Characterizing Degradation Gradients through Land Cover Change Analysis in Rural Eastern Cape, South Africa
Land cover change analysis was performed for three catchments in the rural Eastern Cape, South Africa, for two time steps (2000 and 2014), to characterize landscape conversion trajectories for sustained landscape health. Land cover maps were derived: (1) from existing data (2000); and (2) through ob...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2017-02-01
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| Series: | Geosciences |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/7/1/7 |
| _version_ | 1819056155296530432 |
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| author | Zahn Münch Perpetua I. Okoye Lesley Gibson Sukhmani Mantel Anthony Palmer |
| author_facet | Zahn Münch Perpetua I. Okoye Lesley Gibson Sukhmani Mantel Anthony Palmer |
| author_sort | Zahn Münch |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Land cover change analysis was performed for three catchments in the rural Eastern Cape, South Africa, for two time steps (2000 and 2014), to characterize landscape conversion trajectories for sustained landscape health. Land cover maps were derived: (1) from existing data (2000); and (2) through object-based image analysis (2014) of Landsat 8 imagery. Land cover change analysis was facilitated using land cover labels developed to identify landscape change trajectories. Land cover labels assigned to each intersection of the land cover maps at the two time steps provide a thematic representation of the spatial distribution of change. While land use patterns are characterized by high persistence (77%), the expansion of urban areas and agriculture has occurred predominantly at the expense of grassland. The persistence and intensification of natural or invaded wooded areas were identified as a degradation gradient within the landscape, which amounted to almost 10% of the study area. The challenge remains to determine significant signals in the landscape that are not artefacts of error in the underlying input data or scale of analysis. Systematic change analysis and accurate uncertainty reporting can potentially address these issues to produce authentic output for further modelling. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-21T13:18:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1ce42170904d4c7fa82134afc004ab83 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3263 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-21T13:18:55Z |
| publishDate | 2017-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geosciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-1ce42170904d4c7fa82134afc004ab832022-12-21T19:02:38ZengMDPI AGGeosciences2076-32632017-02-0171710.3390/geosciences7010007geosciences7010007Characterizing Degradation Gradients through Land Cover Change Analysis in Rural Eastern Cape, South AfricaZahn Münch0Perpetua I. Okoye1Lesley Gibson2Sukhmani Mantel3Anthony Palmer4Department Geography and Environmental Studies, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7602, South AfricaDepartment Geography and Environmental Studies, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7602, South AfricaDepartment of Construction and Surveying, School of Engineering and the Built Environment, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow G4 0BA, UKInstitute for Water Research, Rhodes University, Grahamstown 6140, South AfricaAgricultural Research Council-Animal Production Institute, Grahamstown 6140, South AfricaLand cover change analysis was performed for three catchments in the rural Eastern Cape, South Africa, for two time steps (2000 and 2014), to characterize landscape conversion trajectories for sustained landscape health. Land cover maps were derived: (1) from existing data (2000); and (2) through object-based image analysis (2014) of Landsat 8 imagery. Land cover change analysis was facilitated using land cover labels developed to identify landscape change trajectories. Land cover labels assigned to each intersection of the land cover maps at the two time steps provide a thematic representation of the spatial distribution of change. While land use patterns are characterized by high persistence (77%), the expansion of urban areas and agriculture has occurred predominantly at the expense of grassland. The persistence and intensification of natural or invaded wooded areas were identified as a degradation gradient within the landscape, which amounted to almost 10% of the study area. The challenge remains to determine significant signals in the landscape that are not artefacts of error in the underlying input data or scale of analysis. Systematic change analysis and accurate uncertainty reporting can potentially address these issues to produce authentic output for further modelling.http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/7/1/7land cover changeremote sensingobject-based image analysisOBIALandsat |
| spellingShingle | Zahn Münch Perpetua I. Okoye Lesley Gibson Sukhmani Mantel Anthony Palmer Characterizing Degradation Gradients through Land Cover Change Analysis in Rural Eastern Cape, South Africa Geosciences land cover change remote sensing object-based image analysis OBIA Landsat |
| title | Characterizing Degradation Gradients through Land Cover Change Analysis in Rural Eastern Cape, South Africa |
| title_full | Characterizing Degradation Gradients through Land Cover Change Analysis in Rural Eastern Cape, South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Characterizing Degradation Gradients through Land Cover Change Analysis in Rural Eastern Cape, South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characterizing Degradation Gradients through Land Cover Change Analysis in Rural Eastern Cape, South Africa |
| title_short | Characterizing Degradation Gradients through Land Cover Change Analysis in Rural Eastern Cape, South Africa |
| title_sort | characterizing degradation gradients through land cover change analysis in rural eastern cape south africa |
| topic | land cover change remote sensing object-based image analysis OBIA Landsat |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/7/1/7 |
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