Exploring the Forest Cover Changes and Influential Factors of Dongsithouane National Production Forest Area, Savannakhet Province, Lao PDR

The Dongsithouane National Production Forest (DNPF) is one of the largest natural forest areas in Savannakhet, Lao PDR, which has been a vital support for the local community’s livelihood, Recently, significant changes in land use and land cover (LULC) have been observed in this area, leading to a reduction of natural forests. There were two separate methods of this study: firstly, to identify LULC changes across three different periods, spectral imagery from the Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM) for the years 2001 and 2011, and the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) for 2021 were used as the primary data sources. The satellite images were preprocessed for various forest classes, including pretreatment of the top of atmosphere reflectance by using QGIS software’s semi-automatic classification plug-in (SCP), and ArcGIS was used for post-classification. A supervised classification approach was applied to the satellite images from 2001, 2011, and 2021 to generate diverse maps of LULC. Secondly, a household survey dataset was used to investigate influential factors. Approximately 220 households were interviewed in order to collect socio-economic information (including data on population growth, increased business activities, location of the area, agriculture land expansion, and need for settlement land). Household survey data was analyzed by using SPSS. Descriptive statistics, including frequency distributions and percentages, were applied to observe characteristics. Additionally, a binary logistic regression model was used to analyze the socioeconomic factors related to LULC change in DNPF. Key findings indicated a decline in natural forest areas within the study site. Specifically, both dry dipterocarp forest (−11.35%) and mixed deciduous forest (−0.18%) decreased from 2001 to 2021. The overall accuracy of the LULC maps was 94%, 86%, and 89% for the years 2001, 2011, and 2021 respectively. In contrast, agricultural land increased significantly by 155.70%, while built-up land, and water bodies increased by 65.54% and 35.33%, respectively. The results also highlighted a significant increase in construction land, up to 65.54%. Furthermore, the study found a correlation between agricultural expansion and a reduction of forest areas, along with an increase in built-up land along the forest areas’ boundaries. Timber exploitation and charcoal production also contributed to the decline in forest cover. The logistic regression model identified significant determinants of LULC change, including the area’s location, agricultural land expansion, increased business activity, and the need for settlement land. These factors have influenced the management of DNPF. Urgent sustainable management practices and actions, including forest ecosystem protection, village agricultural zoning, water source and watershed protection and public awareness, are required to preserve the forest areas of DNPF.

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.

Quantitative Simulation of Dynamic Changes in Cultivated Land in Areas of Reclamation and Returning Cultivated Land to Forest or Pastures under RCPs Climate Scenarios

Northeast China as one of important agricultural production bases is an area under reclamation and returning cultivated land to forests or pastures. Therefore, it is of great practical significance in guaranteeing the sustainable development and national food security to study the spatial and temporal variation of cultivated land in Northeast China under future climate scenarios. In this study, based on data of land use, natural environment and social-economy, dynamics of land system（DLS） model was used to to simulate the spatial distribution and changing trends of cultivated land in the typical areas of reclamation and returning cultivated land to forest or pastures in Northeast China during 2010-2030 under land use planning scenario and representative concentration pathways（RCPs） scenarios quantitatively.The results showed that the area of cultivated land had an overall decreasing trend under the land use planning scenario, but the area of upland field increased slightly from 2000 to 2010 and then declined greatly, while the area of paddy field continuously declined from 2000 to 2030. Under the Asia-Pacific Integrated model（AIM）scenario, the total area of cultivated land had a tendency to increase considerably,with the upland field expanding more obviously and the paddy field declining slightly.In addition, the cultivated land showed a greater decreasing trend under the model for energy supply strategy alternatives and their general environmental impact（MESSAGE） scenario compared to the land use planning scenario. Moreover, analysis on the conversion between different land use types indicated that the reclamation and returning cultivated land to forests or pastures was likely to continue under future scenarios, but the frequency of occurrence could decrease as the time goes by. The conclusions can provide significant decision-making information for the rational agricultural planning and cultivated land protection in Northeast China to adapt to the climate change.

Simulation on the dynamics of forest area changes in Northeast China

There is plenty of forests in Northeast China which contributes a lot to the conservation of water and land resources, produces timber products, and provides habitats for a huge number of wild animals and plants. With changes of socio-economic factors as well as the geophysical conditions, there are dramatic changes on the spatial patterns of forest area. In this sense, it is of great significance to shed light on the dynamics of forest area changes to find the underlining reasons for shaping the changing patterns of forest area in Northeast China. To explore the dynamics of forest area change in Northeast China, an econometric model is developed which is composed of three equations identifying forestry production, conversion from open forest to closed forest and conversion from other land uses to closed forest so as to explore the impacts on the forest area changes from demographic, social, economic, location and geophysical factors. On this basis, we employ the Dynamics of Land System （DLS） model to simulate land-use conversions between forest area and non-forest cover and the land-use conversions within the sub-classes of forest area for the period 2000-2020 under business as usual scenario, environmental protection scenario and economic growth scenario. The simulation results show that forest area will expand continuously and there exist various kinds of changing patterns for the sub-classes of forest area, for example, closed forest will expand continuously and open forest and shrub will decrease a little bit, while area of other forest will keep intact. The research results provide meaningful decision-making information for conserving and exploiting the forest resources and makJng out the planning for forestry production Jn the Northeast China region.

