Landuse/landcover changes in Zhangye oasis of Hexi Corridor

Taking two f alse color composite Landsat 5 TM (Thematic Mapper) images of band 4,3,2 taken in 1995 and 2000 as data resources, this paper carried out study on LUCC of Zhan gye oasis in recent five years by interpretation according to land reso urces classification system of 1:100,000 Resources and Environmental Data base of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The results show that great changes have taken place in landuse/landcover in Zhangye oasis since 1 995: (1) Changes of landuse structure show that cropland and land for urban c onstruction and built-up area increased, on the contrary, water area an d grassland decreased. These changes reflect the deterioration of eco-e nvironment and the acceleration of urbanization, and also indicate the problems existing in the arrangement of water and land resources betw een the upper and lower reaches of the Heihe River. (2) Regional diff erences of landuse/landcover are evident, characterized by following asp ects: in Sunan County located in Qilian Mountain area, unused land an d grassland decreased, but cropland and land for urban construction an d built-up area increased. In Minle and Shandan counties located in f oothills, unused land, water area and cropland decreased, but grassland and land for urban construction and built-up area increased. In Zhan gye City, Linze County and Gaotai County located in plain area of th e middle reaches of the Heihe River, unused land, water area and gra ssland decreased, while woodland, cropland and land for urban construction and built-up area increased.

Study on the Landcover Changes Based on GIS and RS Technologies: A Case Study of the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve in the Hinterland Tibet Plateau, China

With global warming and increased human activity, more and more ground surface areas have been affected, which leads to the creation of many problems. To understand the ecological environment changes in a typical alpine region, information on landcovers changes in the study area from 2000 to 2020 was obtained by combining remote sensing, geographic information system, and traditional statistical analysis for the Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China. The results show that the changes of surface cover in Sanjiangyuan National Nature Reserve are relatively concentrated, mainly distributed in the sections of south, northwest, central, and northeast, with the area of the changed regions and the unchanged regions being 31,127.45 km2 and 271,941.37 km2, respectively. The transformation between the various types of ground landcover is mainly characterized by a shift from other types to grassland and from grassland to bare land. And the regions of change are mostly concentrated between 3500 - 4600 m in elevation.

Assessment of Stakeholders’ Perceptions of Landuse/Landcover Change Drivers in Abuja, Nigeria

Landuse/Landcover(LULC)changes are recognised as some of the major causes of environmental problems like land degradation and climate change.To achieve sustainability,we need to properly understand such changes in order to have adequate information that will enable us to design and implementing measures to mitigate their negative impacts.Doing this particularly requires a proper understanding of how stakeholders perceive the changes in general and their drivers in particular.Unfortunately,not much is known for many areas about the perspective of landuse stakeholders on drivers of LULC changes.This paper reports the results of a study conducted to examine the perceptions of different landuse stakeholders on drivers of LULC changes in Abuja Federal Capital Territory,Nigeria.Questionnaire survey was utilised,involving 514 households across four settlements,2 rural(Karshi and Orozo)and 2 urban(Nyanya and Karu)towns in the territory,which were complimented with Focus Group Discussions were conducted.The results obtained showed that urban dwellers are largely aware of drivers of changes in socio-economic drivers(physical development on lands,more commercial complex development and more institutional development).Rural dwellers are largely aware of environmental drivers of LULC changes(bush burning,livestock overgrazing,collections of wood and medicinal plants,and agricultural expansion).It was concluded that there is the need to bring about a harmonisation of the perceptions of LULC change drivers by the rural and urban dwellers so as to bring about a common front understanding and responding to LULC changes in the study area.

Seasonal patterns of spatial differentiation of landcover change in China

Using the 1°×1° NOAA AVHRR NDVI data set in China, an index on the spatial different gradient of landcover is created. Then based on the index and supported by the geographical information system, it is revealed through principal component and factor analyses methods that there exist four types of seasonal patterns of spatial differentiation of landcover change in China, i.e. November to next March type, June to September type, May or October type and April type.

