Seasonal land use/land cover change and the drivers in Kafta Sheraro national park, Tigray, Ethiopia
Kafta Sheraro National Park (KSNP) has experienced rapid and consecutive destruction of dry woodland vegetation due to the influence of anthropogenic activities in the past three decades. However, to date, the change in woodland cover and its driving factors have not been addressed. This study aims...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2022-12-01
|
| Series: | Heliyon |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844022035861 |
| _version_ | 1797960922788003840 |
|---|---|
| author | Fitsum Temesgen Bikila Warkineh Alemayehu Hailemicael |
| author_facet | Fitsum Temesgen Bikila Warkineh Alemayehu Hailemicael |
| author_sort | Fitsum Temesgen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Kafta Sheraro National Park (KSNP) has experienced rapid and consecutive destruction of dry woodland vegetation due to the influence of anthropogenic activities in the past three decades. However, to date, the change in woodland cover and its driving factors have not been addressed. This study aims to assess the spatial and temporal trends of land use/land cover change, seasonal vegetation cover change via the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and human-induced drivers of change that occurred in the KSNP between 1988 and 2018 by using satellite imagery sensors (TM, ETM+, OLI), field observations, and local community interview data. The 2018 image results showed kappa coefficients of the dry season and wet season of 0.90 and 0.845, respectively. There was a continuous decline in woodland (29.38%) and riparian vegetation (47.11%) and an increasing trend in shrub bush land (35.28%), grassland (43.47%), bare land (27.52%), and cultivated land (118.36 km2) over the thirty-year period. Moreover, the results showed that bare land expanded from wet to drier months, while cultivated land and grazing land increased from dry to wet months. Based on the NDVI results, high to moderate vegetation was decreased by 21.47%, while sparse and non-vegetation expanded by 19.8% and 1.7%, respectively. Settlement and agricultural expansion, human-induced fire, firewood collection, gold mining, and charcoal production were the major proximate drivers that negatively affected park resources. Around KSNP, the local communities’ livelihood depends on farming (crop and livestock production). This expansion of farming is the main driver of woodland depletion, which leads to increased resource competition and a challenge for the survival of wildlife. Therefore, urgent sustainable conservation of park biodiversity by encouraging community participation in conservation practices and preparing awareness creation programs should be mandatory. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T00:51:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c29a593bc9074b62a89d877a22a07558 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T00:51:34Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj.art-c29a593bc9074b62a89d877a22a075582023-01-05T08:39:50ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402022-12-01812e12298Seasonal land use/land cover change and the drivers in Kafta Sheraro national park, Tigray, EthiopiaFitsum Temesgen0Bikila Warkineh1Alemayehu Hailemicael2Center for Environmental Sciences (Environmental Resources Conservation and Management), Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box: 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Corresponding author.Plant Biology and Biodiversity Management and Environmental Sciences, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box: 1176, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaCollege of Natural Science, Arba Minch University, P.O. Box: 21, Arba Minch, EthiopiaKafta Sheraro National Park (KSNP) has experienced rapid and consecutive destruction of dry woodland vegetation due to the influence of anthropogenic activities in the past three decades. However, to date, the change in woodland cover and its driving factors have not been addressed. This study aims to assess the spatial and temporal trends of land use/land cover change, seasonal vegetation cover change via the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and human-induced drivers of change that occurred in the KSNP between 1988 and 2018 by using satellite imagery sensors (TM, ETM+, OLI), field observations, and local community interview data. The 2018 image results showed kappa coefficients of the dry season and wet season of 0.90 and 0.845, respectively. There was a continuous decline in woodland (29.38%) and riparian vegetation (47.11%) and an increasing trend in shrub bush land (35.28%), grassland (43.47%), bare land (27.52%), and cultivated land (118.36 km2) over the thirty-year period. Moreover, the results showed that bare land expanded from wet to drier months, while cultivated land and grazing land increased from dry to wet months. Based on the NDVI results, high to moderate vegetation was decreased by 21.47%, while sparse and non-vegetation expanded by 19.8% and 1.7%, respectively. Settlement and agricultural expansion, human-induced fire, firewood collection, gold mining, and charcoal production were the major proximate drivers that negatively affected park resources. Around KSNP, the local communities’ livelihood depends on farming (crop and livestock production). This expansion of farming is the main driver of woodland depletion, which leads to increased resource competition and a challenge for the survival of wildlife. Therefore, urgent sustainable conservation of park biodiversity by encouraging community participation in conservation practices and preparing awareness creation programs should be mandatory.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844022035861Land use/land cover changeKafta Sheraro national parkLandsatNDVIDrivers |
| spellingShingle | Fitsum Temesgen Bikila Warkineh Alemayehu Hailemicael Seasonal land use/land cover change and the drivers in Kafta Sheraro national park, Tigray, Ethiopia Heliyon Land use/land cover change Kafta Sheraro national park Landsat NDVI Drivers |
| title | Seasonal land use/land cover change and the drivers in Kafta Sheraro national park, Tigray, Ethiopia |
| title_full | Seasonal land use/land cover change and the drivers in Kafta Sheraro national park, Tigray, Ethiopia |
| title_fullStr | Seasonal land use/land cover change and the drivers in Kafta Sheraro national park, Tigray, Ethiopia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Seasonal land use/land cover change and the drivers in Kafta Sheraro national park, Tigray, Ethiopia |
| title_short | Seasonal land use/land cover change and the drivers in Kafta Sheraro national park, Tigray, Ethiopia |
| title_sort | seasonal land use land cover change and the drivers in kafta sheraro national park tigray ethiopia |
| topic | Land use/land cover change Kafta Sheraro national park Landsat NDVI Drivers |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844022035861 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT fitsumtemesgen seasonallanduselandcoverchangeandthedriversinkaftasheraronationalparktigrayethiopia AT bikilawarkineh seasonallanduselandcoverchangeandthedriversinkaftasheraronationalparktigrayethiopia AT alemayehuhailemicael seasonallanduselandcoverchangeandthedriversinkaftasheraronationalparktigrayethiopia |