Different times,same story: Native forest loss and landscape homogenization in three physiographical areas of south-central of Chile

Temperate forest represents the smallest area among the main world's forest biomes, but is one of those most threatened by forest loss. Chile contains most of the temperate forest in South America and more than half of the temperate forest in the southern hemisphere. Chilean temperate forest is considered to be one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. In this study we assessed the rate of land use and land cover (LULC) change over time, identified the main LULCs replacing native forest, and described how changes have evolved in contrasting physiographical conditions and through different historical phases of the landscape over the last 40 years. To achieve this, we analysed LULC change with particular focus on forest cover in three areas representing different physiographical conditions and histories of human occupation in the Araucanía Region of Chile, namely the Central Valley, the Coastal range, and the Andean range. We found substantial differences in temporal and intra-regional patterns of forest loss and LULC change. In the Central Valley, forest loss started long ago, and the area occupied by native forest nowadays is less than 5% of the landscape. In the Coastal range, rapid land cover change has taken place since 1973, with an increasing rate of forest loss over time. We detected a similar but less intense pattern in the forests of the Andean range. Overall, the general pattern points to a process of landscape homogenization in all three physiographical areas. Exotic tree plantations have spread over large geographical areas, becoming the dominant land cover. Land cover change in the Araucanía Region reflects a model of change in which areas with better environmental conditions and accessibility are occupied first for productive activities. As the availability of suitable areas for the expansion of productive activities diminishes, these activities start to move into physiographical areas which were previously “protected” by adverse environmental conditions or poor accessibility. This model of production growth could lead to the complete deforestation of areas outside national protected areas, and other areas which still remain inaccessible due to technological restrictions on exploitation.     

Evaluation of forest cover change using remote sensing techniques and landscape metrics in Moncayo Natural Park (Spain)

Monitoring the change in land cover in natural places, such as ecotones, has become an important tool for forest management, especially in protected areas. The present work analyses the spatial and temporal changes in forest cover in Moncayo Natural Park (Spain) from 1987 to 2010 using remote sensing techniques, geographical information systems (GIS) and quantitative indices of landscape ecology. Four Landsat images were used to map nine representative land cover categories in this preserved area in both years. The overall classification accuracies in land cover cartographies in 1987 and 2010 were 87.65% and 84.56%, respectively. Landscape metrics obtained at the landscape level show an increase in fragmentation and, as a result, an increase in landscape spatial diversity. Focusing on the class level, the results show a forest expansion of sessile oaks (Quercus petraea) and beech forest (Fagus sylvatica), two important bioclimatic indicators in this natural park, because they are the southernmost locations for these species in Europe. The decrease of mainly introduced pine forest and the transformation of mixed shrub areas into natural forested areas explain the aforementioned increase in fragmentation. These results are in agreement with the strategies for nature conservation designed by forest managers during the period evaluated.     

Forest transitions in tropical landscapes: A test in the Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot

Analyzing temporal changes in forest amount and configuration is paramount to better design future forest management interventions. Such analyses are especially required for tropical biomes, which are usually subject to dynamic and heterogeneous land uses. Recent studies have suggested that many tropical biomes are passing through the process of “forest transition”, i.e. an overall change from forest loss to forest gain. However, this hypothesis remains scarcely tested, due to the difficulty of obtaining detailed, quantitative historical records of forest cover. In this study, we investigate 38 years of land use change in Brazil's Atlantic Forest, a biodiversity hotspot, from 1976 to 2014, using multitemporal datasets from aerial photographs and satellite images. We classified the historical series to produce land use maps and calculated a set of landscape metrics, including total forest cover, patch size, patch shape and patch connectivity. Our results indicated non-linear changes through time in forest loss and gain and also in landscape structure, which can be classified into two distinct periods. The first period (1976–1996) was marked by expressive forest loss and fragmentation, whereas the second (1996–2014) was characterized by a much less intense forest dynamics, with little deforestation being balanced by forest regeneration. We attribute the forest dynamics observed to temporal changes in socioeconomic factors, such as increasing human settlements and changes in environmental protection policies. Our results show that current forests are a heterogeneous mosaic of forests with different ages, and support the hypothesis that forest transition is occurring in Atlantic Forest landscapes.     