Influence of local and landscape environmental factors on alpha and beta diversity of macroinvertebrates in Andean rivers

Research on macroinvertebrate community structure in Andean rivers has been oriented towards describing patterns of alpha and gamma diversity by taking into account environmental predictors at local spatial scales(e.g.,micro-and mesohabitats).However,the patterns of beta diversity and the importance of landscape-scale variables have been evaluated to a lesser extent.The objective of this study was to describe the patterns of alpha and beta diversity of benthic macroinvertebrates in the Andean rivers of the Orinoco basin and their relationship with local and landscape environmental variation.A stratified random sampling of macroinvertebrates was carried out at 40 sites(comprising an altitudinal range of between 500 and 2900 m.a.s.l.),local and landscape variables were measured.Our results showed that the variation of alpha diversity was influenced by local and landscape variables,which are directly and indirectly related to the contribution of sediments,substrate composition and flow velocity,providing a heterogeneity of habitats.Global beta diversity was explained by the combined effect of local and landscape variables.Regarding the beta diversity phenomena,turnover was predominant while nestedness presented a minor contribution and both were explained in greater proportion by local descriptors and some landscape variables,specifically those of a geomorphological nature.Our results concur with the view of an environmental and spatial hierarchy within the river habitat and highlight the influence of multiple scales on macroinvertebrate diversity.The above suggests that both local and landscape scales must necessarily be considered for environmental management and the conservation of Andean lotic ecosystems.

Long-term vegetation development on a wildfire slope in Innerzwain(Styria,Austria)

Forest fires in mountainous areas can cause severe defores-tation which can potentially trigger secondary natural hazards like debris falls and avalanches. We documented an extreme case study for the range of possible post-fire land cover （LC） dynamics. We investigated a 15-ha, steep （10°-65°） burnt slope in Styria （Austria） at elevation of 760-1130 m, which burned in 1946 and has not fully recovered to date. Seven 8-class legend LC maps were produced （1954, 1966, 1973, 1982, 1998, 2004, 2009） and integrated in a vector-based GIS, mainly by on-screen interpretation of aerial photos. Our aim was to clarify how post-wildfire LC dynamics take place on a severely damaged, steep slope and to give a basic projection of the future vegetation recovery process. The pre-fire Pinus sylvestrisstands have been mainly replaced by Picea abies and Larix decidua. Regeneration proceeded mainly from the base of the slope upwards. All tree species together still cover no more than 40% of the slope after more than 60 years of recovery, while grassland communities and rock/debris areas have expanded. Multitemporal analysis showed a slow but steady increase in woodland cover. Degraded rock/debris areas, however, expanded as well because soil erosion and related debris flows remained active. Slope angle （with a threshold value of approx. 35-40°） seemed to control whether erosion or regeneration prevailed. According to a simple extrapolation, the slope will not reach its former condition before 2070. This extreme disturbance window of more than 120 years is owed to the steepness of the slope and to the shallow soils on dolomitic bedrock that were severely damaged by the fire. The neglect of any game fencing is a further factor slowing regeneration.

Land cover change detection based on satellite data for an arid area to the south of Aksu in Taklimakan desert

An experiment is made to detect the land-cover change in the area located to the south of Aksu in the northern Taklimakan desert through analyses of satellite data pixel by pixel basis. The analyzed data are those observed in the late summer and early autumn of 1973, 1977, 1993 and 1995. As a parameter of land-cover, SAVI (Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index) derived from the data of Landsat MSS and JERS-1 OPS (Optical Sensor) is used. The result indicates the increase of vegetation in the oasis areas, confluent area of the Yarkant and Kashgar Rivers and around reservoirs while little change occurs in the desert area. The 1973 satellite image shows the abundant flow in the Yarkant River while the river is almost dried up in the satellite images of later years. The trend of the decrease in the Hotan River flow is recognized although not so dramatic as that of the Yarkant River.

Combining Landsat-8 spectral bands with ancillary variables for land cover classification in mountainous terrains of northern Pakistan

