Land change in the central Albertine rift: Insights from analysis and mapping of land use-land cover change in north-western Rwanda

Akinyemi, Felicia O.

doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2017.07.016

Cited by 58 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 37 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The humid natural forest, eucalyptus plantations and degraded natural forest are the dominant forest types across Rwanda [59]. Natural events, such as landslides [19] and human causes, including cropland expansion, timber harvesting, charcoal and firewood demands, logging operations, and illegal mining activities in forestland without appropriate technology for forest protection, constitute Sustainability 2020, 12, 50 5 of 23 unsustainable practices posing serious disturbances on forest ecosystems [26,28,59,60]. Therefore, impacts arising from human disturbances, coupled with natural hazards, can reduce forest sustainability and soil productivity [61].…”

Section: Land Use/land Cover (Lulc) Of Rwandamentioning

confidence: 99%

Land Use Change Impacts on Water Erosion in Rwanda

Nambajimana

Zhou

et al. 2019

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Rwanda has experienced accelerated soil erosion as a result of unsustainable human activities and changes in land use. Therefore, this study aimed at applying the RUSLE (Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation) model using GIS (Geographical Information System) and remote sensing to assess water erosion in Rwanda, focusing on the erosion-prone lands for the time span 2000 to 2015. The estimated mean annual soil losses were 48.6 t ha −1 y −1 and 39.2 t ha −1 y −1 in 2000 and 2015, respectively, resulting in total nationwide losses of approximately 110 and 89 million tons. Over the 15 years, 34.6% of the total area of evaluated LULC (land use/land cover) types have undergone changes. The highest mean soil loss of 91.6 t ha −1 y −1 occurred in the area changing from grassland to forestland (0.5%) while a mean soil loss of 10.0 t ha −1 y −1 was observed for grassland converting to cropland (4.4%). An attempt has been made to identify the embedded driving forces of soil erosion in Rwanda. As a result, we found that mean soil loss for Rwanda's districts in 2015 was significantly correlated with poverty (r = 0.45, p = 0.013), increased use of chemical fertilizers (r = 0.77, p = 0.005), and especially was related to extreme poverty (r = 0.77, p = 0.000). The soil conservation scenario analysis for Rwanda's cropland in 2015 revealed that terracing could reduce the soil loss by 24.8% (from 14.6 t ha −1 y −1 to 11.7 t ha −1 y −1 ). Most importantly, the study suggests that (1) terracing integrated with mulching and cover crops could effectively control water erosion while ameliorating soil quality and fertility, and (2) reforestation schemes targeting the rapid-growing tree species are therefore recommended as an important feature for erosion control in the study area.

show abstract

Section: Land Use/land Cover (Lulc) Of Rwandamentioning

confidence: 99%

Land Use Change Impacts on Water Erosion in Rwanda

Nambajimana

Zhou

et al. 2019

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although abundant information regarding certain aspects of African forests is available, including forest cover change [4][5][6][7][8], forest gains, and forest management guidelines, there is little information available on forest stand structures and dynamics. There is a need to strengthen and integrate national institutions to increase the capacity for countries in Africa to enforce forest laws and control the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dynamic Patterns of Trees Species in Miombo Forest and Management Perspectives for Sustainable Production—Case Study in Huambo Province, Angola

Chiteculo

Surový

2018

Forests

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper aims to assess important forest parameters, including tree density, diameter at breast height (DBH), and age distribution, investigate the dynamic growth of miombo tree species, and employ this information to design a management framework in miombo forests. The delineation of the management zones was based on unsupervised land cover classification that began with three zones where ground data was collected and increased to five zones. Eighteen circular plots (25.2 m radius) were randomly distributed over the study areas to assess the current situation and potential growth patterns for each species. The patterns of the six most representative tree species of miombo in Angola were described and we used KORFiT 2.4 software to fit data and develop growth curves for at least three miombo species. Growth function fitness was evaluated by root mean squared error (RMSE), coefficient of determination (R 2 ), significance of the parameters (p < 0.05), and Akaike's information criterion (AIC). The diameter distribution of miombo tree species resembled a typical distribution of uneven-aged forest stands; higher DBH classes had lower abundances of tree species. Logistic and Gompertz growth functions were the best fits for miombo tree species. Brachystegia spiciformis Benth., is suggested as a potential species for timber management in the region because they displayed high growth potential to more quickly reach an assumed minimum DBH of 20 cm. This study concluded that miombo forest stands present an irregular structure in which DBH distribution illustrated only two patterns: many small stems and a bimodal forest structure.

show abstract

“…After image classification, we performed accuracy assessment and land use change detection through functions under the postprocessing tab in SCP. To validate the classified image, 100 random sampling points were used for each year [75]. Land use classes were determined through Google Earth images for the different assessment years.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land use change, carbon stocks and tree species diversity in green spaces of a secondary city in Myanmar, Pyin Oo Lwin

2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Myanmar undergoes rapid urban expansion and experiences its negative impacts, often due to the loss of urban green spaces. National and local authorities lack sufficient knowledge, capacity and plans on how to preserve urban green spaces and benefit from their ecosystem services, with such gaps being particularly pronounced in the smaller secondary cities. This study focuses in such as secondary city, Pyin Oo Lwin, and analyzes land use and land cover (LULC) change, tree diversity and carbon stored in aboveground and belowground biomass, and soil. We focus on the main green spaces of the city, which contain different configurations of urban forest, grassland and agricultural land. Remote sensing analysis tracked LULC change between 1988 and 2018, and showed the extensive increase of built-up area, and the decline of urban forests and urban farms. Even though a substantial amount of green spaces has been converted to built-up land, the remaining urban green spaces are still serving as an important habitat for many different tree species, with a total of 82 species from 35 families observed in the different green spaces. Furthermore, these green spaces contain significant carbon stocks, which are, however, highly variable: botanical garden (383.67 t/ha), coffee farms (355.64 t/ha), monasteries (277.14 t/ha), golf course (208.45 t/ha), and seasonal farms (123.22 t/ha). Nevertheless, the extensive LULC change has reduced carbon stocks from 2.41 Mt (1988) to 1.65 Mt (2018). The findings of this study provide a better understanding of LULC change in secondary cities of Myanmar, and build an evidence base on how urban green spaces preservation and green infrastructure development can contribute to green economic transitions, and sustainable, resilient, and low-carbon cities in the country.

show abstract

Land change in the central Albertine rift: Insights from analysis and mapping of land use-land cover change in north-western Rwanda

Cited by 58 publications

References 37 publications

Land Use Change Impacts on Water Erosion in Rwanda

Land Use Change Impacts on Water Erosion in Rwanda

Dynamic Patterns of Trees Species in Miombo Forest and Management Perspectives for Sustainable Production—Case Study in Huambo Province, Angola

Land use change, carbon stocks and tree species diversity in green spaces of a secondary city in Myanmar, Pyin Oo Lwin

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About