Forest Cover Change in the Toledo District,Belize from 1975 to 1999: A Remote Sensing Approach*

Measuring land‐cover change is an essential part of sustainable conservation planning. This project uses Landsat MSS and ETM+ data to document forest cover change in the Toledo District, Belize, from 1975 to 1999 and provides an initial assessment of why these changes took place. Supervised and subpixel classification methods were employed. The results showed an aggregate forest loss of almost 10 percent, which is approximately 36,000 ha. Deforestation expanded significantly in the most populous Mayan areas of central Toledo District and along the Guatemalan border. Subpixel classification results showed that in 1999 the most densely forested areas were in northern Toledo District in the Maya Mountains.     

Assessment of multifunctional landscapes dynamics in the mountainous basin of the Mo River (Togo,West Africa)

In this study, historical landscape dynamics were investigated to (i) map the land use/cover types for the years 1972, 1987, 2000 and 2014; (ii) determine the types and processes of landscape dynamics; and (iii) assess the landscape fragmentation and habitat loss over time. Supervised classification of multi-temporal Landsat images was used through a pixel-based approach. Post–classification methods included systematic and random change detection, trajectories analysis and landscape fragmentation assessment. The overall accuracies (and Kappa statistics) were of 68.86% (0.63), 91.32% (0.79), 90.66% (0.88) and 91.88% (0.89) for 1972, 1987, 2000 and 2014, respectively. The spatio-temporal analyses indicated that forests, woodlands and savannahs dominated the landscapes during the four dates, though constant areal decreases were observed. The most important dynamic process was the decline of woodlands with an average annual net loss rate of–2%. Meanwhile, the most important land transformation occurred during the transition 2000–2014, due to anthropogenic pressures. Though the most important loss of vegetation greenness occurred in the unprotected areas, the overall analyses of change indicated a declining trend of land cover quality and an increasing landscape fragmentation. Sustainable conservation strategies should be promoted while focusing restoration attention on degraded lands and fragmented ecosystems in order to support rural livelihood and biodiversity conservation.     

Forest dynamics and the importance of place in western Honduras

Analyses of landscape change using remotely sensed satellite imagery constitute a large component of forest transition research, allowing for assessments of large areas. In the western highlands of Honduras is an area of complex forest dynamics (～45,000 ha) that has seen significant forest regeneration in recent years. However, analysis of the larger region (～500,000 ha) shows net forest loss. The comparative aspects highlight the importance of site selection and scale in forest transition analysis, a process often ignored in the land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) and forest transition literature. Results also highlight the importance of analyzing human-induced fragmentation at a variety of selected sites and a range of spatial scales, and producing quality, accurate forest cover and change maps.     

Population pressure and global markets drive a decade of forest cover change in Africa's Albertine Rift

Africa's Albertine Rift region faces a juxtaposition of rapid human population growth and protected areas, making it one of the world's most vulnerable biodiversity hotspots. Using satellite-derived estimates of forest cover change, we examined national socioeconomic, demographic, agricultural production, and local demographic and geographic variables, to assess multilevel forces driving local forest cover loss and gain outside protected areas during the first decade of this century. Because the processes that drive forest cover loss and gain are expected to be different, and both are of interest, we constructed models of significant change in each direction. Although rates of forest cover change varied by country, national population change was the strongest driver of forest loss for all countries – with a population doubling predicted to cause 2.06% annual cover loss, while doubling tea production predicted to cause 1.90%. The rate of forest cover gain was associated positively with increased production of the local staple crop cassava, but negatively with local population density and meat production, suggesting production drivers at multiple levels affect reforestation. We found a small but significant decrease in loss rate as distance from protected areas increased, supporting studies suggesting higher rates of landscape change near protected areas. While local population density mitigated the rate of forest cover gain, loss was also correlated with lower local population density, an apparent paradox, but consistent with findings that larger scale forces outweigh local drivers of deforestation. This implicates demographic and market forces at national and international scales as critical drivers of change, calling into question the necessary scales of forest protection policy in this biodiversity hotspot. Using a satellite derived estimate of forest cover change for both loss and gain added a dynamic component to more traditionally static and unidirectional studies, significantly improving our understanding of landscape processes and drivers at work.     

