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This study deals with the landscape evolution reflected in the changes of land cover in the suburban area of Marathon, Attica, Greece. The study was based on remote sensing images covering the time period between 1945 and 2007. Several other types of data were also used, such as a digital terrain model, historical orthophotos, vegetation maps, geological maps, cadastral maps and aerial photos. These types of data were used in order to create the spatial database for the classification/interpretation of land cover and to identify the land cover changes that occurred during the period in question. The results of this study showed significant land cover changes, especially for the land covered by forests and wetlands with a 47% and a 37% decrease, respectively. The spatial arrangement of the development of residential areas was partially predictable, while the occurrence of land cover changes due to retrogressive vegetation succession appeared rather idiosyncratically throughout the area initially covered by forest.

ἀe purpose of this study was to analyze the trend of climate change through changes in the elements of Green House Gases (GHGs), includes the trend of CO2, N2O, and CH4. ἀe change of the extreme rainfall and temperature indices due to land cover change into developed area in Padang. IdentiḀcation and analysis trends of climate change and extreme climatic events were analyzed by using RclimDex the Expert Team for Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDMI) technique. Where as the analysis and interpretation of land cover changes into developed area used Landsat TM 5 and Landsat 1985 7 ETM + of 2011 by ERDAS 9.2 GIS with the supervised classiḀcation method and GIS Matrix. ἀe results of the study provide informations of land cover changes into developed area at forest land (11,758.9 ha), shrub (3,337.3 ha), rice Ḁelds (5,977.1 ha), and garden (5,872.4 ha). It has an implication on increasing of the ele-ments of GHGs concentration such as CO2 (14,1 ppm), N2O (5,4 ppb) and CH4 (24,8 ppb). ἀis condition lead to an extreme temperature and presipitation indexs trends in Padang.

