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In fragile transitional freshwater ecosystems, such as wetlands, the increasing anthropogenic and natural pressures, including climate change and industrialisation, have impacted the land use/land cover (LULC). The present study aims to identify the LULC changes occurring in Loktak Lake, a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance, included in the Montreux Record between 2009 and 2020 using LANDSAT imageries. In order to quantify the LULC, a Maximum Likelihood Classifier was carried out in Arc GIS 10.8.1. A total of six land use classes were classified viz., open water body, athaphum, phumdi, built up, agriculture and barren area. It also attempts to undertake landscape modelling to look at the fragmentation of phumdi class through FRAGSTATS utilising the Number of Patches (NP), Patch Density (PD), Largest Patch Index (LPI) and Cohesion metrics. An overall decline in phumdi, athaphum, agriculture and open water body land uses at the rate of 5.9, 14.54, 110.1 and 1%, respectively, was observed. Meanwhile, built-up and barren land uses showed an overall increase at the rate of 18.31 and 31.25%, respecively. These LULC changes observed have been primarily because of anthropogenic factors, which threaten an already fragile ecosystem. The landscape modelling exercise showed that phumdi is aggregated at the innermost portions of the lake. It also showed that the patches of phumdi were higher in years 2011 and 2020, which may be due to the use of phumdi strips in athaphum (fish farms on the lake). The study indirectly revealed the effectiveness of past management actions by relevant organisations, as remotely sensed information requires ground validation. It also highlighted the absence of baseline data information and emphasised integrating present, past and future LULC modelling for management purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is crucial to determine and monitor land use/land cover changes, land degradation, and recovery areas for resource planning, including supporting ecosystem functions and services and ensuring food supply and security. Open Foris Collect Earth (CE) is a new, open-source, and user-friendly software tool for land monitoring developed by FAO and Google. The CE offers free access to multiple freely available archives of very high spatial and temporal resolution imagery. In this study, the CE software was used to monitor LULCC on the branches of the Euphrates-Tigris River within the border of Iraq and Syria between 2000 and 2015. The results indicated that cropland was the predominant land cover type by occupying more than 48% of the study area within the study period, with the largest cropland source coming from irrigated agricultural areas (98%). Also, the total greening (land improvement) and desertification (land degradation) in the study area within 2000-2015 were 1.73% (194 439 ha) and 06.6% (74 466 ha), respectively. All greening areas, observed in agricultural areas, have been detected in irrigated agricultural areas for both countries. Obtained results from this study could provide support for Sustainable Land Management (SLM) and Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) processes in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gurage Zone is one of the areas of Ethiopia experiencing rapid land use and land cover (LULC) changes over the past few decades. This study assessed the contribution of eucalyptus expansion to LULC changes based on a detailed household level survey, key informant interviews, focus group discussions and a set of Landsat imageries. Both descriptive statistics and econometric model were employed for the analysis of drivers of eucalyptus plantation. LULC change detection technique was used to examine the changes in LULC over time. This study achieved a mean classification accuracy of 89.17% and 0.83 overall Kappa statistics for the tree LULC maps. The result of descriptive analysis revealed that more than 42% of the sampled households have planted eucalyptus trees on crop land. The study indicated that eucalyptus plantation which was fourth in LULC ranking in 2000 has increased by 68.3% in 2021 to become the second largest land cover next to crop land. On the other hand, from 2010 to 2021, the area covered by crops showed a decline. This indicates eucalyptus tree to be the major cause of LULC change in the study area. The econometric estimation identified the micro-level drivers such as land size and access to market to be important factors influencing eucalyptus plantation. This study suggests that the rapid expansion of eucalyptus plantation on fertile soil requires an immediate policy response in order to balance food crop production and eucalyptus plantation in Gurage Zone. • The area covered by eucalyptus plantation increased from almost 12% in 2000 to 20% in 2021. • Smallholder farmers' eucalyptus tree plantations were the main cause of LULC changes. • Micro-level drivers influencing LULC changes include factors such as land size and market accessibility. • Policy actions are necessary to keep a balance between the demand for forest products and food production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased in human anthropogenic activities resulted in large degradation of wetlands affecting the biotic and abiotic components of the freshwater ecosystems. The Loktak Lake of Manipur in the Indo-Burma Biodiversity region has been degraded and threatened due to increase in population and the demand for more resources. The aim of the present study was to assess the changes in land use pattern in Loktak Lake during the last 38 years using digital change detection approaches. Spatial technique of land uses detection using multi-temporal satellite data followed by remote sensing techniques were used to assess the land cover changes. Maximum likelihood algorithm was employed to analyze the data collected from the Earth Resource Development Assessment System imagine in order to detect the change in land cover. Further, five types of land use pattern viz. open water bodies, agricultural area, Phumdis with thick vegetation, Phumdis with thin vegetation and settlement were studied. The results showed an alternation in the land use profile of the Loktak Lake. The present finding indicates that overall increased in open water bodies, agricultural area and settlement by 10.94%, 10.26% and 2.23% respectively while Phumdis with thick and Phumdis with thin vegetation have decreased by 3.48% and 28.89%. Changes in land use pattern were found to be affecting the fragile ecosystem of the Loktak Lake and posed a serious threat to the aquatic ecosystem. The study identified the need for proper