Wetland loss in the Ñeembucú Wetlands Complex, Paraguay, using remote sensing

Abstract

South American wetlands are of global importance, yet limited delineation and monitoring restricts informed decision-making around the drivers of wetland loss. A growing human population and increasing demand for agricultural products has driven wetland loss and degradation in the Neotropics. Understanding of wetland dynamics and land use change can be gained through wetland monitoring. The Ñeembucú Wetlands Complex is the largest wetland in Paraguay, lying within the Paraguay-Paraná-La Plata River system. This study aims to use remotely sensed data to map land cover between 2006 and 2021, quantify wetland change over the 15-year study period and thus identify land cover types vulnerable to change in the Ñeembucú Wetlands Complex. Forest, dryland vegetation, vegetated wetland and open water were identified using Random Forest supervised classifications trained on visual inspection data and field data. Annual change of -0.34, 4.95, -1.65, 0.40 was observed for forest, dryland, vegetated wetland and open water, respectively. Wetland and forest conversion is attributed to agricultural and urban expansion. With ongoing pressures on wetlands, monitoring will be a key tool for addressing change and advising decision-making around development and conservation of valuable ecosystem goods and services in the Ñeembucú Wetlands Complex.

The Change Assessment and Analysis of Impacts From Land Use Policies on Wetland Ecosystems Based on Multitemporal Satellite Image Data: a Case Study in Dong Rui Commune, Tien Yen District, Quang Ninh Province, Vietnam

“…The application of remote sensing and GIS in the study of the status quo, uctuations in forest or wetland cover area in the world has been used for quite some time, across many regions and countries (Butera, 1983;Klemas et al, 2007;Nguyen Dang & Ngo Trung, 2022;O'Leary, 2022;Roller, 1977). Today, there are more than 300 Earth observation satellites from more than 15 active countries (Younes Cárdenas et al, 2017), some of which are provided commercially and others for free.…”