Impact of land use and land cover changes on sensible heat variability in a fragment of the Atlantic Forest biome

Land use changes impact on selected chemical denudation element and components of water cycle in small mountain catchment using SWAT model

Ecosystem services are vital services that support life and are the basis for human socio-economic progress. However, changes in land use and land cover (LULC) brought about by urban expansion degrade them. Thus, analysing the impact of land use and land cover (LULC) change on ecosystem service values (ESVs) is crucial for understanding and informing resource policy decisions. This study aims to analyse the impact of land use and land cover changes on ecosystem service values in Mwanza City, Tanzania. To achieve that, the benefits transfer approach was employed to analyse the changes in ESV in response to LULC. We estimated and analysed changes in ESV using satellite image datasets from 1999, 2009, and 2019. The LULC classes that were identified are vegetated land, agricultural land, waterbodies, built-up area, and bareland. The results exhibit that Mwanza City experienced significant LULC changes. While vegetated land, agricultural land, and bareland decreased by 49%, 15%, and 36%, respectively, the built-up area and water bodies increased by 568% and 48%, respectively, during the two decades. The total ESV decreased from 31.35 million US dollars to 26.3 million US dollars between 1999 and 2009 and to 23.96 million US dollars between 2009 and 2019. The waterbodies increased due to the increased volume of water in streams that expanded the floodplains, which resulted from surface runoff attributed to increased paved surfaces as more land was converted into a built-up environment upstream. The built-up area and bareland contributed nothing to ESV. However, the built-up area was the driving force behind the reduction of ESV in other LULC classes, as it was encroaching on them. The study concludes that the decrease in ESV reflects the degradation of ecosystem services due to the change in LULC. Hence, it is recommended that sustainable management of ecosystems be adhered for the proper functioning of the earth’s life-support system.

The impact of land use and land cover changes on the landscape pattern and ecosystem service value in Sanjiangyuan region of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Land use and land cover (LULC) changes are essential to air pollution dynamics, affecting atmospheric composition and urban microclimates. Previous research explored air pollution trends, but limited studies examined its spatiotemporal relationship with LULC changes in rapidly growing urban regions. This study assessed the impact of LULC changes on air quality in Asansol, Bardhhaman, and Bankura cities of West Bengal, including their buffer zones, from 1990 to 2023. LULC classification was conducted using Landsat 5 and 8 data, processed in Erdas Imagine, identifying six land-use types: water bodies, vegetation, agricultural land, built-up areas, barren land, and sand deposits. Air pollution parameters (CO, NO2, SO2, CH4, and O3) were extracted from Sentinel-5P satellite data and analysed using Google Earth Engine. The findings revealed a decline in agricultural land and vegetation, with urban expansion leading to increased pollutant concentrations. Between 1990 and 2023, agricultural land declined from 66.86 to 56.81% in Asansol and from 77.92 to 68.31% in Bardhhaman, while Bankura showed a marginal increase. Simultaneously, urban areas expanded significantly, contributing to increased CO, NO2, SO2, and O3 levels, especially in densely populated areas. The findings revealed the direct influence of LULC changes on air quality, with urbanisation increasing pollution due to vehicular emissions, industrial activities, and reducing vegetation cover. The study emphasises the urgent need for sustainable land-use planning, effective emission control strategies, and the development of urban green infrastructure to reduce the environmental degradation and health risks caused by rapid and unplanned urban expansion.