Landsat-8 spectral values have been used to map the earth’s surface information for decades.However,forest types and other land-use/land-cover(LULC)in the mountain terrains exist on different altitudes and climatic conditions.Hence,spectral information alone cannot be sufficient to accurately classify the forest types and other LULC,especially in high mountain complex.In this study,the suitability of Landsat-8 spectral bands and ancillary variables to discriminate forest types,and other LULC,using random forest(RF)classification algorithm for the Hindu Kush mountain ranges of northern Pakistan,was discussed.After prior-examination(multicollinearity)of spectral bands and ancillary variables,three out of six spectral bands and five out of eight ancillary variables were selected with threshold correlation coefficients r2<0.7.The selected datasets were stepwise stacked together and six Input Datasets(ID)were created.The first ID-1 includes only the Surface Reflectance(SR)of spectral bands,and then in each ID,the extra one ancillary variable including Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI),Normalized Difference Water Index(NDWI),Normalized Difference Snow Index(NDSI),Land Surface Temperature(LST),and Digital Elevation Model(DEM)was added.We found an overall accuracy(OA)=72.8%and kappa coefficient(KC)=61.9%for the classification of forest types,and other LULC classes by using the only SR bands of Landsat-8.The OA=81.5%and KC=73.7%was improved by the addition of NDVI,NDWI,and NDSI to the spectral bands of Landsat-8.However,the addition of LST and DEM further increased the OA,and Kappa coefficient(KC)by 87.5%and 82.6%,respectively.This indicates that ancillary variables play an important role in the classification,especially in the mountain terrain,and should be adopted in addition to spectral bands.The output of the study will be useful for the protection and conservation,analysis,climate change research,and other mountains forest-related management information.

Effects of Heterogeneous Vegetation on the Surface Hydrological Cycle

Using the three-layer variable infiltration capacity （VIC-3L） hydrological model and the successive interpolation approach （SIA） of climate factors, the authors studied the effect of different land cover types on the surface hydrological cycle. Daily climate data from 1992 to 2001 and remotely-sensed leaf area index （LAI） are used in the model. The model is applied to the Baohe River basin, a subbasin of the Yangtze River basin, China, with an area of 2500 km^2. The vegetation cover types in the Baohe River basin consist mostly of the mixed forest type （-85%）. Comparison of the modeled results with the observed discharge data suggests that： （1） Daily discharges over the period of 1992-2001 simulated with inputs of remotely-sensed land cover data and LAI data can generally produce observed discharge variations, and the modeled annual total discharge agrees with observations with a mean difference of 1.4%. The use of remote sensing images also makes the modeled spatial distributions of evapotranspiration physically meaningful. （2） The relative computing error （RCE） of the annual average discharge is -24.8% when the homogeneous broadleaf deciduous forestry cover is assumed for the watershed. The error is 21.8% when a homogeneous cropland cover is assumed and -14.32% when an REDC （Resource and Environment Database of China） land cover map is used. The error is reduced to 1.4% when a remotely-sensed land cover at 1000-m resolution is used.

Canonical corelation analysis to land-use structure and its driving forces——Taking Yulin Prefecture as an example

In this paper, one of the most classical statistical methods, Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) is applied to identify quantitatively the driving forces of landuse structure in Yulin Prefecture. The main analysis is carried out through the software SPSS with the data on the level of towns and townships in 1992. The results indicate that landuse structure is determined by comprehensive action of different factors. Landuse structure with rural characteristics is mainly determined by geographical factors such as the elevation, temperature and precipitation, while the landuse structure with urban characteristics is mainly determined by demographic and socioeconomic conditions. At the same time, tests were carried out through the canonical correlation coefficient and redundancy analysis.

Mapping Glitches of Juniper Forests in Lebanon under Natural Conditions and Anthropogenic Activities

In 1965, the first forest map of Lebanon was produced. It is the oldest spatial distribution representation of junipers. Landcover maps of 2002 and 2010 are the most detailed spatial distribution that spatially shows forests. Juniper forests are found in Lebanon as mainly as clear to low density coverage. High-density juniper forests are rarely found and only on Mount-Lebanon. Juniper forests are also mixed with oaks on the Eastern flank of Mount-Lebanon. Mapping juniper forests have demonstrated high degree of complexity, especially because of their low density and being mixed. The spatial representation of juniper forests was compared between the 1965 forest map and the landcover maps of 2002 and 2010. GIS environment was used to extract juniper forests from all maps. The degree of matching between juniper forests was investigated regarding the total area and spatial overlapping. Juniper forests were examined to their spatial locations, comparing the three maps. Spatial changes and anthropogenic effect were obtained, using Google Earth facilities. Google earth had satellite images acquired since 2014. Landcover maps of 2002 and 2010 have spatially matched forest map of 1965 by about 90% and 50% respectively. Spatial coverage of juniper forests were about 12,000, 26,000 and 28,000 ha on the 1965 forest map, landcover maps of 2003 and 2010 respectively. Anti-Lebanon juniper forests were not well represented on both landcover maps. Anthropogenic activities were mainly agriculture that affected juniper forests. Cultivations have replaced about 2% of the spatial coverage of 1965 Juniper forests. Quarries and urban existed inside juniper forests but in very limited areas. Juniper forests delineation did not completely match neither between the available maps, nor to the ground. Some juniper forests were not spatially represented on all maps or existing maps represented only portion of juniper forests. Juniper forest mapping requires more consideration and field investigation. High spatial resolution satellite images are among the solutions but delimiting juniper would require extensive fieldwork and specific remote sensing treatments. Being centuries old forests and characterized by High Mountain elevations, these important conifer forests are needed to be mapped with higher accuracy for better statistics and conservation.