Abstract The aim of this paper is to assess the changes that have occurred in coastal dune landscapes in Catalonia (Spain, NW Mediterranean Sea) over the last decades. Data from photographic, cartographic, and documentary sources between 1890 and 1960 have been examined and contrasted with the current status of dunes. Our analysis measures the historical transformation of the coastal dune system according to type of transformation (disappeared dunes, dunes smaller in size and dunes that have undergone few changes) and land cover changes surrounding the beaches. At this time in Catalonia, the most extensive coastal dune systems are located in Empordà county (Roses Bay and Baix Ter Bay) and the Ebro Delta. The results reflect that the loss of dune habitat during recent decades has affected more than 90% of the Catalan beaches assessed, 60% of which have disappeared and 30% reduced in size. The most affected province is Barcelona, where disappearance of dunes has affected over 80% of beaches and no beaches present almost untouched dunes; Girona and Tarragona have also been seriously affected, with dunes disappearing from 60% to 40% of the beaches assessed, respectively. However, on a minority of beaches along the Catalan shoreline, a few dunes remain almost untouched (10%). Land cover changes surrounding the beaches show that dune habitats have been drastically reduced due to human pressure, especially urbanization and tourism-related processes. A multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) has shown that the dune systems that have disappeared are located in non-protected areas and low-lying coastal zones, whereas dunes that have become smaller in size or undergone few changes are located in protected natural areas and on cliffed coasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to assess the changes that have occurred in coastal dune landscapes in Catalonia (Spain, NW Mediterranean Sea) over the last decades. Data from photographic, cartographic, and documentary sources between 1890 and 1960 have been examined and contrasted with the current status of dunes. Our analysis measures the historical transformation of the coastal dune system according to type of transformation (disappeared dunes, dunes smaller in size and dunes that have undergone few changes) and land cover changes surrounding the beaches. At this time in Catalonia, the most extensive coastal dune systems are located in Empordà county (Roses Bay and Baix Ter Bay) and the Ebro Delta. The results reflect that the loss of dune habitat during recent decades has affected more than 90% of the Catalan beaches assessed, 60% of which have disappeared and 30% reduced in size. The most affected province is Barcelona, where disappearance of dunes has affected over 80% of beaches and no beaches present almost untouched dunes; Girona and Tarragona have also been seriously affected, with dunes disappearing from 60% to 40% of the beaches assessed, respectively. However, on a minority of beaches along the Catalan shoreline, a few dunes remain almost untouched (10%). Land cover changes surrounding the beaches show that dune habitats have been drastically reduced due to human pressure, especially urbanization and tourism-related processes. A multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) has shown that the dune systems that have disappeared are located in non-protected areas and low-lying coastal zones, whereas dunes that have become smaller in size or undergone few changes are located in protected natural areas and on cliffed coasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper details an investigation of land use/land cover changes (LULCC) for the period 1979–2016 in the Phewa Lake area watershed in Western Nepal based on an analysis of aerial photos, satellite images and ground-based observations. The main objective is to document LULCC with regards to forest, agriculture, built-up areas and roads in order to understand how sources of erosion have evolved during the investigated period. Results demonstrate that LULCC have led to a shift of active erosion areas from grazing zones around streams and forests in the northern part of the watershed to a much greater number of small failures along unplanned earthen rural roads, which have hugely increased in the watershed. The extreme rainfall event that occurred in July 2015 trigged a large number of small and large landslides, as prior to this date only 14 landslides were observed in the watershed compared with 174 after the event. More than 40% of newly triggered landslides intersect a road and 84% of them are located within a distance of 40 meter from a road. Roads are thus influencing slope stability through slope cutting, concentrating surface water, thus changing hydrological patterns, which are destabilizing upper slopes. This study quantifies observable trends of erosion in Phewa watershed, which are important for more sustainable management of rural road construction. Greater enforcement of regulations on road construction and more sustainable land management practices are required to reduce further environmental and economic impacts in Phewa Lake watershed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Muthusankar, G.; Proisy, C.; Balasubramanian, D.; Bautès, N.; Bhalla, R S.; Mathevet, R.; Ricout, A.; Senthil Babu, D., and Vasudevan, S., 2018. When socio-economic plans exacerbate vulnerability to physical coastal processes on the south east coast of India. In: Shim, J.-S.; Chun, I., and Lim, H.S. (eds.), Proceedings from the International Coastal Symposium (ICS) 2018 (Busan, Republic of Korea). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 85, pp. 1446–1450. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Industrial and urban development along the coast may exacerbate the changes induced by oceano-climatic processes to such an extent that the coast becomes uninhabitable. This paper presents a baseline study carried out on the 360 km-long Coromandel coast of Tamil Nadu's (TN) Bay of Bengal coast, Southeast India. About 30% of the 72 million inhabitants of the state of TN live in low-lying coastal areas within a variety of ecosystems such as sandy beaches and dunes, wetlands, mudflats and mangroves. Exponential demographic growth combines with dense urban agglomerations, ever-growing industrial and harbour areas, aquaculture and luxury tourism expansion increasing vulnerabilities to coastal erosion and extreme meteorological events. We report here how very high spatial resolution satellite (VHSRS) images, freely provided by Google Earth® engine or from the public database offered by GIS software, may be used to impartially and significantly survey coastal land cover (LC) transformations at fine scales over a number of years using preliminary visual interpretation. The study also gathered demographic data, historical records on strength and trajectories of the cyclones that have hit the TN coast since 1900, and decadal series of daily ERA-Interim/ECMWF waves and Mercator-Ocean oceanic currents. Our results demonstrate a tangle of environmental and human activities and situations subject to specific coastal hazards, particularly severe during the Northeast monsoon season. The potential risks for coastal ecosystems and local communities are finally discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Open woodlands are biologically highly diverse habitats, and veteran (i.e., old, senescent) trees are key structures supporting their biodiversity. Open canopy structure had been maintained by both natural- and human-induced disturbances. In the past two centuries, suppression of such disturbances, together with forestry intensification, has turned most lowland woodlands into closed-canopy forests. We investigated the effect of increased canopy closure on veteran trees and several threatened beetles associated with them. Location Floodplain woodlands along the lower Dyje and Morava rivers, Czech Republic. Methods We used an approach combining the study of aerial photographs with on-ground survey of veteran trees and associated endangered beetles. The aerial images were used to obtain the information on historical (1938) and recent (2009) canopy closure in the area of 146 km2, where we mapped large oaks (d.b.h. >70 cm), hollow trees and three associated beetles including the hermit beetle ( Osmoderma barnabita), the great capricorn beetle ( Cerambyx cerdo) and the jewel beetle Eurythyrea quercus. Results The presence of large oaks, hollow trees and their associated beetle species are negatively related to recent high canopy closure, and the historical level of canopy closure matters, as in nowadays closed-canopy stands, the beetles and veteran trees are more common in places that were rather open in 1938 than in the places with closed canopy already in 1938. Moreover, the health state of veteran trees highly depends on the canopy closure. Main conclusion The negative effect of canopy closure on veteran trees and their endangered inhabitants is several decades delayed and may thus often go undetected. In the forests, however, large and hollow trees and their associated biodiversity are relics of the past, more open conditions. The restoration of open woodlands is therefore vital for preventing their further decline. Conservation management planning needs to take this into account wherever, veteran trees and associated biota are concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is the important limitations of management in Zayanderood basin. Adoption and implementation of basin water management bill as provincial in the parliament in 2006. Zayanderood basin management became a dual management and increased the environmental degradation for agricultural production in the west of the basin. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of the non-expert decision of managers on the environment and water in the west of the Zayanderud basin. So, land cover changes were investigated using Landsat images in the basin from 1993 to 2015. Then, the cost of the destruction of rangeland was estimated in this area for agricultural development. In this study, some of the indicators for measuring the economic values of ecosystems have improved compared to previous studies. Results showed that the change cover land is increasing quickly, while water scarcity of Zayanderood basin has remained in critical condition. Also, an economic value of at least US$1179.77 per hectare was delivered to people in 2015 by the rangeland and the cost of destruction rangelands was $10,247.3 per hectare over the last decade. The total cost of the destruction of rangelands was calculated around US$ 21,341,342.5 from 2008 to 2015 in this area. The result showed the impact of natural resource services destruction on person's welfare. So, proposed to the decision makers to consider the economic value of rangeland for assessment of agricultural development projects, because the projects with high social costs is not adopted in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land cover is one of the most important conditioning factors in landslide susceptibility analysis. Usually it is considered as a static factor, but it has proven to be dynamic, with changes occurring even in few decades. In this work the influence of land cover changes on landslide susceptibility are analyzed for the past and for future scenarios. For the application, an area representative of the hilly-low mountain sectors of the Italian Southern Apennines was chosen (Rivo basin, in Molise Region). With this purpose landslide inventories and land cover maps were produced for the years 1954, 1981 and 2007. Two alternative future scenarios were created for 2050, one which follows the past trend (2050-trend), and another one more extreme, foreseeing a decrease of forested and cultivated areas (2050-alternative). The landslide susceptibility analysis was performed using the Spatial Multi-Criteria Evaluation method for different time steps, investigating changes to susceptibility over time. The results show that environmental dynamics, such as land cover change, affect slope stability in time. In fact there is a decrease of susceptibility in the past and in the future 2050-trend scenario. This is due to the increase of forest or cultivated areas, that is probably determined by a better land management, water and soil control respect to other land cover types such as shrubland, pasture or bareland. Conversely the results revealed by the alternative scenario (2050-alternative), show how the decrease in forest and cultivated areas leads to an increase in landslide susceptibility. This can be related to the assumed worst climatic condition leading to a minor agricultural activity and lower extension of forested areas, possibly associated also to the effects of forest fires. The results suggest that conscious landscape management might contribute to determine a significant reduction in landslide susceptibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To analyse the effects of mining activities on land use and land cover changes in the Gatumba mining district of Rwanda, aerial photos from 1958, 1974 and 2009 were classified using segmentation approaches. Drastic land cover changes were observed in the study region with the highest mining activities in 1974. From 1958 to 1974, woodland decreased by 54% and cropland increased rapidly. From 1974 to 2009 the process reversed, with woodland increasing while cropland decreased by 51%. This was mainly due to enforced legal regulations of the Government of Rwanda to control land degradation and a decline of mining activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land cover and land use change occurs during the time due to human activities. Identification and detection of these changes can help planners and managers to recognize the effective factors which cause the changes, and use them at different levels of planning. Studying the rate of resources changes and destruction, and prediction and feasibility study of these changes in future years may play a key role in planning and optimal use of resources and controlling undesirable changes in the future. There are various methods for predicting land use and land cover changes, among them the Markov Chain model can be pointed out. In this study, by using the Landsat satellite data of TM (1995) and ETM+ (2000 and 2007) sensors, complementary data of the study area and Markov Chain model the changes occurred in land use and land cover over the past 22 years in Doviraj region of Ilam province are investigated. After performing required corrections on the satellite images and field visits, different land use classes were defined, the training samples were selected and the accuracy of obtained results was evaluated using Kappa coefficient. The results indicate the decreasing trend of forest cover and average rangeland areas of the region (i.e. 2.9 and 17.07 percent , respectively) and increasing trend of poor rangelands, agricultural lands, residential areas and barren land uses (9.17, 2.96, 0.4 and 7.44 percent, correspondingly) which represent total destruction in the region and replacement of weaker land uses. Finally, using Markov Chain model, the status of land use classes in the next 14 years (2021) has been predicted. The results from changes prediction matrix based on the maps of 2000 and 2007 showed that in the time period of 2007-2021 it is probable that 62% of forest lands, 38% of average rangelands, 64% of poor rangelands, 72% of agricultural lands, 69% of residential areas and 76% of barren lands remain unchanged. The average rangelands are of the highest stability and on the other hand poor rangelands have the lowest stability. The calibrated land use maps by Markov Chain model can be employed as an alarming system about the effects and consequences of future land use changes.