Young and old forest in the boreal:critical stages of ecosystem dynamics and management under global change

The circumboreal forest encompasses diverse landscape structures, dynamics and forest age distributions determined by their physical setting, and historical and current disturbance regimes. However, due to intensifying forest utilisation, and in certain areas due to increasing natural disturbances, boreal forest age-class structures have changed rapidly, so that the proportion of old forest has substantially declined, while that of young post-harvest and post-natural-disturbance forest proportions have increased. In the future, with a warming climate in certain boreal regions, this trend may further be enhanced due to an increase in natural disturbances and large-scale use of forest biomass to replace fossil-based fuels and products.The major drivers of change of forest age class distributions and structures include the use of clearcut shortrotation harvesting, more frequent and severe natural disturbances due to climate warming in certain regions. The decline in old forest area, and increase in managed young forest lacking natural post-disturbance structural legacies,represent a major transformation in the ecological conditions of the boreal forest beyond historical limits of variability.This may introduce a threat to biodiversity, ecosystem resilience and long-term adaptive capacity of the forest ecosystem.To safeguard boreal forest biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, and to maintain the multiple services provided to societies by this forest biome, it is pivotal to maintain an adequate share and the ecological qualities of young postdisturbance stages, along with mature forest stages with old-growth characteristics. This requires management for natural post-disturbance legacy structures, and innovative use of diverse uneven-aged and continuous cover management approaches to maintain critical late-successional forest structures in landscapes.

Comparison and Analysis of Agricultural and Forest Land Changes in Typical Agricultural Regions of Northern Mid-latitudes

The northeastern China, the United States, and the western Europe are important agricultural regions both on the global and regional scales. The westem Europe has a longer history of agricultural land development than the eastem United States. These two regions have changed from the deforestation and reclamation phase in the past to the current land abandonment and reforestation phase. Compared with the two regions, large-scale land exploitation has only been practiced in the northeastern China during the last century. After a short high-intensity deforestation and reclamation period, agricultural and forest lands are basically in a dynamic steady state. By comparing domestic and international agro-forestry development and considering the ecological environment and socio-economic bene- fits that can be derived from agro-forestry, this paper suggests that large area of reforestation would be inevitable in future though per- sistent and large agricultural demand in coming decades even more. And local reforestation at slope farmland with ecological vulner- ability should be imperative at present to avoid severer damage. At the same time, from the perspective of Land Change Science, the results demonstrate that the research on land use change in the agro-forestry ecotone is typical and critical, particularly those dealing with the analysis of spatial and temporal characteristics and the simulation of climate, hydrology, and other environmental effects.

A Probe into the Dynamic Change of Land Use in the Southern Loess Plateau

In order to reveal the characteristics of land use change in the south loess plateau,this paper tentatively divided Loess Plateau into North and South under the support of GIS,and then introduced land use spatial temporal dynamic model,analyzed land use dynamic change in provincial scale. The results showed: during the 25 years,construction land area increased from 3 555. 99 km2 to 4 794. 28 km2,unused land decreased by 0. 02 percentage points,forest land area increased from 51 011. 31 km2 to 51 066. 79 km2,waters increased of 0. 01 percentage points,farmland area decreased to 98 561. 57 km2 from 100 004. 79 km2,grassland area increased by 0.08 percentage points. Land use change important values in province scale on each were not identical,showed obvious regional differences.

Spatial assessment of forest cover and land-use changes in the Hindu-Kush mountain ranges of northern Pakistan

Anthropogenic activities and natural processes are continuously altering the mountainous environment through deforestation, forest degradation and other land-use changes. It is highly important to assess, monitor and forecast forest cover and other land-use changes for the protection and conservation of mountainous environment. The present study deals with the assessment of forest cover and other land-use changes in the mountain ranges of Dir Kohistan in northern Pakistan, using high resolution multi-temporal SPOT-5 satellite images. The SPOT-5 satellite images of years 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2013 were acquired and classified into land-cover units. In addition, forest cover and land-use change detection map was developed using the classified maps of 2004 and 2013. The classified maps were verified through random field samples and Google Earth imagery(Quick birds and SPOT-5). The results showed that during the period 2004 to 2013 the area of forest land decreased by 6.4%, however, area of range land and agriculture land have increased by 22.1% and 2.9%, respectively. Similarly, barren land increased by 1.1%, whereas, area of snow cover/glacier is significantly decreased by 21.3%. The findings from the study will be useful for forestry and landscape planning and can be utilized by the local, provincial and national forest departments; and REDD+ policy makers in Pakistan.