The rate,extent and spatial predictors of forest loss (2000–2012) in the terrestrial protected areas of the Philippines

While studies on deforestation of protected areas (PAs) have been conducted in many parts of the world, no comparative study has been done over an entire country in the tropics. Thus, we conducted a country-wide assessment of forest cover loss in all terrestrial protected areas of the Philippines, covering 198 PAs with a total area of 4.68 million ha. This study utilised Hansen's Landsat-derived global maps of forest cover change from 2000 to 2012, with tree canopy cover data for 2000 as the base year. Correlation and logistic regression analyses were employed to determine the significance and magnitude of the relationships between forest cover and 11 predictor variables. The assessment of forest loss reveals that the terrestrial protected areas are generally effective in reducing forest loss. Over the 12-year period, the average rate (2.59%) of forest clearing in protected areas is marginally lower by 0.1% than the entire country (2.69%). Within the same duration, the average forest loss rate within the 2-km buffer zones of selected protected areas is 1.4 times of those inside PAs. However, there was a significant number of PAs with phenomenal forest cover loss in terms of extent (48,583 ha over 12 years) and rate (up to 21%). We found that spatial predictor variables included in this study have weak or no relationships with forest cover, and hence they are not reliable inputs for predictive modelling. Comprehensive assessments of deforestation are needed at the micro-scale (e.g. single PA level) level and relatively shorter historical timeframe (e.g. less than a decade), to generate useful information for policy formulation, planning, and management.     

The use of Landsat imagery to assess large-scale forest cover changes in space and time,minimizing false-positive changes

A new approach, based on the application of multi-spectral remote sensing data of Landsat imagery, is introduced to determine large-scale spatiotemporal variations of forest cover changes quantitatively and with a high degree of precision. The test area covers about 837,330.5 ha of a mountainous region in Central Italy. The approach employs several multi-temporal Landsat acquisitions to account for forest cover changes larger than 0.5 ha for the period from March 2002 to July 2011. In contrast to automated approaches that strongly curtail mapping time, the approach introduced here allowed us to map only the real forest cover change, based on a robust validation and rectification of the detected forest change. Derived high spatial resolution data of forest change estimates indicate that about 5.7% (47,670.5 ha) of the observed forest area was subject to human-induced change between 2002 and 2011. Moreover, the detected forest cover changes, most of which are identifiable as timber harvesting, are considerably larger than those reported in the official statistics and often fall within the perimeter of restricted areas (i.e., national parks and natural reserves).     

治沟造地工程驱动的流域土地利用和景观格局变化——以黄土丘陵沟壑区典型流域为例（英文）

Exploring the impact of land consolidation on the changes of local land use and the landscape patterns is important for optimizing land consolidation models and thus accelerating the sustainable development of local communities. Using a typical small watershed in Yan'an City(Shaanxi, China), the impact of gully land consolidation on land use and landscape pattern change, based on high-resolution remote sensing image data and landscape pattern analysis, was investigated. The results showed that:(1) The terraces,sloping fields, shrub land and grassland at the bottom and both sides of the gully were converted mainly to high quality check dam land. Also, some of the shrub land, due to biological measures, was converted to more ecologically suitable native forest. Thus, the areas of check dam land and forests increased by 159 and 70 ha, while that of shrub land,grassland and sloping fields decreased by 112, 63 and 59 ha, respectively.(2) The average patch area and patch cohesion index for the check dam land increased, which indicated that the production function improved. The landscape shape index and the patch cohesion index for forestland and shrub land were maintained at a high level, and thus the ecological function remained stable.(3) At the watershed level, the degree of fragmentation of the landscape decreased and the landscape became more diversified and balanced; the anti-jamming capability of the landscape and the stability of the ecosystem improved also. Research suggests that implementing gully land consolidation in a rational manner may contribute to improvements in the structure of local land use and the patterns of landscape.     

