Mapping Land Use Land Cover Transitions at Different Spatiotemporal Scales in West Africa

Beatrice Asenso Barnieh, Li Jia, Massimo Menenti, Jie Zhou and Yelong Zeng
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Beatrice Asenso Barnieh: State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Li Jia: State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Massimo Menenti: State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Jie Zhou: Key Laboratory for Geographical Process Analysis & Simulation of Hubei Province, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China
Yelong Zeng: State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 20, 1-52

Abstract: Post-classification change detection was applied to examine the nature of Land Use Land Cover (LULC) transitions in West Africa in three time intervals (1975–2000, 2000–2013, and 1975–2013). Detailed analyses at hotspots coupled with comparison of LULC transitions in the humid and arid regions were undertaken. Climate and anthropic drivers of environmental change were disentangled by the LULC transitions analyses. The results indicated that human-managed LULC types have replaced the natural LULC types. The total vegetation cover declined by −1.6%. Massive net gains in croplands (107.8%) and settlements (140%) at the expense of natural vegetation were detected in the entire period (1975–2013). Settlements expanded in parallel with cropland, which suggests the effort to increase food production to support the increasing population. Expansion of artificial water bodies were detected in the humid regions during the period of 1975–2000. Nonetheless, shrinking of water bodies due to encroachment by wetlands and other vegetation was observed in the arid regions, coupled with net loss in the whole of West Africa. The results indicate deforestation and degradation of natural vegetation and water resources in West Africa. Underlying anthropic drivers and a combination of anthropic and climate drivers were detected. LULC transitions in West Africa are location specific and have both positive and negative implications on the environment. The transitions indicate how processes at the local level, driven by human activities, lead to changes at the continental level and may contribute to global environmental change.

Keywords: West Africa; arid region; humid region; LULC transitions; climate; anthropic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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