land use planning and implementation of Manipur Loktak Lake Act 2006 for sustainable management of the lake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban development is a principal driver of landscape change affecting the integrity of ecological systems and the capacity of the landscape to support species. We developed an urban growth model (SPRAWL), evaluated it with hindcasting, and used it to simulate urban growth across the northeastern United States between 2010 and 2080 under four alternative scenarios. In the model, urban growth is constrained by demand for new development for each time step at the subregional scale. Demand is subsequently allocated to local application panes (5 km on a side within 15 km window) using a unique landscape context matching algorithm, such that the more historical development that occurred in the matched training windows the higher the proportion of future demand assigned to the pane. Lastly, demand in each pane is allocated among development types and then allocated to individual patches based on suitability surfaces unique to that landscape context. SPRAWL has a multi-level, multi-scale structure that captures urban growth drivers operating at multiple scales and, when combined with the unique matching and suitability algorithms, induces non-stationarity in urban growth across time and space. Our evaluation indicated that SPRAWL was highly discriminatory, well-calibrated, and highly predictive of new development, but performed weakly for redevelopment transitions. We evaluated the ecological impacts of four alternative urban growth scenarios varying in total demand for new development and “sprawliness” of new development relative to historical patterns using an ecological integrity index. The results were consistent with expectations and demonstrated the potential of SPRAWL for scenario analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pattern of Land Use Land Cover (LULC) is shifting in an unbalanced manner due to urban growth. When cities flourish, vegetated regions are altered into impervious concrete masses. This along with other factors increases the Land Surface Temperature (LST) in urban areas, leading to the emergence of Surface Urban Heat Islands (SUHIs). This study seeks to examine how the evolving patterns of LULC impact the intensity of LST and its correlation with the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI) in the rapidly expanding Kozhikode Urban Area (KUA). This is studied using a combination of geographic information systems, satellite remote sensing, and statistical analysis. Satellite images of Landsat 5 (TM) and Landsat 8 (OLI & TIRS) of the years 1993 and 2018 were used, respectively. ArcGIS software has been used to map the LULC pattern, LST, NDVI and NDBI. The supervised technique with the maximum likelihood algorithm is used to derive the LULC pattern, while the mono-window algorithm has been used to derive the LST. MS Excel, SPSS, and OrginPro were used for statistical analysis. The results reflect a decrease of 73.88 per cent in total vegetated areas from 1993 to 2018, while the built-up area expanded from 19.95 km2 to 132.96 km2. The mean LST increased by 2.65 °C from 1993 to 2018. Pearson correlation revealed LST is negatively correlated with NDVI (r = −0.541, P < 0.5 in 1993, r = −0.616, P < 0.5 in 2018) and positively correlated with NDBI (r = 0.664, P < 0.5 in 1993, r = 0.612, P < 0.5 in 2018). As a result, this paper urges urban planners and policymakers in Kozhikode to urgently address the disproportionate LULC patterns emerging in the city and implement more sustainable development measures and policies like urban greening with proper planning and effective stakeholder engagement to control the rising LST. • Increase in Land Surface Temperature and its Relationship to Land Use Land Cover Change in Kozhikode Urban Area are Analyzed. • The urban growth pattern is investigated the for Kozhikode city. • Massive tracts of vegetation have been transformed into built-up areas. • Large-scale unplanned urbanization has a direct impact on the temperature increase. • Most land use policies and regulations are not implemented effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban heat island intensity (UHII) has been determined as difference in air temperatures between two locations of Delhi namely Safdarjung (SAFD) and National Physical Laboratory (NPL) regions which represent urban and sub-urban areas respectively. High UHI has been obtained in morning time as compared to day and night times, with the highest magnitude ranging from 2.8 to 3° C in spring (MAM), autumn (SON) and winter (DJF) seasons in morning hours (0700–0900 h). Monsoon season (JJA) shows less UHII values compared to other seasons. Wind speed reduced the UHII. Larger impervious area (i.e. 67.2% in SAFD as compared to 33.4% in NPL), lesser vegetated area (i.e. 32.8% in SAFD as compared to 66.6% in NPL) and low Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) value (0.15 in SAFD as compared to 0.24 in NPL) in SAFD area supports the existence of UHI there. Ambient O 3 concentrations show maximum values during April and May for both regions and remain insignificantly influenced by UHI. Intra city temperature difference of 0.2–3 °C is capable of raising electricity demand by 37.87–1856 GWh over the base electricity requirement of the city with corresponding increase in CO 2 emissions by 0.031–1.52 million ton. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the complex agro-ecological conditions of Vietnam's northern borderlands, attempts by ethnic minority farmers to create sustainable livelihoods, along with the impacts of state development policies, have direct consequences for land use and land cover (LULC) change. In this paper we analyse the degree to which LULC has changed and diversified from 1999 to 2009 in Lào Cai Province and the underlying relationships with ethnic minority livelihood diversification strategies. We examine the correlation between LULC diversity and various socioeconomic and biophysical proxies using a spatial autoregressive model. Our findings indicate two major changes in LULC: an increase in closed canopy forest and substantial urban growth. LULC diversity increased between 1999 and 2009, suggesting a transition between land uses and/or a diversification of livelihood strategies. Socioeconomic proxies are significant predictors of LULC diversity in both years, while biophysical proxies are only effective predictors in 2009. In-depth interviews regarding state-led policies and ethnic minority livelihoods reveal some of the underlying mechanisms of such LULC transitions and associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]