Comments On Mather,Field, Kalkstein,And Willmott'S “Climatology: The Challenge For The Eighties”

Abstract

Measuring land-cover change is an essential part of sustainable conservation planning. This project uses Landsat MSS and ETM+ data to document forest cover change in the Toledo District, Belize, from 1975 to 1999 and provides an initial assessment of why these changes took place. Supervised and subpixel classification methods were employed. The results showed an aggregate forest loss of almost 10 percent, which is approximately 36,000 ha. Deforestation expanded significantly in the most populous Mayan areas of central Toledo District and along the Guatemalan border. Subpixel classification results showed that in 1999 the most densely forested areas were in northern Toledo District in the Maya Mountains.

     

The tropical forest in south east Asia: Monitoring and scenario modeling using synthetic aperture radar data

Tropical forests play a major role in storing large carbon stocks and regulating energy, and water fluxes, but such forest cover is decreasing rapidly in spite of the policy attention on reducing deforestation. High-resolution spatiotemporal maps are unavailable for the forests in majority of the tropical regions in Asia because of the persistent cloud cover and haze cover. Recent advances in radar remote sensing have provided weather-independent data of earth surface, thus offering an opportunity to monitor tropical forest change processes with relatively high spatiotemporal resolutions. In this research, we aim to examine the tropical deforestation process and develop a spatial model to simulate future forest patterns under various scenarios. Riau Province from central Sumatra of Indonesia is selected as the study area; this province has received much attention worldwide because the highest CO₂ emission resulting from tropical deforestation has been recorded. Annual time series PALSAR data from 2007 to 2010 were analyzed for forest mapping and detecting land cover changes. A spatial model was calibrated using the Bayesian method. Modeling parameters were customized for the local subregions that allocate deforestation on the basis of their empirical relationships to physical and socioeconomic drivers. The model generated landscape spatial patterns mirrored the possible locations and extent of deforested areas by 2030 and provided time-series crucial information on forest landscape under various scenarios for future landscape management projects. The results suggested that the current deforestation process is in a critical stage where some subregions may face unprecedented stress on primary forest costing rivers and forest ecosystems by the end of 2020. The perspective views of Riau Province generated by the model highlighted the need for forest/environmental planning controls for the conservation of environmentally sensitive areas.     

基于TM数据的广州市番禺区土地覆被格局分析

以覆盖番禺区1990年、1995年、2000年、2005年4个时相Landsat-TM影像为主要数据源,借助GIS手段和景观生态学方法生成土地覆被图。在数量化研究LUCC的基础上,借助景观格局指数反映番禺区4个时相土地覆被的变化机制,对土地覆被景观格局生态效应研究提供依据。研究表明:番禺区的土地利用结构在1990~1995年间处于开发调整时期,2000年后土地利用结构调整趋于成熟,土地覆被变化伴随着城市化的进程趋于平缓。研究时期内,番禺区的景观破碎度增加,土地利用结构的复杂程度也在增加,人为因素导致的土地覆被类型变化的影响逐渐替代自然作用下土地覆被类型情况。     

合肥市土地利用/覆盖变化对景观格局影响的研究

利用两个时期的Landsat TM遥感影像,结合RS和GIS技术,对安徽省合肥市土地利用/覆盖变化及其对景观格局影响进行了分析.发现城镇建设用地的快速扩展使耕地和水域锐减.人类活动对水域、耕地和林地产生了较大影响,使得这些景观要素的斑块形状趋向简单,而城镇建设用地和未利用地的斑块形状趋向复杂.     

Temporal change in the landscape erosion pattern in the Yellow River Basin,China

Using Landsat TM data from 1995 and 2000, changes in the landscape erosion pattern of the Yellow River Basin, China were analysed. The aim was to improve our understanding of soil‐erosion change so that sustainable land use could be established. First, a soil‐erosion intensity index model was developed to study soil‐erosion intensity change in the study area. Over the 5 years, the areas of weak erosion, moderate erosion, severe erosion, and very severe erosion all increased. The area of weak erosion increased dramatically by 7.94×10⁵ ha, and areas of slight erosion and acute erosion decreased by 1.93×10⁶ ha and 4.50×10⁴ ha, respectively. The results show that while the intensity of soil erosion has gradually been decreasing as a whole, in some regions the soil erosion is becoming more severe. Based on landscape indices, the pattern of changes in soil erosion over the past 5 years was analysed. The changes in landscape pattern of soil erosion resulted from human activities. Analysis showed that human impact increases fragmentation, having three major effects on landscape pattern, reduction in patch area, variations in patch shape, and changes in spatial pattern. In the study area, population growth, farming, governmental policy and forest degradation are the major factors causing soil erosion change over a 5‐year period.     

