Analysis of land cover dynamics in Mozambique (2001–2016)

Abstract

Land cover change (LCC) is a complex and dynamic process influenced by social, economic, and biophysical factors that can cause significant impacts on ecological processes and biodiversity conservation. The assessment of LCC is particularly relevant in a country like Mozambique where livelihood strongly depends on natural resources. In this study, LCC was assessed using a point-based sampling approach through Open Foris Collect Earth (CE), a free and open-source software for land assessment developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. This study aimed to conduct an LCC assessment using CE for the entire Mozambique, and according to three different land classifications: administrative boundaries (provinces), ecoregions, and protected vs unprotected areas. A set of 23,938 randomly selected plots, with an area of 0.5 hectares, placed on a 4 × 4 km regular grid over the entire country, was assessed using CE. The analysis showed that Mozambique has gone through significant loss of forest (− 1.3 Mha) mainly to the conversion to cropland. Deforestation is not occurring evenly throughout the country with some provinces, such as Nampula and Zambezia, characterized by higher rates than others, such as Gaza and Niassa. This result can be explained considering a combination of ecological and socio-economic factors, as well as the conservative role played by the protected areas. Our study confirmed that LCC is a complex phenomenon, and the augmented visual interpretation methodology can effectively complement and integrate the LCC analyses conducted using the traditional wall-to-wall mapping to support national land assessment and forest inventories and provide training data for environmental modeling.

Spatiotemporal Conflict Analysis and Prediction of Long Time Series Land Cover Changes in the Black Soil Region of Northeast China Using Remote Sensing and GIS

“…We obtained 112 images covering Northeast China from 1990 to 2020, which were synthesized using Landsat images taken throughout the whole year. The fine classification system was divided into cropland (10), forest (20), grassland (30), shrubland (40), wetland (50), water bodies (60), tundra (70), impervious surfaces (80), bare areas (90), and permanent ice and snow (100) using ArcGIS 10.2 software. Among them, tundra did not exist in Northeast China, and permanent ice and snow was less than 0.25 km 2 from 1990 to 2020, so we ignored these two categories in the subsequent analysis.…”

“…In Table 6, the upper and lower rows represent the transfer matrix of land cover from 2000 to 2010 and 2010 to 2020, respectively. Classification system and its land cover ID: cropland (10), forest (20), grassland (30), shrubland (40), wetland (50), water bodies (60), tundra (70), impervious surfaces (80), and bare areas (90). According to Tables 5 and 6, the average area of cropland, forest, grassland, and bare areas from 1990 to 2000, 2000 to 2010, and 2010 to 2020 that remained unchanged was 437,116 km 2 , 481,768 km 2 , 159,738 km 2 , and 147,548 km 2 .…”

“…Changes in global land use and land cover have affected the condition and integrity of different ecosystems, giving rise to damage to ecosystem services and functions in recent decades [15][16][17]. Land change associated with biodiversity loss, deforestation, and soil desertification can be understood through the dynamic evolution of land cover [18][19][20]. Exploring the structure and dynamics of land cover is also crucial for urban planning and management [21][22][23], which can guide planners and ISPRS Int.…”

BioNoMo: the Biodiversity Network of Mozambique

“…Acordos de Lusaka, Maputo, Mozambique Ocean in the east, Zambia to the northwest, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Eswatini to the west and South Africa to the west and south. The country has a total area of 801,590 km 2 (Instituto Nacional de Estatística 2020), about half of which is covered by forests (The World Bank 2021; Cianciullo et al 2023), with other woody vegetation scattered across the country. The climate is tropical and dry over most of the country, moderated by the influence of mountainous topography in the north-west of the country and with sub-tropicals conditions in the south (Mcsweeney et al 2006).…”

Wetland gentrification in African cities: Implications for sustainable property development

“…He found, among others, that wetlands in Lagos state reduced from 708.96 hectares in 1965 to 7.10 hectares in 2005. In Mozambique, wetlands has reduced by 1.9 percent between 2001 and 2016 (Cianciullo et al, 2023).…”