Assessing implications of land use and land cover changes in forest ecosystems of NE Turkey

Abstract

Monitoring land use and land cover change (LUCC) and understanding forest cover dynamics is extremely important in sustainable development and management of forest ecosystems. This study analyzed the spatial and temporal pattern of LUCC in the Yalnızçam and Uğurlu forest planning units which are located in the northeast corner of Turkey. The investigation also evaluates the temporal changes of the spatial structure of forest conditions through the spatial analysis of forest-cover type maps from 1972 and 2005 using geographical information systems and FRAGSTATS(TM). As an overall change between 1972 and 2005, there was a net increase of 1,823ha in forested areas, and cumulative forest improvement accounted for 2.06%. In terms of spatial configuration, the landscape structure in the study area changed substantially over the 33-year study period, resulting in fragmentation of the landscape as indicated by large patch numbers and smaller mean patch sizes, owing to heavy grazing, illegal cutting, and uncontrolled stand treatments.