Multitemporal Analysis Using Remote Sensing and GIS to Monitor Wetlands Changes and Degradation in the Central Andes of Ecuador (Period 1986–2022)

Juan Carlos Carrasco Baquero (), Daisy Carolina Carrasco López, Jorge Daniel Córdova Lliquín, Adriana Catalina Guzmán Guaraca, David Alejandro León Gualán, Vicente Javier Parra León and Verónica Lucía Caballero Serrano
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Juan Carlos Carrasco Baquero: Faculty of Natural Resources, Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo (ESPOCH), Riobamba EC060155, Ecuador
Daisy Carolina Carrasco López: Independent Researcher, Riobamba EC060104, Ecuador
Jorge Daniel Córdova Lliquín: Independent Researcher, Riobamba EC060104, Ecuador
Adriana Catalina Guzmán Guaraca: Faculty of Natural Resources, Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo (ESPOCH), Riobamba EC060155, Ecuador
David Alejandro León Gualán: Faculty of Business Administration, Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo (ESPOCH), Riobamba EC060155, Ecuador
Vicente Javier Parra León: Faculty of Natural Resources, Escuela Superior Politécnica de Chimborazo (ESPOCH), Riobamba EC060155, Ecuador
Verónica Lucía Caballero Serrano: Independent Researcher, Riobamba EC060104, Ecuador

Resources, 2025, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-20

Abstract: Wetlands are transitional lands between terrestrial and aquatic systems that provide various ecosystem services. The objective of this study was to evaluate the change in wetlands in the Chimborazo Wildlife Reserve (CR) in the period 1986–2022 using geographic information systems (GISs), multitemporal satellite data, and field data from the 16 wetlands of the reserve. Images from Landsat satellite collections (five from Thematic Mapper, seven from Enhanced Thematic Mapper, and eight from Operational Land Imager and Thermal Infrared Sensor) were used. Image analysis and processing was performed, and the resulting maps were evaluated in a GIS environment to determine the land cover change and growth rate of hydrophilic opportunistic vegetation (HOV) according to hillside orientation. The results show that there are negative annual anomalies in the water-covered areas, which coincide with the increase in HOV. This shows that the constancy or increase in the rate of increase in HOV, which varies between 0.0018 and 0.0028, causes the disappearance of these ecosystems. The importance of the study lies in its potential contribution to the decision-making process in the management of the CR.

Keywords: land use/land cover change; supervised classification; change detection; wetlands; vegetation; Andes; Ecuador (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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