滇西北高原湿地区土地利用变化特征

湿地景观格局的动态变化与区域土地利用/覆盖格局的变化有着十分紧密的联系。以纳帕海、碧塔海和属都湖三块高原湿地所在的云南省香格里拉县建塘镇为例,在遥感和GIS技术的支持下,对该区域1974、1987和2000三期Landsat TM(ETM)影像进行了解译,分析了26 a间的土地利用/覆盖变化规律,并结合景观格局动态分析的方法,借助FRAGSTATS软件定量分析了该区景观格局特征及其动态变化。结果表明:该区土地利用/覆盖状况变化显著,主要土地利用/覆盖类型有林地以822 hm2/a的速度在大面积减少,并主要转为灌木林地,使得后者在26 a间扩大高达17倍,变化幅度最大。建设用地和耕地的面积分别扩大了6倍和2倍,而草地和雪地面积持续减少。相应地,该区景观格局定量分析显示,有林地的斑块密度增大而平均斑块面积减小迅速,呈破碎化趋势,灌木林地的斑块密度、平均斑块面积均增加,草地则与之相反均减小,耕地的斑块密度降低而平均斑块面积增加,在不断融合成大斑块,其余各景观单元斑块密度增大平均斑块面积减小,同时各斑块几何形状在1987年变化最剧烈,景观格局趋于复杂。     

Evaluating the effects of land‐use development policies on ex‐urban forest cover: An integrated agent‐based GIS approach

We use a GIS‐based agent‐based model (ABM), named dynamic ecological exurban development (DEED), with spatial data in hypothetical scenarios to evaluate the individual and interacting effects of lot‐size zoning and municipal land‐acquisition strategies on possible forest‐cover outcomes in Scio Township, a municipality in Southeastern Michigan. Agent types, characteristics, behavioural methods, and landscape perceptions (i.e. landscape aesthetics) are empirically informed using survey data, spatial analyses, and a USDA methodology for mapping landscape aesthetic quality. Results from our scenario experiments computationally verified literature that show large lot‐size zoning policies lead to greater sprawl, and large lot‐size zoning policies can lead to increased forest cover, although we found this effect to be small relative to municipal land acquisition. The return on land acquisition for forest conservation was strongly affected by the location strategy used to select parcels for conservation. Furthermore, the location strategy for forest conservation land acquisition was more effective at increasing aggregate forest levels than the independent zoning policies, the quantity of area acquired for forest conservation, and any combination of the two. The results using an integrated GIS and ABM framework for evaluating land‐use development policies on forest cover provide additional insight into how these types of policies may act out over time and what aspects of the policies were more influential towards the goal of maximising forest cover.     

江浙沪地区土地利用变化模拟和景观格局分析

土地利用／覆被变化对于生态系统多样性和区域生态经济系统可持续性具有深远的影响。本文基于地理信息技术,以江浙沪地区土地利用遥感解译数据为基础,采用景观格局分析法分析了江浙沪地区的景观格局特征;运用CA—Markov模型对江浙沪地区土地利用时空变化进行了模拟。1980-2005年期间,江浙沪地区景观格局变化特征是建设用地增加迅速,耕地集聚减少,建设用地增加主要来自耕地转移,其贡献率达到93．11％。各类斑块类型的破碎度提高;林地和建设用地斑块平均分维数增加,斑块形状趋于复杂,斑块空间分布趋于集中。总体景观破碎度不断提高,景观多样性和景观异质性增加,景观均匀度有所提升：2005年CA—Markov模型模拟结果和遥感解译数据具有高度一致性,Kappa指数达到91％,2010年和2015年模拟结果显示,耕地减少和建设用地增加趋势显著,耕地和林地的减少呈加速状态,建设用地增加的速度降低。未来发展需提高土地利用效率和注重生态格局安全,在提高城市化水平的同时又能兼顾生态保护,以提高区域可持续发展能力。