Study on dynamic changes of land desertification in the circum-lake zone of the Qinghai Lake in the past 30 years supported by Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System

The circum-lake zone of the Qinghai Lake is one of the most serious regions of desertification on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Based on Remote Sensing （RS） and Geographical Information System （GIS） techniques, the four sets of remote sensing images acquired in 1976, 1987, 1995, and 2006 were selected to conduct thematic information extraction in 14,300 km2 of land in the circum-lake zone using the Earth Resource Data Analysis System （ERDAS） image and information processing function. In the meantime the off-site interpretation and filed check-correction methods were used to recon- struct the temporal-spatial dynamic changes and differentiation patterns of land desertification in the circum-lake zone in the past 30 years, and based on this, the developmental trend of land desertification in the next 20 years was predicted. The results of the study show that in the past 30 years land desertification in the region experienced a continuous fluctuation between rapid- and slow-development processes in time, while in space it exhibited a few small patchy distributions or sporadic distributions in many places while at the same time, four large sand-dominated distributions stood out and evolved into a circum-lake belt differentiation pattern with a lakeside dike as the connecting line. Due to the integrated effects of climate changes, human activities and artificial rehabilitation, land desertification area in the region in the next 20 years will exhibit an increasing trend in the first 15 years and then increase at a slower rate, and afterward occur in a reverse, decreasing trend.

The Dynamic Change in the Total Arable Land and its Driving Forces in Tongling City of Anhui Province

According to Anhui Statistical Yearbook( 2003-2012) and the second national land survey data,this article analyzes the current situation of land use and the dynamic change in the total arable land in Tongling City. On the basis of this,using grey relational analysis,this article analyzes the driving forces for arable land changes in Tongling City. Studies show that population growth,the improvement of level of urbanization and the rapid development of the economy are the main driving forces for arable land changes. Based on the findings,the strategies are put forth in order to ensure the dynamic balance of total arable land.

Study on Dynamic Changes of Land Utilization and Landscape Layout in Pearl River Estuary

Taking advantage of remote sensing(RS) technology and geographic information system(GIS) technology to interpret the four periods' data of remote sensing images of Pearl River Estuary in the years of 1990,1995,2000,and 2005,the changes in land utilization and landscape layout of Pearl River Estuary have been analyzed with reference to land utilization dynamic model and quantitative method in landscape ecology.Results indicate several points as followings.①Located in the region typical of high-speed economic development,Pearl River Estuary shows noticeable changes in land types and evident spatial temporal difference.During these 15 years,the areas of cultivated land and forests have experienced dramatic decline while the land for construction purposes shows the trend of powerful increase.②On the prospect of variation,landscape metrics have indicated great differences among other landscape pattern indices except for Area-Weighted Mean Patch Fractal Dimension(AWMPFD) especially during the period from 1990 to 1995 which experiences the most obvious changes.③On the prospect of landscape,landscape pattern indices also indicate great changes in the landscape layout of Pearl River Estuary from 1990 to 2005 as well as noticeable increase in the number of patches,and various landscape pattern indices show the increase in the degree of regional landscape fragmentation and increase in diversity.

Drivers of spatial structure in thinned forests

Background:As is widely known,an increasing number of forest areas were managed to preserve and enhance the health of forest ecosystems.However,previous research on forest management has often overlooked the importance of structure-based.Aims:Our objectives were to define the direction of structure-based forest management.Subsequently,we investigated the relationships between forest structure and the regeneration,growth,and mortality of trees under different thinning treatments.Ultimately,the drivers of forest structural change were explored.Methods:On the basis of 92 sites selected from northeastern China,with different recovery time (from 1 to 15years) and different thinning intensities (0–59.9%) since the last thinning.Principal component analysis (PCA)identified relationships among factors determining forest spatial structure.The structural equation model (SEM)was used to analyze the driving factors behind the changes in forest spatial structure after thinning.Results:Light thinning (0–20%trees removed) promoted forest regeneration,and heavy thinning (over 35% of trees removed) facilitated forest growth.However,only moderate thinning (20%–35%trees removed) created a reasonable spatial structure.While dead trees were clustered,and they were hardly affected by thinning intensity.Additionally,thinning intensity,recovery time,and altitude indirectly improve the spatial structure of the forest by influencing diameter at breast height (DBH) and canopy area.Conclusion:Creating larger DBH and canopy area through thinning will promote the formation of complex forest structures,which cultivates healthy and stable forests.

