Trends and drivers of land use/land cover change in Western Ethiopia

Betru, Teshome; Tolera, Motuma; Kibret, Kefyalew Sahle; Kassa, Habtemariam

doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2019.02.007

Cited by 113 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Studies conducted in different parts of the upper Blue Nile of Ethiopia also reported similar findings. For example, Wubie et al [15] in the Gumera watershed, Miheretu and Yimer [16] in the Gelan sub-watershed, and Betru et al [18] in western Ethiopia.…”

Section: Land Use/land Cover Changesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In recent years, the study of LULCC has become an important topic of research [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. Studies have shown that LULCC has been intense in the highlands of Ethiopia.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…LULCC processes are triggered by the interaction of anthropogenic and biophysical drivers [14,15,[18][19][20][21]24]. The drivers of LULCC include social, economic, biophysical, and political factors [14,25,26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Drivers and Implications of Land Use/Land Cover Dynamics in Finchaa Catchment, Northwestern Ethiopia

Dibaba

Demissie

Miegel

2020

Land

130

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Understanding the trajectories and extents of land use/land cover change (LULCC) is important to generate and provide helpful information to policymakers and development practitioners about the magnitude and trends of LULCC. This study presents the contributing factors of LULCC, the extent and implications of these changes for sustainable land use in the Finchaa catchment. Data from Landsat images 1987, 2002, and 2017 were used to develop the land use maps and quantify the changes. A supervised classification with the maximum likelihood classifier was used to classify the images. Key informant interviews and focused group discussions with transect walks were used for the socio-economic survey. Over the past three decades, agricultural land, commercial farm, built-up, and water bodies have increased while forestland, rangeland, grazing land, and swampy areas have decreased. Intensive agriculture without proper management practice has been a common problem of the catchment. Increased cultivation of steep slopes has increased the risk of erosion and sedimentation of nearby water bodies. Multiple factors, such as biophysical, socio-economic, institutional, technological, and demographic, contributed to the observed LULCC in the study area. A decline in agricultural yield, loss of biodiversity, extended aridity and drought, land and soil degradation, and decline of water resources are the major consequences of LULCC in the Finchaa catchment. The socio-economic developments and population growth have amplified the prolonged discrepancy between supply and demand for land and water in the catchment. More comprehensive and integrated watershed management policies will be indispensable to manage the risks.

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Section: Land Use/land Cover Changesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Drivers and Implications of Land Use/Land Cover Dynamics in Finchaa Catchment, Northwestern Ethiopia

Dibaba

Demissie

Miegel

2020

Land

130

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“…Anthropogenic activities appear to cause the highest transformation of the present state of the earth's surface (Islam et al 2018). To meet human needs, the interaction between humans and their environment has altered the earth's surface more than any other living species have ever done (Betru et al 2019;Melese 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems and Impact of Natural and Anthropogenic Disturbances: Case of the Cork Oak Forest- Tlemcen- Algeria

Appiagyei

Belhoucine-Guezouli

Morsli

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: Forest cover change continues to be one of the most important topics in global environment discussions and negotiations. In North Africa, there is a broad consensus on forest decline but available information on the extent and rate of degradation has been far lower than needed. The present study uses the example of the cork oak forest of Tlemcen (Hafir-Zariffet forest), North West Algeria, to provide spatially explicit and up-to-date information on forest cover changes. The goal was to fill a knowledge gap in a poorly studied area by determining the extent of changes in forest cover. Methods: Land use land cover maps of 1989, 1999, 2009 and 2019 were classified using Random Forest Algorithm in R software and change assessed via intensity analysis. Results: The results revealed that sparse vegetation was the dominant land cover at the end of the study period, although it decreased from 71.25% in 1989 to 65.24% in 2019. The lowest coverage was water body from 0.47% in 1989 to 0.18% in 2019. Sparse vegetation and dense forest experienced a major decline of 6.01% and 3.22% respectively. On the other hand, open forest (+6.96%), bare areas (+0.37%), settlements (+1.99%) and agricultural (+0.21%) increased. In the LULC transitions analysis, dense forest recorded loss for two consecutive periods (1989-1999 and 1999-2009). The path of conversion was mainly from dense forest to open forest, an evidence of anthropogenic activities. Conclusion: The findings show that the cork oak forest of Hafir-Zariffet suffered multiple pressures, which cause degradation of this natural heritage. These pressures continue to increase the fragility of forest ecosystem and can affect the rehabilitation or even its resilience. In order to conserve the dwindling cork oak forest, a sustainable and effective management which ensures ecological, economic and social balance should be adopted.

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“…Xie et al [16] found that with the development of the economy, the efficiency of industrial land-use will decrease slightly. Meanwhile, some scholars have also studied the influencing factors of land-use from other perspectives, such as industrialization, globalization, tourism, and so on [17][18][19][20][21][22][23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal-Spatial Variations and Regional Disparities in Land-Use Efficiency, and the Response to Demographic Transition

Wang

Yang

et al. 2019

Sustainability

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China has undergone rapid industrialization and urbanization over the past 40 years. In this process, as a large country with a vast territory and a large population, China's population development and land utilization have been greatly affected and undergone dramatic changes. In this paper, we mainly discuss the temporal and spatial variation characteristics of land-use efficiency in China from 1991 to 2016 and the regional disparities and explore the impacts of demographic transition on land-use efficiency by employing a STIRPAT model. In terms of space, China's land-use efficiency has significant agglomeration distribution characteristics and regional inequality, and the degrees of agglomeration and differentiation have gradually become enhanced over time. Our study on the influences of demographic transition on land-use efficiency found a Kuznets curve relationship between the transition of population size and land-use efficiency, as well as between the income level transition and land-use efficiency. Especially, land-use efficiency first increases up to the population threshold of 10,611.877 × 10 4 , then efficiency decreases as the population grows. The overall average population in the whole country is 4117.753 × 10 4 , which is smaller than the identified threshold. Interestingly, the factors influencing land-use efficiency also showed very significant regional disparities. In the eastern region, there is a U-curve relationship between the population employed in secondary industries (ES2) and land-use efficiency. Land-use efficiency decreases down to the ES2 threshold of 343.674 × 10 4 for the eastern region, whereas the overall average ES2 is 874.976 × 10 4 , indicating that this region has reached the turning point where land-use efficiency will improve as the population employed in secondary industries increases. Meanwhile, the increase in the human capital level was significantly positively correlated with land-use efficiency in the eastern region. For the central region, the transition of the urban-rural population structure (measured by the urbanization rate) significantly increased land-use efficiency. In addition, the results of panel estimation showed a Kuznets relationship between the population employed in tertiary industries (ES3) and land-use efficiency in the western region. Land-use efficiency increases up to the ES3 threshold of 455.545 × 10 4 , and then decreases with an increasing population employed in tertiary industries, whereas the overall average ES3 in the western region is 415.97 × 10 4 , which is smaller than the identified threshold. Policymakers could use these findings to inform rational suggestions with a sound scientific basis regarding the promotion of land-use transition.

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Trends and drivers of land use/land cover change in Western Ethiopia

Cited by 113 publications

References 16 publications

Drivers and Implications of Land Use/Land Cover Dynamics in Finchaa Catchment, Northwestern Ethiopia

Drivers and Implications of Land Use/Land Cover Dynamics in Finchaa Catchment, Northwestern Ethiopia

Evolution of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems and Impact of Natural and Anthropogenic Disturbances: Case of the Cork Oak Forest- Tlemcen- Algeria

Temporal-Spatial Variations and Regional Disparities in Land-Use Efficiency, and the Response to Demographic Transition

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