Analysis of Land Use and Land Cover Changes and Evaluation of Natural Generation and Potential Restoration Areas in the Mexican Huasteca Region

Carmelo Peralta-Rivero,Jean-François Mas Caussel,María G Galindo-Mendoza,Carlos Contreras-Servín,Marcos Algara-Siller

doi:10.4236/ojf.2014.42018

Abstract

This study aims to analyze temporal changes in land use and land cover change (LUCC) as well as identify areas for natural regeneration and potential areas for forest restoration in the Huasteca region for the period from 1976 to 2007. Changes were quantified in numbers and, additionally, cartography was used to identify and map the main affected areas. Different models based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) demonstrated that LUCC have occurred on an area of 11718.82 km2, representing 17.84% of the region’s surface. Agriculture and the growth of pasture could be identified as the main human-induced activities that have led to landscape modification. In addition, forest cover is affected by a deforestation rate which is higher than the national average. Further important changes include a change from natural land cover to non-original land cover, affecting an area of 4911.88 km2 in the period from 1976-1993, and an area of 1892.5 km2 in the period from 1993-2002. Smaller changes could be observed for the period from 1993-2002 with an affected area of 1029.78 km2. At the same time, a natural regeneration from nonoriginal to original land cover took place from 1976-1993 on an area of 1318.68 km2, and also on an area of 974.18 km2 between 1993 an 2002. The surface that underwent a natural regeneration of forest cover made up 1932.07 km2. At the same time, an area of 5739.29 km2 for potential forest restoration was identified. Drawing on GIS methods and techniques, the development of thematic maps for land use, land use and land cover changes for the years of analysis (1976-1993-2002-2007) proved to be very adequate for the evaluation and analysis of the land cover and land use change, in particular with regard to the decrease of natural vegetation cover.

Highlights

In the twentieth century, human-induced activities substantially changed the biophysical surface of the earth (Ramankutty et al, 2006), due to the fact that the human population gained possession of between 20% and 40% of primary net productivity of the planet
Based on the previous discussion, this study aims to evaluate the changes in land use and land cover in the Huasteca region in order to quantify and map the main affected areas as well as generate information on forest resources and decision-making for a sound forest management and the restoration of forest cover
The dynamics of land use and land cover in the Huasteca region can be reconstructed for a timeframe of 31 years (Table 2) (Figure 3), based on the analysis of the obtained information

Summary

Introduction

Human-induced activities substantially changed the biophysical surface of the earth (Ramankutty et al, 2006), due to the fact that the human population gained possession of between 20% and 40% of primary net productivity of the planet. At the same time, changed consumption patterns based on the development of economic activities had a direct influence on the transformation of ecosystems (Vitouseck et al, 1986; Bassols, 1993; Oliva et al, 2010). This has provoked the generation of differentiated spatial patterns of land use change which, generally, are reflected in the loss of areas with natural vegetation such as temperate or tropical forests (López-Blanco, 2005).

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Conclusion