Viticulture in the Mediterranean region has been improved by agronomic methods based on ecophysiological and genetic knowledge of the species and varieties cultivated. Plant growth, yield and quality are highly dependent on climate. Grape sugar content and wine alcohol content are considered as important quality parameters. The objective of our study is to analyse the effects of the current global change on the percentage of alcohol by volume (ABV) in red wines from vineyards located in the Montsant Designation of Origin (DO) (Priorat County, north-eastern Spain). We present an annual series of percentage of ABV in red wines over the 1984-2008 period (25 years), which is one of the longest series of this viticultural variable in Spain. We do not detect any significant trend of alcohol levels in red wines from the Montsant DO along the 1984-2004 subperiod, but a sharp increase about 1% (by volume) is observed after 2004; we statistically checked that the last four years constitute an outlier period in the series. We consider climate evolution over the 1984-2004 period in the study area in order to find some relation with alcohol levels in red wines. Agronomic practices and land cover changes are also taken into account. Results show that the interannual variability of the alcohol levels in red wines are partially explained by temperature and precipitation conditions few days before the vintage. The high percentages of ABV since 2005 may be associated with new trends in viticulture techniques rather than with climate change.

In the last two decades, socio-economic changes in Europe have had a significant effect on land cover changes, but it is unclear how this has affected mountain areas. We focus on two mountain areas: the eastern Italian Alps and the Romanian Curvature Carpathians. We classified land cover from Earth observation data after 1989 by using applied remote sensing techniques. We also analyzed socio-economic data and conducted semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders. In Italy, most of the land conversion processes followed long-term trends. In Romania, they took off with the sudden political changes after 1989. In both areas, forest expansion was the biggest, but potentially not the most consequential change. More consequential changes were urbanization in Italy and small-scale deforestation in Romania, since both increased the risk of hydro-meteorological hazards. Stakeholders’ views were an added value to the spatial analysis and vice versa. For example, stakeholders’ explanations resolved the seeming contradiction of decreased economic activity and increased urbanization (Italian site), as a consequence of secondary home building. Furthermore, spatial analysis revealed that urbanization in Romania was less significant with regard to consequences for the wider human-environment system than many stakeholders thought.

Unprecedented human-induced land cover changes happened in China after the Reform and Opening-up in 1978, matching with the era of Landsat satellite series. However, it is still unknown whether Landsat data can effectively support retrospective analysis of land cover changes in China over the past four decades. Here, for the first time, we conduct a systematic investigation on the availability of Landsat data in China, targeting its application for retrospective and continuous monitoring of land cover changes. The latter is significant to assess impact of land cover changes, and consequences of past land policy and management interventions. The total and valid observations (excluding clouds, cloud shadows, and terrain shadows) from Landsat 5/7/8 from 1984 to 2017 were quantified at pixel scale, based on the cloud computing platform Google Earth Engine (GEE). The results show higher intensity of Landsat observation in the northern part of China as compared to the southern part. The study provides an overall picture of Landsat observations suitable for satellite-based annual land cover monitoring over the entire country. We uncover that two sub-regions of China (i.e., Northeast China-Inner Mongolia-Northwest China, and North China Plain) have sufficient valid observations for retrospective analysis of land cover over 30 years (1987−2017) at an annual interval; whereas the Middle-Lower Yangtze Plain (MLYP) and Xinjiang (XJ) have sufficient observations for annual analyses for the periods 1989−2017 and 2004−2017, respectively. Retrospective analysis of land cover is possible only at a two-year time interval in South China (SC) for the years 1988−2017, Xinjiang (XJ) for the period 1992−2003, and the Tibetan Plateau (TP) during 2004−2017. For the latter geographic regions, land cover dynamics can be analyzed only at a three-year interval prior to 2004. Our retrospective analysis suggest that Landsat-based analysis of land cover dynamics at an annual interval for the whole country is not feasible; instead, national monitoring at two- or three-year intervals could be achievable. This study provides a preliminary assessment of data availability, targeting future continuous land cover monitoring in China; and the code is released to the public to facilitate similar data inventory in other regions of the world.