ContextDecades of intensifying human activities have led to drastic changes in land use and land cover (LULC) in the Poyang Lake Basin (PLB), resulting in significant changes in landscape pattern and ecosystem service value (ESV), thereby affecting regional sustainability.ObjectivesWe focused on understanding the impact of LULC changes on the landscape pattern and ESV of the PLB and used the Patch-generating Land Use Simulation model (PLUS) to predict LULC changes in 2050.MethodsWe evaluated landscape patterns using landscape metrics and calculated ESV using the ecosystem service equivalent factor method. The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to analyze the correlation between landscape patterns and ESV from 1990 to 2020. Then, we combined the PLUS model and the ecosystem service equivalent factor method to calculate the ESV under multiple scenarios from 2020 to 2050.ResultsFrom 1990 to 2020, the LULC of the PLB changed to varying degrees. The PLB has undergone a rapid process of landscape fragmentation, and the total ESV of the PLB has decreased. The total ESV was positively correlated with the CONTAG index and negatively correlated with the SHDI index. Between 2020 and 2050, the ESV of the PLB is projected to decrease under the NDS (nature development scenario) and EDS (economic development scenario) and increase under the EPS (ecological protection scenario).ConclusionsESV responded to changes in landscape pattern. We recommend that the PLB should increase patch connectivity. Additionally, future development in the PLB should prioritize ecological protection to prevent further declines in ESV.

In this study, the impact of change in land use and land cover (LULC) on runoff estimation in the Kidangoor watershed was assessed using the SCS-CN technique. Recent flood-like natural disasters in Kerala are thought to be driven by changes in rainfall patterns and LULC. The accurate calculation of runoff from watersheds is urgently needed. In ArcGIS 10.5, the supervised classification approach is used to classify satellite images from 2000, 2011, 2013, and 2017. Similarly, the Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) technique is used to produce spatial distribution maps of rainfall for each antecedent moisture condition (AMC). The runoff maps were generated by superimposing the distributed rainfall, LULC, and Hydrological Soil Group (HSG) maps. It was observed that the built-up area expanded by 168% between 2000 and 2017, whereas other classes decreased by 10–23%. However, compared to 2000, both with and without a change in LULC, runoff generation increased by just 31%, and 27% in 2017. The SCS-CN technique for runoff estimation indicates that the change in LULC in the Kidangoor watershed is insignificant. Thus, this study will help land use planners and decision-makers in limiting the potential damage from flooding when it comes to flood management techniques.

Impacts of land use and land cover changes on local meteorology and PM2.5 concentrations in Changchun, Northeast China

Changes in land use and land cover (LULC) in recent decades are among the factors responsible for recent climate change. We assessed the impact of LULC changes on the climate over India through multi-decade simulations (3 decades) using the Regional Climate Modeling system (RegCM4) with fixed and changed LULC. Differences between the 2 simulations were considered to be impacts of LULC changes on the regional climate. The main focus was on the decadal climatology of temperature, precipitation and several other important climatic variables including specific humidity, moisture content, sensible heat, evapotranspiration over Indian regions and their responses to the LULC changes. We found a decreasing trend in annual precipitation and increasing trend in annual temperature over India during 1981-2010. The LULC changes over northwest, south peninsular and west-central regions of India contributed to warming during 1991-2010, while changes over central-north and northeastern regions resulted in cooling during this period. LULC changes also indicated a wet effect over south peninsular and west-central regions of India and a dry effect over northwest India in 1991-2010. The analysis indicated that LULC changes resulted in decreases in evapotranspiration, moisture content and specific humidity that led to decreased precipitation. On the other hand, changes in LULC also caused significant increases in sensible heat flux and albedo, which led to a temperature rise. Our overall modeling results further our understanding of the processes associated with LULC change feedback to the climate over Indian regions.

