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Challenges in Land Use and Land Cover Changes: Monitoring, Diversity and Variability, Sustainability

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainability in Geographic Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2023) | Viewed by 10857

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Zbigniew Zwolinski

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Guest Editor

Department of Geoinformation, Institute of Geoecology and Geoinformation, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Wieniawskiego 1, 61-712 Poznań, Poland
Interests: physical geography; geoinformation; GIS; LULC

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Land use and land cover changes play a crucial role in a wide range of environmental issues, such as geoecosystem functioning, lithosphere–morphosphere–pedosphere–hydrosphere–atmosphere–biosphere interactions, matter and energy balances, biogeochemical cycles, and last but not least, sustainable development and spatial planning and preservation of geodiversity and biodiversity. LULC changes, through natural and human impact (forces), have re-shaped the Earth surface. These changes can occur and be observed at local, regional, and global scales. Monitoring LULC changes allows us to detect drivers and trends in contemporary transformations of natural and human environments. Quantitative assessment of monitored LULC changes provides an early warning of adverse human activities in the environment. Therefore, science is challenged to develop modern methods and interpretations for present-day monitoring of land use and land cover changes for sustainable development of sites, regions, and countries. The increasing prevalence of digital remote sources and geodata is making rapid progress in analyzing, interpreting, and predicting these changes. The extensive catalogue of high-resolution and open data provides a basis for realistic spatiotemporal assessments of the near future. Such monitoring of LULC, its spatial diversity, and temporal variability should provide a better management of present natural resources, sustainable development of villages, towns, and regions, as well as protection of the environment for future generations.

Articles may cover but are not limited to:

Monitoring and mapping of historical and contemporary LULC changes using present-day geoinformation technology;
Identification of drivers for LULC changes;
Analysis of LULC changes for different natural landscapes, urbanized, agricultural, forested, and protected areas;
Methods for classification and interpretation of LULC changes;
Spatial diversity and temporal variability of LULC changes;
Directions and trends of LULC changes;
LULC change modeling and forecasting;
Ways of protecting the environment against adverse LULC changes.

Prof. Dr. Zbigniew Zwolinski
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

land use
land cover
geoinformation

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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26 pages, 22647 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Analysis of Recreational and Leisure Areas in Polish Counties with the Use of Geographically Weighted Regression

by Marta Nalej and Elżbieta Lewandowicz

Sustainability 2024, 16(1), 380; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16010380 - 31 Dec 2023

Viewed by 713

Abstract

Recreational and leisure areas play a special role. These areas mitigate or eliminate the disadvantages of living in large cities, enhance the quality of life in small towns, and support sustainability. The aim of this study was to analyze the share of recreational and leisure areas in Polish counties in 2022. In Poland, recreational and leisure areas constitute a separate land-use category in cadastral registers. Annual cadastral data from the Land and Building Register at county level (in tabular form) were the main source of data for the study. The analysis revealed that the share of recreational and leisure areas was higher in counties situated in western and south-western Poland, as well as in cities. The spatially varied influence of socioeconomic factors on the share of recreational and leisure areas in Polish counties in 2002 was determined with the use of the local Moran’s I statistic and geographically weighted regression (GWR). The study confirmed that population density was significantly related to the share of recreational and leisure areas in Polish counties. The impact of the remaining socioeconomic factors associated with spatial and economic development varied across regions. The study also revealed that, in addition to the current socioeconomic determinants, the share of recreational and leisure areas in Polish counties was also influenced by historical factors and the counties’ development since their establishment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges in Land Use and Land Cover Changes: Monitoring, Diversity and Variability, Sustainability)

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11 pages, 1366 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Wetland Loss in Coastal Louisiana Drives Significant Resident Population Declines

by Bernardo A. Bastien-Olvera, David Batker, Jared Soares, John Day, Luke Boutwell and Tania Briceno

Sustainability 2023, 15(11), 8941; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118941 - 1 Jun 2023

Viewed by 1414

Abstract

Despite increased hurricane intensity, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico coast has experienced dramatic coastal population increase of 24.5% from 2000 to 2016. However, in areas of coastal Louisiana with dramatic wetland loss, parishes have experienced population declines and lower rates of population growth. Therefore, understanding the magnitude of the effect of wetland loss as a main driver of population loss in coastal Louisiana is critical. Using regression analysis, this study finds that wetland loss has a significant and persistent negative effect on population growth in coastal Louisiana. This effect resulted in a reduction in the population growth rate in coastal parishes over time. A counterfactual simulation was conducted to estimate the potential population size in the absence of wetland loss from 1990 to 2021. On average, the effect of 1 hectare of wetland lost causes a reduction of approximately 1000 persons. This indicates that for the year 2021, the population was approximately 18% lower than the population that would have existed in the absence of wetland loss. This research underscores the role of wetlands in providing direct and indirect benefits to people in coastal Louisiana that are ultimately reflected in its population levels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges in Land Use and Land Cover Changes: Monitoring, Diversity and Variability, Sustainability)

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29 pages, 8282 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatiotemporal Land-Use Dynamics in Continental Portugal 1995–2018

by André Alves, Filipe Marcelino, Eduardo Gomes, Jorge Rocha and Mário Caetano

Sustainability 2022, 14(23), 15540; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142315540 - 22 Nov 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2359