Annual Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) maps are needed to identify the interaction between landscape changes and wildland fires. Objectives: In this work, we determined fire hazard changes in a representative Mediterranean landscape through the classification of annual LULC types and fire perimeters, using a dense Landsat Time Series (LTS) during the 1984−2017 period, and MODIS images. Methods: We implemented a semiautomatic process in the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform to generate annual imagery free of clouds, cloud shadows, and gaps. We compared LandTrendr (LT) and FormaTrend (FT) algorithms that are widely used in LTS analysis to extract the pixel tendencies and, consequently, assess LULC changes and disturbances such as forest fires. These algorithms allowed us to generate the following change metrics: type, magnitude, direction, and duration of change, as well as the prechange spectral values. Results and conclusions: Our results showed that the FT algorithm was better than the LT algorithm at detecting low-severity changes caused by fires. Likewise, the use of the change metrics’ type, magnitude, and direction of change increased the accuracy of the LULC maps by 4% relative to the ones obtained using only spectral and topographic variables. The most significant hazardous LULC change processes observed were: deforestation and degradation (mainly by fires), encroachment (i.e., invasion by shrublands) due to agriculture abandonment and forest fires, and hazardous densification (from open forests and agroforestry areas). Although the total burned area has decreased significantly since 1985, the landscape fire hazard has increased since the second half of the twentieth century. Therefore, it is necessary to implement fire management plans focused on the sustainable use of shrublands and conifer forests; this is because the stability in these hazardous vegetation types is translated into increasing fuel loads, and thus an elevated landscape fire hazard.

Land use and land cover (LULC) change analysis is a critical instrument for studying urban growth across the world. Our objectives were to produce historical LULC maps during the 1988–2016 period for spatial and temporal analysis, forecast future LULC until 2040 by using the Markov model, and identify the impact of LULC on urbanization. Two scenes of Landsat-5 TM for 1988 and 2001 and one scene of Landsat-8 OLI for 2016 were processed and used. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) model with precise class value ranges was applied to produce land cover maps with six classes of water, built-up, barren land, shrub and grassland, sparse vegetation, and dense vegetation. LULC maps for the years of 1988 and 2001 were used to develop an LULC transformation matrix. It was used to drive an LULC transformation probability matrix using a Markov model for future forecasting of LULC in 2014, 2027, and 2040. The accuracy of 2016 LULC classes was estimated by comparing it against Markov modeled classes. It was found that the areas for: (i) water decreased from 1.43% to 0.51%; (ii) built-up increased from 9.58% to 20.80%; (iii) barren land decreased from 29.50% to 13.40%; (iv) shrub and grass land decreased from 30.57% to 21.10%; (v) sparse vegetation increased from 18% to 20.10%; and (vi) dense vegetation increased from 10.57% to 24.10%. The variations in LULC classes could be noticed by 2040 as compared to 1988. This LULC variation revealed that the water could decrease to 5.32 km2 from 25.37 km2; the built-up could increase to 625.16 km2 from 168.29 km2; the barren land could decrease to 137.53 km2 from 514.13 km2; the shrub and grassland could decrease to 297.68 km2 from 539.46 km2; the sparse vegetation could decrease to 297.68 km2 from 539.46 km2; and the dense vegetation could increase to 409.65 km2 from 191.51 km2. The LULC classification accuracy was 90.27% and 95.11% for 1988 and 2001, respectively. The co-efficient of determination (R2) was found to be 0.90 for 2016 LULC classes obtained from Landsat-8 and derived from a Markov model. For District Lahore, the LULC changes could be related to increasing population and intense migration trends, which had progressive impact on infrastructure development, industrial and economic growth, and detrimental effects on water resources.

Perceptions of land cover changes from four areas located on the borderlands of Prekmurje, north-eastern Slovenia were determined from a set of historical maps. The principle goals of this research were the calculation of changes in area of land cover categories and analysis of the stability of the study areas from the perspective of land cover. Two approaches were applied to the map analysis: “stability mapping” followed by proportions of different land cover categories determined by time series cartography. Finally, these approaches were triangulated with ground truthing. The results presented demonstrate conclusively that the studied region maintained relatively stability although over several centuries inhabitants withdrew very slightly from both natural boundaries and political borders. As “windows” into the environmental psychology of borderland perception, each small site studied revealed some specifically localised characteristic.

Ždimal V.: Infrared images and land cover in the past. Ekológia (Bratislava), Vol. 32, No. 4, p. 383-387, 2013.

