 Measuring cumulative effects in a fragmented landscapeTalita Nogueira Terra and Rozely Ferreira dos Santos Ecological Modelling, 2012, vol. 228, issue C, 89-95 Abstract: Scientists recognize the importance of studying cumulative environmental effects as stressors, as there are countless stressors in human and technological development. However, existing studies acknowledge methodological limitations of measuring effects that combine and accumulate over time, making it difficult to interpret the processes leading to a given current landscape. Therefore, the objective of this study was to develop a method that would make it possible to define the sequence of human actions and to measure relationships between type, intensity and distribution of cumulative effects by analyzing the past and present composition of the landscape. The method is based on the identification of the cumulative value of effects in landscape units of 900m2. The chronosequence of human activities triggering accumulated effects was obtained from superimposed maps and the magnitude of effects was evaluated using area graphs. The method proposed was applied in a study area, resulting in a map that clearly showed the distribution and synergy of cumulative effects in the study area. Keywords: Landscape; Environmental impact; Land use changes (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:228:y:2012:i:c:p:89-95 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2012.01.001 Access Statistics for this article Ecological Modelling is currently edited by Brian D. Fath More articles in Ecological Modelling from Elsevier |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.