Monitoring Environmental Changes in the Mediterranean Coastal Landscape: The Case of Cukurova, Turkey

Abstract

This paper describes a remote sensing approach used to monitor temporal land use/cover (LULC) changes in Cukurova, an extensive coastal plain in the southeast Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The area has varied terrain ranging from low-lying alluvial deposits to rocky hills and mountains characterized by limestone outcrops. The ecological and economic importance of the area can be attributed to the existence of important coastal ecosystems (e.g., wetlands and sand dunes) and a wide range of industries located along the eastern coast. Temporal changes in the coastal landscape between 1984 and 2000 were evaluated using digital interpretation of remotely sensed satellite data. Pairwise comparison methods were used to quantify changes from 1984 to 1993 and 1993 to 2000 using multitemporal Landsat TM and ETM+ images, acquired in 1984, 1993, and 2000, respectively. Total change area was 2448 ha from 1984 to 1993 and increased more than twofold, to 6072 ha from 1993 to 2000. Change trends were determined using the information provided from individual change detection outputs of different periods. The most prominent changes were estimated to have occurred in agriculture, urban, and natural vegetation cover. Agriculture has increasingly grown over marginal areas, whereas urban development occurred at the expense of prime croplands across both time steps.

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“…For example, Serra et al (2008) described increased agricultural activities and urbanization in a coastal region of southern Spain. Similar patterns were described for coastal areas in Turkey (Alphan and Yilmaz, 2005), Lebanon (Jomaa et al, 2008) and Italy (Corona et al, 2007;Falcucci et al, 2007).These changes have been driven by the increase of urban, tourist and industrial development, population increases and intensification of agricultural practices (e.g. Serra et al 2008;Tanrivermis, 2003;Van Eetvelde and Antrop, 2004), including livestock grazing (e.g.…”

SARchaeology—Detecting Palaeochannels Based on High Resolution Radar Data and Their Impact of Changes in the Settlement Pattern in Cilicia (Turkey)

“…The average annual rainfall in the Çukurova is over 750 mm/year [63]. This rate is high enough for rainfed agriculture.…”

“…Due to its fertile alluvial soils and mild climate, the Çukurova produce high crop yields twice a year. This makes the region an important contributor to the gross value of Turkeys agricultural crop production of 5% in 1995 [63]. In antiquity the region was famous for agricultural products [34] (pp.…”

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“…Embryonic dunes are threatened by sand extraction and construction works (Sýkora et al, 2003;Alphan & Yılmaz, 2005;Çakan et al, 2011). This implies the risk of extinction of characteristic coastal species and replacement by alien species.…”