GIS-Based Multicriteria Evaluation of Land Suitability for Grasslands Conservation in Chihuahua, Mexico

Griselda Vázquez-Quintero,Carlos R Morales-Nieto,Jesús A Prieto-Amparán,Federico Villarreal-Guerrero,María C Valles-Aragón,Alfredo Pinedo-Alvarez

doi:10.3390/su12010185

Griselda Vázquez-Quintero, Carlos R Morales-Nieto + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su12010185

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Dec 25, 2019
Citations: 19	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Autonomous University of Chihuahua

Abstract

This study developed a GIS-based framework for the zoning of land suitability for grassland conservation (LSGC) in the Central Valleys of Chihuahua, México. For that, a Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based multicriteria evaluation techniques with weighted overlay (MCE-WO), and a fragmentation analysis were performed. The framework for LSGC consisted in the development of four scenarios: Nonintensive Agriculture, Intensive Agriculture, Urban, and Rural. The LSGC classes defined with the MCE-WO technique were: Very high, High, Moderate, Low, and Very low land suitability. Results showed that the zone with a high suitability covered the largest area in the four scenarios with a surface of 44,264 km2. The zones with low and very low suitability were concentrated mainly in the central region of the study area. At the landscape level, fragmentation of LSGC showed the Nonintensive Agriculture and the Rural scenarios with the highest Number of patches (54,640 and 46,210, respectively). The fragmentation of LSGC, under the scenarios evaluated, was mainly due to land opening for agriculture and to the influence of rural communities. The integration of GIS with MCE-WO is useful and effective for the evaluation of LSGC. This tool can provide a solid source of information for decision-makers regarding planning of land use to mitigate grasslands degradation.

Highlights

Grasslands cover about one-third of the world’s land area, distributed mainly in semiarid and arid areas [1]
Multicriteria Evaluation (MCE) has received attention in the context of decision-making based on geographic information systems (GIS) [25,26,27], which are very useful for solving issues requiring a large set of variables covering extensive territories, which are sometimes inaccessible
The multicriteria evaluation techniques with weighted overlay (MCE-Weighted Overlay (WO)) was used to reclassify the criteria from Table 1 to the same scale according to their influence on land suitability for grassland conservation (LSGC)

Summary

Introduction

Grasslands cover about one-third of the world’s land area, distributed mainly in semiarid and arid areas [1]. The establishment of conservation zones for grasslands is of great importance to avoid new disturbances as well as the restoration of degraded grasslands [10] Many species of both flora and fauna require large areas to maintain their viable populations. Land decision-makers face the problem of selecting the appropriate framework for the establishment of land suitability for grasslands conservation These zoning decisions are strongly influenced by the type and amount of information available, the land surface area, legislation, and the possibilities of new data collection. MCE has received attention in the context of decision-making based on geographic information systems (GIS) [25,26,27], which are very useful for solving issues requiring a large set of variables covering extensive territories, which are sometimes inaccessible. As the ecosystems’ degradation and the global environmental change [44]

Materials and Methods

Weighted Overlay Analysis

Scenarios

Discussions

Findings

Conclusions