Apportioning Human-Induced and Climate-Induced Land Degradation: A Case of the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality
Land degradation (LD) is a global issue that affects sustainability and livelihoods of approximately 1.5 billion people, especially in arid/semi-arid regions. Hence, identifying and assessing LD and its driving forces (natural and anthropogenic) is important in order to design and adopt appropriate...
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MDPI AG
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/6/3644 |
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| author | Motsoko Juniet Kgaphola Abel Ramoelo John Odindi Jean-Marc Mwenge Kahinda Ashwin Seetal |
| author_facet | Motsoko Juniet Kgaphola Abel Ramoelo John Odindi Jean-Marc Mwenge Kahinda Ashwin Seetal |
| author_sort | Motsoko Juniet Kgaphola |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Land degradation (LD) is a global issue that affects sustainability and livelihoods of approximately 1.5 billion people, especially in arid/semi-arid regions. Hence, identifying and assessing LD and its driving forces (natural and anthropogenic) is important in order to design and adopt appropriate sustainable land management interventions. Therefore, using vegetation as a proxy for LD, this study aimed to distinguish anthropogenic from rainfall-driven LD in the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality from 1990 to 2019. It is widely established that rainfall highly correlates with vegetation productivity. A linear regression was performed between the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and rainfall. The human-induced LD was then distinguished from that of rainfall using the spatial residual trend (RESTREND) method and the Mann–Kendall (MK) trend. RESTREND results showed that 11.59% of the district was degraded due to human activities such as overgrazing and injudicious rangeland management. While about 41.41% was degraded due to seasonal rainfall variability and an increasing frequency of droughts. Climate variability affected vegetation cover and contributed to different forms of soil erosion and gully formation. These findings provide relevant spatial information on rainfall or human-induced LD, which is useful for policy formulation and the design of LD mitigation measures in semi-arid regions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:58:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b072d0a5886147448e807b62aa03efe2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:58:52Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-b072d0a5886147448e807b62aa03efe22023-11-17T09:24:43ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172023-03-01136364410.3390/app13063644Apportioning Human-Induced and Climate-Induced Land Degradation: A Case of the Greater Sekhukhune District MunicipalityMotsoko Juniet Kgaphola0Abel Ramoelo1John Odindi2Jean-Marc Mwenge Kahinda3Ashwin Seetal4School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South AfricaCentre for Environmental Studies, Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield, Pretoria 0028, South AfricaSchool of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg 3209, South AfricaWater Centre, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Brummeria, Pretoria 0001, South AfricaWater Centre, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Brummeria, Pretoria 0001, South AfricaLand degradation (LD) is a global issue that affects sustainability and livelihoods of approximately 1.5 billion people, especially in arid/semi-arid regions. Hence, identifying and assessing LD and its driving forces (natural and anthropogenic) is important in order to design and adopt appropriate sustainable land management interventions. Therefore, using vegetation as a proxy for LD, this study aimed to distinguish anthropogenic from rainfall-driven LD in the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality from 1990 to 2019. It is widely established that rainfall highly correlates with vegetation productivity. A linear regression was performed between the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and rainfall. The human-induced LD was then distinguished from that of rainfall using the spatial residual trend (RESTREND) method and the Mann–Kendall (MK) trend. RESTREND results showed that 11.59% of the district was degraded due to human activities such as overgrazing and injudicious rangeland management. While about 41.41% was degraded due to seasonal rainfall variability and an increasing frequency of droughts. Climate variability affected vegetation cover and contributed to different forms of soil erosion and gully formation. These findings provide relevant spatial information on rainfall or human-induced LD, which is useful for policy formulation and the design of LD mitigation measures in semi-arid regions.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/6/3644land degradationNDVIrainfallMann–Kendall trendland use and land cover changeresidual trend (RESTREND) |
| spellingShingle | Motsoko Juniet Kgaphola Abel Ramoelo John Odindi Jean-Marc Mwenge Kahinda Ashwin Seetal Apportioning Human-Induced and Climate-Induced Land Degradation: A Case of the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality Applied Sciences land degradation NDVI rainfall Mann–Kendall trend land use and land cover change residual trend (RESTREND) |
| title | Apportioning Human-Induced and Climate-Induced Land Degradation: A Case of the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality |
| title_full | Apportioning Human-Induced and Climate-Induced Land Degradation: A Case of the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality |
| title_fullStr | Apportioning Human-Induced and Climate-Induced Land Degradation: A Case of the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality |
| title_full_unstemmed | Apportioning Human-Induced and Climate-Induced Land Degradation: A Case of the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality |
| title_short | Apportioning Human-Induced and Climate-Induced Land Degradation: A Case of the Greater Sekhukhune District Municipality |
| title_sort | apportioning human induced and climate induced land degradation a case of the greater sekhukhune district municipality |
| topic | land degradation NDVI rainfall Mann–Kendall trend land use and land cover change residual trend (RESTREND) |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/6/3644 |
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