Intensities of human disturbance dictate the floral diversity in tropical forest:the case of a secondary forest in Benguet, Philippines

This study inventoried the floral diversity of a secondary forest in Tuba,Benguet,Philippines as affected by different intensities of human disturbance.This study is unique from other land use studies in Southeast Asia in having conventional farms as the most disturbed land use while other sites have oil palm plantations.A total of 267 species belonging to 222 genera and 78 families was documented.Results showed that the level of human disturbance is the major factor affecting the floral diversity while the effect of elevation is secondary.The level of human disturbance is significantly associated with species richness,species composition,dominant species and biodiversity indices.Greater human disturbance,as in the case of conventional farms,results in lower species richness,predominantly weed composition,dominant weed species and lower biodiversity indices.On the other hand,lesser human disturbance(as in the case of secondary forest)leads to higher species richness,greater native species composition,dominance of indigenous species,and higher diversity indices.The most disturbed land use experienced the greatest loss of species richness,change in floristic composition and vegetation structure,as well as a shift from native to alien-dominated plant communities.These results showed that the effect of land use change is not limited to species richness but also to species composition,dominant species and biodiversity indices.Locally,the study is an important baseline data for biodiversity conservation of the Marcos Highway Watershed Forest Reserve.

Estimating Ecological Characteristics and Carbon Stock in Uneven-Aged Plantations of Acacia senegal L. in the Savannah Woodlands of Sudan

The aim of this study was to assess Acacia senegal trees’ characteristics as well as evaluate the carbon stock under a variety of ages in the El Demokeya forest in Sudan, where the Gum Arabic belt is located. 12 sample plots, in 2021 were randomly distributed to represent the entire area of the forest prior to the required measurements. The sample was designed as squire plots with one hectare. In each sample plot, all trees were counted, their height (m), and Diameters Breast Height (DBH in cm), respectively. The results showed the highest number of trees per ha at age 20 years old and the lowest number at age 47 years, while the highest values of DBH and volume were found at age 47 years old. As a result, the maximum and minimum values of the aboveground biomass were found in the age 47 years old and 16 years, accounting for 19.87 tons and 1.9 tons respectively. Thus, the amount of carbon stock was 11.92 tons/ha in the 35-years-old and 1.19 tons/ha in the 21-year stands. Furthermore, the average carbon stock in all plots was estimated as 18.70 tons/ha and hence the total carbon stock in the El Demokeya forest is equal to 620.11 tons. Conclusively, the characteristics of trees, amount of aboveground biomass and carbon stock in the El Demokeya forest varied among the uneven-aged plantation groups. The study recommends and encourages the protection of A. senegal in order to increase the carbon sink as well as protect the environment in the era of climatic changes.

Land use and landscape pattern change: a linkage to the construction of the Qinghai-Xizang Highway

Based on digital land use data from 1995 to 2000 and road data, the land use and landscape changes of Golmud, Qumaleb and Zhidoi are studied on a macro-scale. Land use and landscape changes in highway buffer zones and city expansion are special subjects. A new formula is used to define the exact degree of dynamic land use. To adequately define land use and landscape pattern changes, the buffer zones, illustrating the changes at different distances from the road, are recognized with ArcGIS 8.1 software. Prominent changes took place in land use and landscape patterns from 1995 to 2000, and the area of built-up land increased by 323.8%. The comprehensive degree of dynamic land use is 2.25, and the degree of dynamic land use of built-up land is the highest, followed by cultivated land. Woodland has the lowest value. The used degree index of land resources declined by 38.8 from 1995 to 2000. Landscape changed dramatically which influenced ecological processes immensely. Different from the corridor effect of other traffic routes, the corridor effect of this section of road is not obvious and its “point” radiation effect can be easily seen. The expanding range of Golmud City is confined to a 3 km buffer, while for Wudaoliang, it is 1 km. No land use change happened in the Nanshankou buffer.

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.

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.

Dynamic Change Analysis of Urban Green Land in Jinan City Based RS and Geo-information Tupu

The three-period (1995, 1998 and 2003) remote sensing images in Jinan City, China are selected. And the information of green land, construction land, woodland and water body is extracted by using the image processing module of remote-sensing software and computerized interpretation module. Both the change table and transfer matrix table of land use area are analyzed by modeling module of remote-sensing software. Then, the Geo-information Tupu is obtained; and the temporal and spatial variation of land use in Jinan City is monitored and analyzed by Geo-information Tupu and transfer matrix. Result shows that land use structure change of Jinan City in the years 1995-1998 shows a transformation from green land to construction land. Area of green land circulating into construction land reaches 62.27 square kilometers, accounting for 25.84% of the initial green land. In the year 1998, areas of woodland and green land are reduced due to the urban expansion of Jinan City. However, with the enhancement of people's awareness of environmental protection, areas of woodland and green land gradually increase in the year 2003, which are still less than those in the year 1995.

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.