Watershed Characteristics and Landuse Analysis of Govindsagar Catchment, Lalitpur (UP) India Using Remote Sensing and GIS Techniques

Watershed characteristics and land use/land cover study is necessary, for improved decision-making and for the resource management strategies. The methodology necessitates the provision of the base map from SOI toposheet, delineation of drainage, preparation of slope and flow direction map using ASTER data and for the land use/land cover change detection, visual interpretation has been carried out using IRSP6-LISS-III data of 2005 and 2015. The land use/land cover analysis discloses several categories of land cover as well as land use present in Govindsagar variation from 2005 to 2015. The study area is mainly cramped to cultivated land and uncultivated land which show changes since last decade, there is an increase in cultivated land of about 4.86% of the geographical area where as uncultivated land (fallow land) shows a decline of 1.61% of the total geographical area, morphometric analysis reveals that area has impermeable subsurface materials and mountainous relief with dendritic drainage pattern with low surface runoff.

Assessing the Availability of Land and Water Resources for Production of Energy Crops in Southern Africa

Production of energy crops is perceived as a potential source of alternative energy for petroleum oil. However, it is cru-cial to ensure that there is adequate land and water available for production of energy crops before indulging into the business of producing such crops. This paper assesses the availability of land and water resources for production of energy crops in the SADC region using landuse/landcover data, hydrological and meteorological data, as well as socioeconomic data. It is found that Botswana and Mozambique have large amounts of bushland that can be used for expansion of agricultural land including production of energy crops. Zimbabwe has the highest amount of land under cultivation, which makes it difficult for the country to expand its agricultural land. However, land reform processes taking place in Zimbabwe provides a good opportunity to diversify agricultural production including reallocation of farms for production of energy crops. Mozambique has favorable rainfall for production of maize and sugarcane, whereas Zimbabwe can explore growing Jatropha on degraded land and use irrigation for cultivation of sugarcane. High frequency of crop failure in Botswana makes it difficult to grow maize or sugarcane as energy crop. The country can promote production of sweet sorghum, which is traditionally grown by small scale farmers, and explore production of Jatropha in degraded and desert land. A regional approach to address land and water requirements for production of energy crops is considered important as compared to planning for production in each country as the constraints and potential of each country can be fully recognized. More detailed country specific research is needed on the production of the specified energy crops to ensure sustainability of the production systems.

Democratization of ecosystem services--a radical approach for assessing nature's benefits in the face of urbanization

Objectives:(1)To evaluate how ecosystem services may be utilized to either reinforce or fracture the planning and development practices that emerged from segregation and eco-nomic exclusion;(2)To survey the current state of ecosystem service assessments and synthesize a growing number of recommendations from the literature for renovating ecosys-tem service analyses.Methods:Utilizing current maps of ecosystem service distribution in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality,South Africa,we considered how a democratized process of assessing ecosys-tem services will produce a more nuanced representation of diverse values in society and capture heterogeneity in ecosystem structure and function.Results:We propose interventions for assessing ecosystem services that are inclusive of a broad range of stakeholders'values and result in actual quantification of social and ecological processes.We demonstrate how to operationalize a pluralistic framework for ecosystem service assessments.Conclusion:A democratized approach to ecosystem service assessments is a reimagined path to rescuing a poorly implemented concept and designing and managing future social-ecological systems that benefit people and support ecosystem integrity.It is the responsi-bility of scientists who do ecosystem services research to embrace more complex,pluralistic frameworks so that sound and inclusive scientific information is utilized in decision-making.