In this study the spatial distribution of shallow landslides in the upper montane and subalpine belts of the Urbión Mountains (Iberian Range, northern Spain) was investigated, particularly in relation to the spatial organization of deforestation and land cover. The upper montane and subalpine belts have been deforested several times since the Neolithic Period, to enlarge the area of summer grasslands for feeding transhumant sheep flocks. Consequently, the timberline was lowered by 400–600 m, and increased the occurrence of severe erosion processes, particularly shallow landslides. This study shows that most of the landslide scars are in the summer grasslands area, and that a remarkable extent of the subalpine belt area has been subjected to mass movements. In addition to land use, the soil characteristics and topography help explain the development of conditions most favorable to landsliding. Shallow landslide susceptibility was highest in the upper parts of the slopes near the divides, in areas having slope gradients of 10–30° and deep soils with an increasing proportion of clay with depth. The landslides were clustered and not randomly distributed, and the causes of this spatial distribution are discussed. The current trend of woody encroachment in the upper montane and subalpine belts, resulting from decreasing livestock pressure, will probably reduce the susceptibility of these areas to shallow landslides in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy exchanges between the water surface and the atmosphere over lakes play an important role in regulating regional climate. In shallow lakes, the lake bottom may shift from being inundated to being exposed, which substantially alters the energy exchange pattern. We measured the turbulent fluxes of sensible (H) and latent (LE) heat over Poyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in China, using the eddy covariance method from January to December 2014. Our results show two different diurnal patterns of H and LE related to shifts in the lake’s surface type, from land-covered to water-covered. The diurnal variations in H and LE are coupled with net radiation (Rn) during the land-covered period and are out of phase with Rn during the water-covered period. The average Bowen ratio is 0.15 during the water-covered period and exceeds 0.27 during the land-covered period. The ratio of LE to Rn (LE/Rn) is approximately 0.6 on average and is not obviously different between periods. However, H/Rn and the Bowen ratio significantly decrease with increasing water depth, because more energy is stored in the water body during the water-covered period. The relative regulations of LE and H by different environmental variables largely depend on water surface coverage (WSC). Under low WSC conditions, daily LE and H variation are controlled primarily by Rn, whereas under high WSC conditions, daily LE and H are mainly determined by the water vapor deficit multiplied by the wind speed (UΔe) and the surface-air temperature difference multiplied by the wind speed (UΔT), respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prevention and mitigation of the progressive spread of artificialization are key goals of environmental protection policies leading to the establishment of protected areas. Artificialization processes can be effectively assessed by analyzing land cover and land use changes, which put in evidence different kinds of processes that spur a decrease in natural areas and an increase in artificial ones. In this article, we first analyze land cover change processes by developing transition matrices using the simplified Land and Ecosystem Account taxonomy, and next we compare and contrast processes that take place in areas characterized by different levels of environmental protection, which we identify as follows: natural protected areas, sites of the European Natura 2000 network, and unprotected areas. We take the Italian island of Sardinia as a case study, since a system of national and regional parks and an extensive Natura 2000 network have been established in this region, and analyze and compare land cover change processes over more than twenty years (i.e. between 1990 and 2012). Our results highlight significant implications for the definition and implementation of planning policies aiming at preventing or mitigating artificialization processes within the island. However, the methodological approach here proposed can be applied in other European regional contexts so as to tailor planning policies to the local characteristics of ongoing land cover transition processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geomorphological system composed of a torrent and a beach on the Island of Hvar was analysed with the aim to define natural and anthropogenic processes which influence changes in beach morphology. Using repeat photography method, ortho-photo images and field mapping it was found that between the 60s of the last century and the present, the Zogon beach reduced in size by approximately 50%. The reduction of the beach size can be related to the recent anthropological activities in the wider study area particularly due to multiply filling of the torrent bed during construction works and minor land use changes, as well as due to natural reforestation which all cause a decrease in the supply of material to the beach. On the other hand, the reversal of the beach evolution in the observed period, which is, by definition the accumulative relief form, from the accumulative state or state of balance, to dominant erosion, can be associated with recent climate change and relative sea level rise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical cyclones (TCs) can have devastating socioeconomic impacts. Understanding the nature and causes of their variability is of paramount importance for society. However, historical records of TCs are too short to fully characterize such changes and paleosediment archives of Holocene TC activity are temporally and geographically sparse. Thus, it is of interest to apply physical modeling to understanding TC variability under different climate conditions. Here we investigate global TC activity during a warm climate state (mid-Holocene, 6,000 yBP) characterized by increased boreal summer insolation, a vegetated Sahara, and reduced dust emissions. We analyze a set of sensitivity experiments in which not only solar insolation changes are varied but also vegetation and dust concentrations. Our results show that the greening of the Sahara and reduced dust loadings lead to more favorable conditions for tropical cyclone development compared with the orbital forcing alone. In particular, the strengthening of theWest African Monsoon induced by the Sahara greening triggers a change in atmospheric circulation that affects the entire tropics. Furthermore, whereas previous studies suggest lower TC activity despite stronger summer insolation and warmer sea surface temperature in the Northern Hemisphere, accounting for the Sahara greening and reduced dust concentrations leads instead to an increase of TC activity in both hemispheres, particularly over the Caribbean basin and East Coast of North America. Our study highlights the importance of regional changes in land cover and dust concentrations in affecting the potential intensity and genesis of past TCs and suggests that both factors may have appreciable influence on TC activity in a future warmer climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in land cover are a distinct reflection of alterations within society, and the importance of research on land cover changes can be seen in the potentially negative consequences they have on the environment and population. The subject matter of this particular study consists of the land cover changes in the territory of northern Croatia (Međimurje, Varaždin, and Koprivnica-Križevci Counties) between 1981 and 2011; during which time a significant transformation of the socio-economic system occurred. Methods of remote sensing based on digital images from the Landsat satellite system enabled a supervised classification of land cover into four classes: built-up; agricultural; natural vegetation; and water. The most significant processes of change were an increase in the share of natural vegetation and built-up land, and a decrease in the share of agricultural land. According to the results of the study, the intensity of land cover changes depended on the relief characteristics of the area. The increase in natural vegetation was most intense in hilly areas with mild and medium slopes, and in the flood plains of the rivers Drava and Mura. In densely populated plain areas, the most significant process was the increase in built-up land due to (sub)urbanisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use and land cover changes are local and place specific, occurring incrementally in ways that often escape our attention. This study sought to detect changes in land cover in the Tema Metropolis of Ghana from 1990 to 2010. Multispectral Landsat Thematic Mapper data sets of 1990, 2000 and 2007 were acquired, pre-processed and enhanced. Unsupervised classification of the images was performed and six land cover classes (water, wetlands, closed vegetation, open vegetation, cropped lands, and built-up) were derived. The post-classification change detection technique was performed to derive the changes in land cover and their corresponding change matrices. Between 1990 and 2010, built-up areas expanded steadily to become the most prevalent land cover type in the metropolis, reducing vegetation cover dramatically. High population growth with its attendant rise in the demand for housing, and increasing commercial activities, were found to have influenced land cover changes over the period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wide range of environmental and societal issues such as food security policy implementation requires accurate information on biomass productivity and its underlying drivers at both regional and local scales. While many studies in West Africa are conducted with coarse resolution earth observation data, few have tried to relate vegetation trends to explanatory factors, as is generally done in land use and land cover change (LULCC) studies at finer scales. In this study we proposed to make a bridge between vegetation trend analysis and LULCC studies to improve the understanding of the various factors that influence the biomass production changes observed in satellite time series (using integrated Normalized Difference Vegetation Index [NDVI] as a proxy). The study was conducted in two steps. In the first step we analyzed MODIS NDVI linear trends together with TRMM growing season rainfall over the Sahel region from 2000 to 2015. A classification scheme was proposed that enables better specification of the relative role of the main drivers of biomass production dynamics. We found that 16% of the Sahel is re-greening—but found strong evidence that rainfall is not the only important driver of biomass increase. Moreover, a decrease found in 5% of the Sahel can be chiefly attributed to factors other than rainfall (88%). In the second step, we focused on the “Degré Carré de Niamey” site in Niger. Here, the observed biomass trends were analyzed in relation to land cover changes and a set of potential drivers of LULCC using the Random Forest algorithm. We observed negative trends (29% of the Niger site area) mainly in tiger bush areas located on lateritic plateaus, which are particularly prone to pressures from overgrazing and overlogging. The significant role of accessibility factors in biomass production trends was also highlighted. Our methodological framework may be used to highlight changing areas and their major drivers to identify target areas for more detailed studies. Finer-scale assessments of the long-term vulnerability of populations can then be made to substantiate food security management policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Amazon-savanna ecotone in northwest Brazil, the understudied Araguaia River Basin contains high biodiversity and seasonal wetlands. The region is representative of tropical humid-dry ecotone zones, which have experienced intense land use and land cover (LULC) conversions. Here we assessed the LULC changes for the last four decades in the central portion of the Araguaia River Basin to understand the temporal changes in the landscape composition and configuration outside and inside protected areas. We conducted these analyzes by LULC mapping and landscape metrics based on patch classes. During this period, native vegetation was reduced by 26%. Forests were the most threatened physiognomy, with significant areal reduction and fragmentation. Native vegetation cover was mainly replaced by croplands and pastures. Such replacement followed spatial and temporal trends related to the implementation of protected areas and increases in population cattle herds. The creation of most protected areas took place between 1996 and 2007, the same period during which the conversion of the landscape matrix from natural vegetation to agriculture occurred. We observed that protected areas mitigate fragmentation, but their roles differ according to their location and level of protection. Still, we argue that landscape characteristics, such as suitability for agriculture, also influence landscape conversions and should be considered when establishing protected areas. The information provided in this study can guide new research on species conservation and landscape planning, as well as improve the understanding of the impacts of landscape composition and configuration changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central European landscape has undergone dramatic changes during the last decades. Big changes in the political and economic systems resulted in a large-scale transformation in land use, especially in the agricultural and silvicultural sectors. At the same time, significant changes in urban regions were recorded. In order to quantify and compare the most important processes in land cover changes, we analyzed so-called land cover flows within four post-communist countries in Central Europe-zech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary-sing CORINE Land Cover databases for 1990, 2000 and 2006. Contradictory processes in landscape change were recorded such as large scale agricultural extensification vs. intensification, or afforestation vs. deforestation. Moreover, there are significant regional differences in the changes in spatial patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the dynamics of mining effects on land use land cover changes and the chemical and physical characteristics of soil and surface water in the Ahafo mining area in Ghana. Landsat imagery was used to analyze land use-land cover changes (LULC) using a supervised classification technique. Soil samples were collected within 600 m from active mining operations and at depths of up to 75 cm, as well as surface water samples from upstream and downstream of the mine. Atomic Absorption Spectrometry was used to determine the concentration of heavy metals in the soil and water samples. The results demonstrated a significant loss of forest and other vegetation covers, which decreased from 44% to 31% to 8% and 20%, respectively, with corresponding increases in the mining site, mine water, settlement/bare surface, cropland and plantation. Organic matter, organic carbon, exchangeable bases, cation exchange capacity, available phosphorus, and pH were all moderate in the soil surrounding the mine. Except for As (4.027 mg/kg) and Hg (1 mg/kg), all heavy metals found in the soil were within FAO/WHO guidelines. Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) (416.18 mg/L), Total Suspended Solids (55.08 mg/L), Turbidity (54.49 NTU), Ca (84.49 mg/L), Mg (31.97 mg/L), nitrate (10.23 mg/L), and sulphate (606.83 mg/L) in the downstream water were higher than those in the upstream and USEPA/WHO limits for drinking water except for TDS. Because of the geology of the area, there were high concentrations of iron, manganese, and aluminum in the surface water. The results show that mining induced severe land cover changes and impaired surface water and soil quality in the mine's vicinity. The findings have implications for stakeholder education, appropriate community water interventions, and company-community-regulator participatory monitoring to avoid health risk exposure and further water and soil quality and vegetation degradation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2023 The Authors.)

