Abstract
Urban forests are an essential component of urban areas as they provide many environmental and social services that contribute to the quality of life in cities. Urban forests in most cities of Nigeria are gradually becoming bitty as a result of urbanization activities, thereby posing adverse effects. In this study, we assessed the changes in the urban forests cover under the influence of different human settlement (HS) extents across the urban area of Ibadan city using remotely sensed data. The pattern of change(s) in the urban forests cover over 20 years were examined by analysing and manipulating Landsat and Sentinel-2 datasets using Google Earth Engine, ArcGIS 10.1, and Erdas 2014 software. The extents of human settlement (for the year 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020) were extracted (from Landsat datasets), analysed, and mapped to evaluate the status of the urban forests cover under different human settlement extents. The result reveals a substantial land cover changes within the urban area of Ibadan. The urban forest cover decreased from 24.14% to 7.99%. Also, there is a significant decrease in the urban forests cover as a result of a substantial increase in human settlement extent (102,806 to 122,572 pixels). The study provides an opportunity to map the status of urban forest cover and extents of HS in a developing city using remotely sensed data and applications of GIS tools.
Highlights
Urban forests are ecosystems characterized by the presence of trees and other vegetation in association with the people and their developments (Nowak et al, 2001; Adelusi et al, 2002)
There is a significant decrease in the urban forests cover as a result of a substantial increase in human settlement extent (102,806 to 122,572 pixels)
This research focused on examining the status of urban forests under the influence of different human settlement (HS) extents within the urban area of Ibadan city
Summary
Urban forests are ecosystems characterized by the presence of trees and other vegetation in association with the people and their developments (Nowak et al, 2001; Adelusi et al, 2002). They are considered as the sum of all woody and associated vegetation in and around dense human settlements from small communities to large metropolitan cities (Gann, 2003). Received in revised form: 12 Nov 2020.
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