenes of remotely sensed images of Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) were interpreted into land-use/land-cover categories at scale of 1:100,000 under overall digital software environment after being geo-referenced and ortho-rectified. The vector map of land-use/land-cover in China at the scale of 1:100,000 was recently converted into a 1-km raster database that captures all of the high-resolution land-use information by calculating area percentage for each kind of land use category within every cell. Being designed as an operative dynamic information serving system, monitoring the change in land-use/land-cover at national level was executed. We have completed the updating of LUCC database by comparing the TM data in the mid-1990s with new data sources received during 1999–2000 and 1989–1990. The LUCC database has supported greatly the national LUCC research program in China and some relative studies are incompletely reviewed in this paper.

Review of studies on land use and land cover change in Nepal

Land use and land cover(LULC) in Nepal has undergone constant change over the past few decades due to major changes caused by anthropogenic and natural factors and their impacts on the national and regional environment and climate.This comprehensive review of past and present studies of land use and land cover change(LUCC) in Nepal concentrates on cropland, grassland, forest, snow/glacier cover and urban areas. While most small area studies have gathered data from different sources and research over a short period, across large areas most historical studies have been based on aerial photographs such as the Land Resource Mapping Project in 1986. The recent trend in studies in Nepal is to focus on new concepts and techniques to analyze LULC status on the basis of satellite imagery, with the help of geographic information system and remote sensing tools. Studies based on historical documents, and historical and recent spatial data on LULC, have clearly shown an increase in cropland areas in Nepal,and present results indicating different rates and magnitudes. A decrease in forest and snow/glacier coverage is reported in most studies. Little information is available on grassland and urban areas from past research. The unprecedented rate of urbanization in Nepal has led to significant urban land changes over the past 30 years. Meanwhile, long term historical LUCC research in Nepal is required for extensive work on spatially explicit reconstructions on the basis of historical and primary data collection, including LULC archives and drivers for future change.

LAND USE AND LAND COVER CHANGE IN CHINA

This paper deals with land use and land cover change in China in the last 500 years. It aims at sensitizing related fields in giving due consideration on integration of environmental change and social economic development process and at proposing a framework for discussion towards further study. Based on historical review,several important changes were summarized as: natural vegetation were replaced by secondary or cultivated Plants, land cover changes differ from time to time and from place to place:and cropping pattern change is a sensitive indicator of land cover change in China. In the history of Cnina, many factors contributed to land use and land cover change either in positive or negative Ways. Four major driving forces were concluded, namely, climatic change, social transformation and turbulence, technology improvement, and international trade competition. In the last Part of tne Paper, a proposal on 'land use/land cover cnange' is framed, so as to calling comments on improving tne study and collaborations from varied authorities and researcn institutions.

Land Use and Land Cover Changes in Awash National Park, Ethiopia: Impact of Decentralization on the Use and Management of Resources

We analyzed the magnitude of land use land cover changes and identified drivers of those changes at Awash National Park, Ethiopia, using aerial photographs, satellite images and field observation. Scattered bushland—the most important habitat for the wild animals, declined drastically. Areas under grassland, farmland or open land increased over the study period. Policy and park border demarcation issues were identified as drivers of change before 1995 (before decentralization), whereas livestock grazing was indicated to be the leading driver of change after 1995. Major events and causes that largely explained these changes include immigration of the Ittu community, land tenure system, drought, poaching, use policy issues and regional economic and infrastructural development. Our study reveals that the sustainability of the park calls for an immediate action to reduce the ever increasing human and livestock pressure on park resources.

Land Use and Land Cover Changes in Arid Region: The Case New Urbanized Zone, Northeast Cairo, Egypt

The spatial characteristics of land cover are useful for understanding the various impacts of human activity on the overall ecological conditions of the urban environment. The multi-temporal Landsat images (TM) between the years of 1990 and 2003 were used together with the Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques to evaluate the environmental changes in the area around Gabal El Hamza and the surrounding urban expansion in the new urban cities at the northeast side of the Greater Cairo by using the post classification change detection technique and field investigation. Five major units were determined including: urban, cultivated land, Holocene sand dunes, Oligocene basalt and Miocene–Pleistocene sediments. The cultivated cover changed from 89.6 to 150.4 km2 for the years of 1990 and 2003 respectively. The urban area increased from 49.5 to 120.9 km2 with a great value of change reached 71.3 km2 . The basaltic exposures changed from 3 to 3.75 km2 . The sandy cover decreased from 68.9 to 60.1 km2 and the exposures of the rock units changed from 904.8 to 780.8 km2 with removing 124 km2 in 13 years. The total accuracy of the Landsat-derived land cover data was 95 and 92% for the years 1990 and 2003 respectively. Landsat TM thermal infrared data indicated that the surface temperature was strongly affected by the land cover changes.

Land Use and Land Cover Changes in a Tropical River Basin: A Case from Bharathapuzha River Basin, Southern India

A study of the spatial and temporal changes in land use and land cover (LULC) was conducted using Remote Sensing and GIS. We analyzed the LULC of Bharathapuzha river basin, south India using multispectral LANDSAT imageries of 1973-2005 time periods. 31% depletion in the natural vegetation cover and 8.7% depletion in wetland agriculture area were seen in the basin during the period. On the other hand the urban spread in the basin increased by 32%. The study highlights the need for a scientific management plan for the sustainability of the river basin, keeping in view the recent climatic anomalies and hydrological conditions of the basin.