Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Cover in the Oued Lahdar Watershed. Northeastern Morocco
Episodes of drought that Morocco experienced in the years 1984–1986, 1993–1995, and 1997–2000 had repercussions that were felt many years later and continue to pose serious problems for environmentalists, as some of the affected lands have become practically deserted. These problems acted on the soc...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Plants |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/8/1624 |
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| author | Hind Khalis Abdelhamid Sadiki Fatimazahra Jawhari Haytam Mesrar Ehab Azab Adil A. Gobouri Muhammad Adnan Mohammed Bourhia |
| author_facet | Hind Khalis Abdelhamid Sadiki Fatimazahra Jawhari Haytam Mesrar Ehab Azab Adil A. Gobouri Muhammad Adnan Mohammed Bourhia |
| author_sort | Hind Khalis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Episodes of drought that Morocco experienced in the years 1984–1986, 1993–1995, and 1997–2000 had repercussions that were felt many years later and continue to pose serious problems for environmentalists, as some of the affected lands have become practically deserted. These problems acted on the socio-economic conditions and created severe constraints for the development of the country. This work was conducted to study and identify changes that occurred in vegetation cover in the Oued Lahdar watershed (Rif, Morocco) between 1984 and 2017 using Land Surface Temperature (LST), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Landsat TM 5, and Landsat OLI 8. The LST had significantly increased overall from 1984 to 2017, where it moved from a mean value of 29.4 °C in 1984 to 40.4 °C in 2007 and then reduced slightly to 37.9 °C in 2017. The vegetation cover index for the study area indicates that in 1984, fully vegetated areas represented 94.3% before deteriorating to 35.4% in 2007 and recovering in 2017 to 54.3%. While bare soil, which previously constituted 5.7%, reached a very high value of 64.6% in 2007 and then decreased to 47.7%. This study contributes towards society as it provides interesting data about the consequences of climate change in the area studied as well as potential protective strategies to protect vegetation cover. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:26:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0476f28ce55f45298b140f9a6d91164c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2223-7747 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:26:57Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plants |
| spelling | doaj.art-0476f28ce55f45298b140f9a6d91164c2023-11-22T09:19:07ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472021-08-01108162410.3390/plants10081624Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Cover in the Oued Lahdar Watershed. Northeastern MoroccoHind Khalis0Abdelhamid Sadiki1Fatimazahra Jawhari2Haytam Mesrar3Ehab Azab4Adil A. Gobouri5Muhammad Adnan6Mohammed Bourhia7Laboratory of Geosciences, Environment and Associated Ressources LGERA, Faculty of Sciences, University Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah (USMBA), Fez 30000, MoroccoLaboratory of Geosciences, Environment and Associated Ressources LGERA, Faculty of Sciences, University Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah (USMBA), Fez 30000, MoroccoLaboratory of Biotechnology and Preservation of Natural Resources (BPRN), Faculty of Sciences, University Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah (USMBA), Fez 30000, MoroccoLaboratory of Geosciences, Environment and Associated Ressources LGERA, Faculty of Sciences, University Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah (USMBA), Fez 30000, MoroccoDepartment of Nutrition and Food Science, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Chemistry, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Kohat University of Science and Technology, Kohat 26000, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, PakistanLaboratory of Chemistry-Biochemistry, Environment, Nutrition and Health, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hassan II University, Casablanca 5696, MoroccoEpisodes of drought that Morocco experienced in the years 1984–1986, 1993–1995, and 1997–2000 had repercussions that were felt many years later and continue to pose serious problems for environmentalists, as some of the affected lands have become practically deserted. These problems acted on the socio-economic conditions and created severe constraints for the development of the country. This work was conducted to study and identify changes that occurred in vegetation cover in the Oued Lahdar watershed (Rif, Morocco) between 1984 and 2017 using Land Surface Temperature (LST), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Landsat TM 5, and Landsat OLI 8. The LST had significantly increased overall from 1984 to 2017, where it moved from a mean value of 29.4 °C in 1984 to 40.4 °C in 2007 and then reduced slightly to 37.9 °C in 2017. The vegetation cover index for the study area indicates that in 1984, fully vegetated areas represented 94.3% before deteriorating to 35.4% in 2007 and recovering in 2017 to 54.3%. While bare soil, which previously constituted 5.7%, reached a very high value of 64.6% in 2007 and then decreased to 47.7%. This study contributes towards society as it provides interesting data about the consequences of climate change in the area studied as well as potential protective strategies to protect vegetation cover.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/8/1624climate changedroughtsdesertificationland cover degradationNDVILST |
| spellingShingle | Hind Khalis Abdelhamid Sadiki Fatimazahra Jawhari Haytam Mesrar Ehab Azab Adil A. Gobouri Muhammad Adnan Mohammed Bourhia Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Cover in the Oued Lahdar Watershed. Northeastern Morocco Plants climate change droughts desertification land cover degradation NDVI LST |
| title | Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Cover in the Oued Lahdar Watershed. Northeastern Morocco |
| title_full | Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Cover in the Oued Lahdar Watershed. Northeastern Morocco |
| title_fullStr | Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Cover in the Oued Lahdar Watershed. Northeastern Morocco |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Cover in the Oued Lahdar Watershed. Northeastern Morocco |
| title_short | Effects of Climate Change on Vegetation Cover in the Oued Lahdar Watershed. Northeastern Morocco |
| title_sort | effects of climate change on vegetation cover in the oued lahdar watershed northeastern morocco |
| topic | climate change droughts desertification land cover degradation NDVI LST |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/10/8/1624 |
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