This study presents spatial analysis of agricultural landscape changes in the Podolie and Častkovce cadastral areas since 1949. Data for analysis was obtained from historical aerial photographs (from 1949, 1986 and 2006), detailed field mapping and Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) monitoring. Land cover changes were assessed from the aerial photographs based on the CORINE land cover legend, environmental variables were derived from digital elevation model (DEM) and detailed geological and soil maps. Data was spatially compared and assessed by regression analysis for interpretation of Black locust occurrence. The most significant land cover changes occurred between 1949 and 1986 when agricultural areas were replaced by forest and semi-natural areas. One of the aspects of landscape changes is abandonment of agricultural landscape and occupancy this new transformed surfaces by invasive plant taxons (e. i. Robinia pseudoacacia L.). Black locust occurrence was mainly influenced by landscape management changes and subsequent land cover changes (afforestation from 1949 to 1986), especially in regions of dispersed settlements (Podolské and Korytnianské kopanice) after agricultural collectivisation. Environmental variables had little effect on Black locust expansion in these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land cover is defined as a physical and biological cover of the earth’s surface that contains water, vegetation and bare soil. Limiting factors in arid areas such as water shortage and soil salinity are important factors to study the occurred changes in land cover. Due to the large expanse of land, change detection by the traditional methods is not sufficient and efficient; therefore, using of new methods such as remote sensing technology is necessary and vital. The overall aim of this study was to assess changes in land cover in arid lands of Marvast plain, located in south of Yazd. In this study, ASTER (Terra) data for summer month of July for years of 2003 and 2010 as well as ETM+ data (Landsat) for July 2002 and 2010 was used. In the first step, after pre-processing operations such as geometric correction, land cover maps of the study area were classified into 5 classes (agricultural land, rangeland, bare land, desert and wetland) using Maximum Likelihood method in both satellite types. Then, taking ground truth data, the classified maps accuracy were assessed by calculating the Kappa coefficient and overall accuracy. The results of ETM+ classification show that the areas of agricultural land and wetland were increased and decreased, respectively in time span of 2002-2010. The same changes were also observed in change classification maps of ASTER for the period of 2003-2010. In this time period, the area of wetland is decreased and changed into desert area. In addition, rangeland area has reduced and changed into agricultural land. The results show that produced maps of both sensors have accuracy of above 85% which reflects high performance of both images in land cover change analysis. In spite of the fact that ASTER data is a little more accurate, results of using Landsat data which has more accessibility and lower cost, for change detection analysis is also acceptable and valuable.

