Application of the Karst Disturbance Index as a raster-based model in a developing country |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain;2. Tecnología y Servicios Agrarios, S.A, 28037 Madrid, Spain;3. Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales, 28003 Madrid, Spain;1. Department of Pathology and Institution of Oncology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350004, China;2. Department of Pathology, Yuncheng Central Hospital of Shanxi Province, Yuncheng 044000, China;3. Department of Hepatic Surgery, Liver Disease Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, China;1. Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Organic Chemical Materials, Key Laboratory for the Synthesis and Application of Organic Functional Molecules, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hubei University, Wuhan 430062, People''s Republic of China;2. The State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering and Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, Key Laboratory for Ultrafine Materials of Ministry of Education, Engineering Research Centre for Biomedical Materials of Ministry of Education, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, People''s Republic of China;3. CQM—Centro de Química da Madeira, MMRG, Universidade da Madeira, Campus Universitário da Penteada, 9020-105 Funchal, Portugal;1. State University of New York at Albany, NY, USA;2. NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, USA;1. State University of New York at Albany, NY, USA;2. NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, USA |
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| Abstract: | ![]()
Karst landscapes are important assets that provide a source of water, host rare and endangered biota, and serve as sites of significant human historical artifacts. Previous studies have attempted to ascertain the extent of anthropogenic disturbance within karst areas using various standardized methods. A common limitation of these earlier approaches included lack of assessment of spatial variability. This paper recognizes the importance of spatial heterogeneity by using a spatially-explicit calculation of the Karst Disturbance Index (KDI) in a Geographic Information System (GIS) and applying it to a sub-catchment of the Biosfera de la Reserva Selve el Ocote in Chiapas, Mexico. With a raster-based GIS approach, this particular application is the highest resolution spatial representation of the KDI ever undertaken. As the study area is in a developing country, much of the data required for applying the KDI were drawn from remotely sensed data. The final disturbance scores found low to moderate levels of disturbance indicative of lightly populated area. However, this particular study can serve as a benchmark for future applications of the KDI in the study area, as well as in other karst watersheds in developed or developing countries. With the potential of future development looming, land managers can use the zones of pristine-to low-levels of disturbance to begin monitoring programs and justify mitigation and land management decisions. |
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| Keywords: | Karst Human disturbance Environmental index Geographic information system |
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