Influence of Avocado Plantations as Driver of Land Use and Land Cover Change in Chile’s Aconcagua Basin

Iongel Duran-Llacer (), Andrés A. Salazar, Pedro Mondaca, Lien Rodríguez-López, Rebeca Martínez-Retureta, Francisco Zambrano, Fabian Llanos and Frederic Frappart
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Iongel Duran-Llacer: Escuela de Ingeniería en Medio Ambiente y Sustentabilidad y Escuela de Ingeniería Forestal, Facultad de Ciencias, Ingeniería y Tecnología, Universidad Mayor, Camino La Pirámide 5750, Santiago 8580745, Chile
Andrés A. Salazar: Boreal Austral, Santiago 8340466, Chile
Pedro Mondaca: Laboratorio de Agrobiotecnología, Departamento de Química, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María, Avenida España 1680, Valparaíso 2340000, Chile
Lien Rodríguez-López: Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad San Sebastián, Lientur 1457, Concepción 4030000, Chile
Rebeca Martínez-Retureta: Departamento de Ciencias Ambientales, Facultad de Recursos Naturales, Universidad Católica de Temuco, Rudecindo Ortega 2950, Temuco 4780000, Chile
Francisco Zambrano: Hémera Centro de Observación de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias, Ingeniería y Tecnología, Universidad Mayor, Camino La Pirámide 5750, Santiago 8580745, Chile
Fabian Llanos: Hémera Centro de Observación de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias, Ingeniería y Tecnología, Universidad Mayor, Camino La Pirámide 5750, Santiago 8580745, Chile
Frederic Frappart: ISPA, UMR 1391 INRAE, Bordeaux Sciences Agro, 33140 Villenave-d’Ornon, France

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-24

Abstract: Land use and land cover (LULC) change is a dynamic process influenced by various factors, including agricultural expansion. In Chile’s Aconcagua Basin, avocado plantations are potentially driving territorial transformations. However, current land cover data lacks the resolution required to accurately assess this impact. Accordingly, our study used advanced geospatial analysis techniques to address this gap. Through a detailed analysis of the spatial and temporal changes, it was determined that the most significant expansion of avocado plantations occurred between 2003 and 2013, with an increase of 402%. This growth primarily took place at the expense of native vegetation, particularly sclerophyllous shrubland, as well as other agricultural lands, near agricultural and urban lands. By 2023, changes in avocado plantation were significantly slower, with minimal alterations in LULC (5%), suggesting a possible influence of drought on small-scale farmers. However, the small loss of avocado plantation was mainly replaced by fruit farm land. Moreover, our findings suggest that while avocado plantations have become larger, more dominant, and more isolated, native vegetation has become more fragmented and reduced in patch size. Based on these results, sustainable land management practices were proposed. These findings provide a crucial foundation for developing sustainable land management strategies that balance agricultural production with environmental sustainability, landscape transformation and the well-being of local communities.

Keywords: land use and land cover change; avocado; landscape transformation; sustainable land management; land planning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:4:p:750-:d:1625597

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