CORINE Land Cover data is a very valuable source of information on the European landscape and its dynamics. The content compatibility and time sequence makes it possible to analyse and assess the overall changes in land cover; and this enables us to examine the heterogeneous structure and almost 30-year development of the Slovak landscape. The temporal-spatial characteristics of these changes in land cover over almost three decades confirm a mixed trend of urbanisation and expectation that development of future environmental activities will provide even greater significance to this presented knowledge of Slovak land cover and its changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The association between land use and land cover changes between 1979-2004 in a 2.26-million-hectare area south of the Gran Chaco region and Trypanosoma cruzi infection in rural communities was analysed. The extent of cultural land, open and closed forests and shrubland up to 3,000 m around rural communities in the north, northwest and west of the province of Córdoba was estimated using Landsat satellite imagery. The T. cruzi prevalence was estimated with a cross-sectional serological survey conducted in the rural communities. The land cover showed the same patterns in the 1979, 1999 and 2004 satellite imagery in both the northwest and west regions, with shrinking regions of cultured land and expanding closed forests away from the community. The closed forests and agricultural land coverage in the north region showed the same trend as in the northwest and west regions in 1979 but not in 1999 or 2004. In the latter two years, the coverage remote from the communities was either constant or changed in opposite ways from that of the northwest and west regions. The changes in closed forests and cultured vegetation alone did not have a significant, direct relationship with the occurrence of rural communities with at least one person infected by T. cruzi. This study suggests that the overall decrease in the prevalence of T. cruzi is a consequence of a combined effect of vector control activities and changes in land use and land cover.

Good understanding of relations between historical land cover changes and accompanying environmental components should be a starting point for landscape modelling and forecasting its future patterns. Analysis presented here focuses on the relationships between chosen environmental conditions and agricultural land cover changes in the period of over 150 years. The study area consisted of fragments of Nidziańska Basin and South Pomeranian Lake District macroregions. The land cover data was derived from a number of archival and contemporary topographical maps. Long-term changes of land cover were then related to underlying landscape elements (geological deposits and morphometric landforms). With the help of canonical analysis major correlations were identified and described.

During the last two decades, the sub-Saharan region has experienced unusual floods that have differentially impacted the region. No official and precise data regarding flood damage and impacts on the population are available, and the magnitude of events are not easily evaluated. Most previous studies have investigated this new threat using data derived from local media sources or world disaster databases. The aim of this study was to provide the scientific community and policy makers with an updated and reliable referenced data source concerning floods in Niger between 1998 and 2015, at national, regional and sub-regional scales. Reliable information regarding floods was derived from the national official flood damage database (ANADIA DB) showing their impact on the country. During the investigated period, considerable numbers regarding flood impacts were found (about 4000 settlements and 1.7 million people were affected by floods). The analysis also indicates a sudden increase in flood impacts since 2010. Regions in the south-west (Tillabery, Dosso and Niamey district) are the most affected; however, this kind of risk involves the whole country, and some particularly vulnerable areas have been identified. A data modeling comprehensive framework based on remotely sensed rainfall (climate hazards group infrared precipitation with stations (CHIRPS)) and vegetation index (moderate resolution imagery spectroradiometer normalized difference vegetation index (MODIS NDVI)) datasets data along with census data were used to investigate which variables are most able to explain the recent and sudden Niger flood vulnerability detected at the departmental scale. Only a few statistically significant flood damage models were found (61 out of 297), due essentially to the non-linearity of the increase in damage time series compared to environmental and climatic trends. The population increase is the most significant variable at national level; however, at regional and sub-regional scales, different patterns provided evidence to identify local triggers for vulnerability.

Tropical Dry Forests (TDFs) have been broadly converted into pastures and crops, with direct consequences to biodiversity, ecosystem services, and social welfare. Such land use and cover changes (LUCC) usually are strongly influenced by government environmental and development policies. The present study aimed at analyzing LUCC in Brazilian TDFs between 2000 and 2015, using the north of Minas Gerais state (128 000 km ^2 ) as a case study. We evaluated the potential biophysical and social-economic drivers of TDF loss, natural regeneration and net area change at the county level. Further, we determined the effects of these LUCC variables on socioeconomic indicators. We identified a considerable change in TDF cover, expressed as 9825 km ^2 of deforestation and 6523 km ^2 of regeneration, which resulted in a net loss of 3302 km ^2 . The annual rate of TDF cover change was −1.2%, which is extremely high for a vegetation type that is protected as part of the Atlantic Rain Forest biome since 1993. TDF deforestation was directly affected by county area and by the increase in cattle density, and inversely affected by terrain declivity, indicating that land conversion is mostly driven by cattle ranching in flat regions. TDF regeneration was directly affected by county area and inversely affected by the increase in population density and terrain declivity. LUCC variables did not affect welfare indicators, undermining claims from rural sectors that TDF protection would cause a socioeconomic burden for northern Minas Gerais. Our results highlight the importance of naturally regenerating secondary forests to the maintenance of ecosystem integrity and its services, which are frequently neglected in conservation strategies. Hegemonic macroeconomic policies affecting TDFs have been deeply rooted in deforestation for commodities production, and need urgent review because they cause long-term environmental impacts without evidence of welfare gains.