Abstract

Monitoring land-use patterns and its trends provides useful information for impact evaluation and policy design. The latest in-depth studies of land-use dynamics for continental Portugal are outdated, and have not examined how municipalities may be classified into a typology of observed dynamics or considered the trajectory profiles of land-use transitions. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the spatiotemporal dynamics of land-use in continental Portugal from 1995 to 2018. Our multi-scalar approach used land-use maps in geographic information systems with the following objectives: (i) quantify variations of land-use classes, (ii) assess the transitions between uses, and (iii) derive a municipal typology of land-use dynamics. The methodology employed involved calculating statistical indicators of land-use classes, transition matrices between uses and combinatorial analysis for the most common trajectory-profiles. For the typology, a principal component analysis was used for dimensionality reduction and the respective components were classified by testing several clustering techniques. Results showed that the land-use transitions were not homogeneous in space or time, leading to the growth of territorial asymmetries. Forest (Δ5%), water bodies (Δ28%) and artificial surfaces (Δ35%) had a greater expansion, as opposed to agricultural areas, which had the biggest decline (Δ-8%). Despite the decline of agricultural activities, olive-grove expansion (Δ7%) was a relevant dynamic, and in the case of forests, the increment of eucalyptus (Δ34%) replaced native species such as the maritime pine (Δ-20%). A land-use-dynamics typology was estimated, dividing continental Portugal into 11 clusters, which is informative for sectoral policies and spatial planning, as zonings in need of interventions tailored to their specificities. The findings are a contribution to the study of land-use dynamics in continental Portugal, presenting various challenges for sustainable land uses with regard to the urban system, forest management, food production, soil preservation, and ecosystem protection. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges in Land Use and Land Cover Changes: Monitoring, Diversity and Variability, Sustainability)

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13 pages, 3171 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Usage PlanetScope Images and LiDAR Point Clouds for Characterizing the Forest Succession Process in Post-Agricultural Areas

by Marta Szostak

Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 14110; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142114110 - 28 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1256

Abstract

The paper investigates using PlanetScope satellite images together with LiDAR data for automation of land use/cover (LULC) mapping and 3D vegetation characteristics in the aspect of mapping and monitoring of the secondary forest succession areas. The study was performed for the tested area in the Biskupice district (South of Poland), where a forest succession occurs on post-agricultural lands. The research area was parcels where the forest overgrowing process was identified. It was verified whether the image processing allows for reliable LULC classification as an identification forest succession area. The PlanetScope classification showed forested areas as 62.77 ha (44.91% of the analyzed area). The overall accuracy of the image classification was 96.40% The airborne laser scanning (ALS) point clouds were used for deriving detailed information about the forest succession process. The precise vegetation parameters i.e., height and canopy cover were determined and presented as raster maps, histograms, or profiles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges in Land Use and Land Cover Changes: Monitoring, Diversity and Variability, Sustainability)

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19 pages, 4888 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Land Use Land/Cover Change Reduces Woody Plant Diversity and Carbon Stocks in a Lowland Coastal Forest Ecosystem, Tanzania

by Lucas Theodori Ntukey, Linus Kasian Munishi and Anna Christina Treydte

Sustainability 2022, 14(14), 8551; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148551 - 13 Jul 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2264

Abstract

The East-African lowland coastal forest (LCF) is one of Africa’s centres of species endemism, representing an important biodiversity hotspot. However, deforestation and forest degradation due to the high demand for fuelwood has reduced forest cover and diversity, with unknown consequences for associated terrestrial carbon stocks in this LCF system. Our study assessed spatio-temporal land use and land cover changes (LULC) in 1998, 2008, 2018 in the LCF ecosystem, Tanzania. In addition, we conducted a forest inventory survey and calculated associated carbon storage for this LCF ecosystem. Using methods of land use change evaluation plug-in in QGIS based on historical land use data, we modelled carbon stock trends post-2018 in associated LULC for the future 30 years. We found that agriculture and grassland combined increased substantially by 21.5% between the year 1998 and 2018 while forest cover declined by 29%. Furthermore, forest above-ground live biomass carbon (AGC) was 2.4 times higher in forest than in the bushland, 5.8 times in the agriculture with scattered settlement and 14.8 times higher than in the grassland. The estimated average soil organic carbon (SOC) was 76.03 ± 6.26 t/ha across the entire study area. Our study helps to identify land use impacts on ecosystem services, supporting decision-makers in future land-use planning. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges in Land Use and Land Cover Changes: Monitoring, Diversity and Variability, Sustainability)

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13 pages, 1934 KiB

Open AccessPerspective

A Conceptual Approach towards Improving Monitoring of Living Conditions for Populations Affected by Desertification, Land Degradation, and Drought

by David López-Carr, Narcisa G. Pricope, Kevin M. Mwenda, Gabriel Antunes Daldegan and Alex Zvoleff

Sustainability 2023, 15(12), 9400; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15129400 - 12 Jun 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1674

Abstract

Addressing the global challenges of desertification, land degradation, and drought (DLDD), and their impacts on achieving sustainable development goals for coupled human-environmental systems is a key component of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In particular, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15.3 aims to, “by 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world”. Addressing this challenge is essential for improving the livelihoods of those most affected by DLDD and for safeguarding against the most extreme effects of climate change. This paper introduces a conceptual framework for improved monitoring of DLDD in the context of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Strategic Objective 2 (SO2) and its expected impacts: food security and adequate access to water for people in affected areas are improved; the livelihoods of people in affected areas are improved and diversified; local people, especially women and youth, are empowered and participate in decision-making processes in combating DLDD; and migration forced by desertification and land degradation is substantially reduced. While it is critical to develop methods and tools for assessing DLDD, work is needed first to provide a conceptual roadmap of the human dimensions of vulnerability in relation to DLDD, especially when attempting to create a globally standardized monitoring approach. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Challenges in Land Use and Land Cover Changes: Monitoring, Diversity and Variability, Sustainability)

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