Anthropogenic land-use and land cover changes (LULCC) affect global climate and global terrestrial carbon (C) cycle. However, relatively few studies have quantified the impacts of future LULCC on terrestrial carbon cycle. Here, using Earth system model simulations performed with and without future LULCC, under the RCP8.5 scenario, we find that in response to future LULCC, the carbon cycle is substantially weakened: browning, lower ecosystem C stocks, higher C loss by disturbances and higher C turnover rates are simulated. Projected global greening and land C storage are dampened, in all models, by 22% and 24% on average and projected C loss by disturbances enhanced by ~49% when LULCC are taken into account. By contrast, global net primary productivity is found to be only slightly affected by LULCC (robust +4% relative enhancement compared to all forcings, on average). LULCC is projected to be a predominant driver of future C changes in regions like South America and the southern part of Africa. LULCC even cause some regional reversals of projected increased C sinks and greening, particularly at the edges of the Amazon and African rainforests. Finally, in most carbon cycle responses, direct removal of C dominates over the indirect CO _2 fertilization due to LULCC. In consequence, projections of land C sequestration potential and Earth’s greening could be substantially overestimated just because of not fully accounting for LULCC.

China has experienced intense land use and land cover changes during the past several decades, which have exerted significant influences on climate change. Previous studies exploring related climatic effects have focused mainly on one or two specific land use changes, or have considered all land use and land cover change types together without distinguishing their individual impacts, and few have examined the physical processes of the mechanism through which land use changes affect surface temperature. However, in this study, we considered satellite-derived data of multiple land cover changes and transitions in China. The objective was to obtain observational evidence of the climatic effects of land cover transitions in China by exploring how they affect surface temperature and to what degree they influence it through the modification of biophysical processes, with an emphasis on changes in surface albedo and evapotranspiration (ET). To achieve this goal, we quantified the changes in albedo, ET, and surface temperature in the transition areas, examined their correlations with temperature change, and calculated the contributions of different land use transitions to surface temperature change via changes in albedo and ET. Results suggested that land cover transitions from cropland to urban land increased land surface temperature (LST) during both daytime and nighttime by 0.18 and 0.01 K, respectively. Conversely, the transition of forest to cropland tended to decrease surface temperature by 0.53 K during the day and by 0.07 K at night, mainly through changes in surface albedo. Decreases in both daytime and nighttime LST were observed over regions of grassland to forest transition, corresponding to average values of 0.44 and 0.20 K, respectively, predominantly controlled by changes in ET. These results highlight the necessity to consider the individual climatic effects of different land cover transitions or conversions in climate research studies. This short-term analysis of land cover transitions in China means our estimates should represent local temperature effects. Changes in ET and albedo explained

Due to the multiple impacts of landform effects, spatial heterogeneity and land use policies, farmland dynamics in mountainous areas are complicated. This study investigated farmland dynamics based on land use data from a typical mountainous area, Panxi, in China for 1990, 2000 and 2010, discussed the relationship between altitude, slope and farmland changes and presented an analysis of the driving forces of farmland change. Our findings are as follows: (1) from 1990 to 2010, the area of converted farmland was relatively small (313 km2), accounting for only 2.6% of the region's farmland. Farmland was mainly converted to forest and grassland as a result of the Returning Farmland to Forest Program; (2) The spatial distribution of land use types differed significantly. The presence of water bodies influenced farmland and built-up land, while forest and grassland showed "landform-oriented" characteristics. Built-up land was especially variable in distribution, indicating that it was more vulnerable to human activities; (3) The vertical differentiation of farmland changes was obvious. At altitudes <2500 m, the data displayed a trend of conversion from forest to farmland, while at >2500 m, this trend reversed. Thus, 2500 m serves as an altitudinal boundary between farmland and forest in Panxi. The largest area of forest-farmland transfer occurred on slopes steeper than 15°, not 25°, as defined by China's policy of Returning Farmland to Forest; (4) The driving forces of farmland changes varied. Decreases in farmland were negatively correlated with proximity to rivers and roads. Increases in farmland were positively related to temperature and negatively related to both population density and altitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Budapest agglomeration is a rapidly changing environment. Urban sprawl has been a prominent process in municipalities around the Hungarian capital, and its pace has significantly increased since the change of regimes. In our paper, we analyse the tendencies of urban development, the role of territorial protection and the types of land use mostly threatened by urban sprawl in two study areas within the Budapest agglomeration. A significant part of the Northern study area – located on Szentendre Island – is under territorial protection, while the Southern study area – located on Csepel Island – has a considerably lower amount of protected areas. We found that the settlements of the Northern study area have been expanding at a much slower pace than their Southern counterparts, where in the absence of effective restrictions, extensive areas – mostly former agricultural fields – have been converted into built-up areas. In addition, the Spatial Plan of the agglomeration allows the same tendencies to continue in both areas in the future as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates land cover (LC) changes in the coastal area of Dakshina Kannada district in the state of Karnataka, South India, during the years 2004–2008 as a case study. IRS P-6, Linear Imaging Self Scanning sensor (LISS-IV) satellite images were used in the present work. Classification was carried out using artificial bee colony algorithm and support vector machine (SVM) which gave a better result compared to other traditional classification techniques. The best overall classification accuracy for the study area was achieved with an ABC classifier with an OCA of 80.35% for 2004 year data and OCA of 80.40% for 2008 year data, whereas the OCA in SVM, for the same training set is 71.42% for 2004 data and 71.38% for 2008 data on study area 1 and the results were optimised with respect to multispectral data. In study area 2, ABC algorithm achieved an OCA of 78.17% and MLC of 62.63% which was used to check the universality of the classifier. The classification results with post-classification technique for study area 1 indicate that urbanisation in the study area has almost increased twice. During the same time there is an increase in the forest plantation, agricultural plantation and a decrease in crop land and land without scrubs, indicates rapid changes in the coastal environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]