The aflaj systems represent unique irrigation technologies that have been implemented in the Sultanate of Oman. This innovative system, referred to as “falaj” in the singular form, is composed of a sophisticated network of underground tunnels and open-air channels designed to access shallow subterranean water tables, thereby providing water for residential and agricultural use. The aflaj systems have played a significant role in supporting sustainable water resource management in arid and semiarid regions, making a notable contribution to the socioeconomic development of the country. The alteration of land use and land cover (LULC) in arid and semiarid regions can have significant consequences for hydrological systems, affecting the ability of local ecosystems to manage fresh surface and groundwater resources. These changes are often caused by both natural and anthropogenic factors. To investigate the impact of LULC changes on aflaj systems in the northern part of Oman, we utilized satellite imagery, aflaj data, and spatial analytical and image processing techniques within the framework of geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing. In the first part of the study, we quantified the changes in LULC and their impact on aflaj systems in seven cities in Oman due to urban expansion. In the second part, we evaluated the effect of LULC on groundwater for four major aflaj between 1985 and 2021. The study area was divided into four primary LULC classifications: vegetation, bodies of water, metropolitan areas, and bare soil. The classification maps demonstrated a high overall accuracy of 90% to 95%, indicating satisfactory performance. Our results revealed a significant reduction in vegetation areas between 1985 and 2021, primarily shifting from bare soil (BS) to urban areas (UAs) and from vegetation cover (VC) to BS, due to the reduction of groundwater resources. Over the four study periods (1985–1990, 1990–2000, 2000–2013, and 2013–2021), the percentages of the total area of Falaj Al-Muyasser, Falaj Daris, Falaj Al-Maliki, and Falaj Al-Khatmeen that transformed from agricultural lands to UAs were 40%, 39%, 32%, and 8%, respectively. Our study highlights the need for appropriate land management and planning to ensure the most effective solutions are utilized to meet social and economic sustainability requirements. In conclusion, our study presents a comprehensive analysis of LULC changes and their impact on aflaj systems over a 36-year period, providing new insights into the potential effects of LULC changes on groundwater resources and offering a basis for informed decision making on land management in arid and semiarid areas.

Land use and land cover (LULC) changes have significant influences on the water–energy–food (WEF) nexus, as the WEF nexus characteristics change naturally due to dynamic LULC changes. However, understanding the WEF nexus’ potential and characteristics in the watershed under the influence of LULC changes is less commonly explored. This study used the social network analysis (SNA) model to analyze the interaction between land use (LU) types and water, energy, and food nexus attributes. Moreover, we used regression analysis to analyze the impact of various LU types on the WEF nexus. The LULC maps of 1986, 2000, 2011, and 2019 were prepared by digital classification method with proper accuracy using satellite imagery. The results show that agroforestry is the dominant LU type, accounting for 25.8–53.1% from 1986 to 2019. Further, settlement increased a 100-fold, which shows the dynamic LULC changes. SNA computed the maximum inter-linkage for forest and water access attributes, while agroforestry and food attributes acted as bridge in the network. This shows that there was inter-dependence between LULC changes and the WEF nexus. This result suggests that LU dynamics can exert pressure on the WEF nexus’ resource potential, resulting in WEF insecurity. The analysis of impacts of LULC changes on the WEF nexus shows that the changes that occurred in major LUs (i.e., agroforestry, bare land, settlements, and grass land) had significantly impacted hydrological behaviors, energy characteristics, and food production potential. Understanding LULC changes helps us to conserve and manage WEF nexus resources and to resolve the current dilemmas between land, water, energy, and food sector policies and decisions to improve resource productivity, lower environmental pressure, and enhance human wellbeing and security.

Understanding how land use and land cover (LULC) changes affect soil erosion is essential for effective management of watershed areas. This study used Geographic Information Systems (GISs) and the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model to analyze the impact of LULC changes on soil erosion in the Dondor Watershed. Remote sensing data, including Landsat and Sentinel-2 satellite images, alongside field surveys, topographic data, rainfall, and soil data were used. The results showed agricultural land as the primary LULC type, increasing from 43.49% in 2002 to 59.10% in 2023. Forest and built-up areas also expanded, while grassland decreased. Soil erosion estimates revealed that more than 85% of the watershed experienced very slight erosion though the average annual soil loss increased from 4.98 t ha⁻1 year⁻1 in 2002 to 7.96 t ha⁻1 year⁻1 in 2023. Agriculture and built-up areas were identified as the primary contributors to erosion. This study underscores the importance of monitoring LULC dynamics for responsible land management and conservation efforts in the watershed.

Future scenarios impact on land use change and habitat quality in Lithuania

Groundwater recharge is significantly influenced by anthropogenic activities, particularly changes in land use and land cover (LULC). These long-term temporal and seasonal LULC changes alter groundwater flow dynamics, necessitating their assessment for sustainable groundwater resource management. This study investigates the effects of LULC changes on groundwater recharge processes in the sub-watershed of the Nira River, Maharashtra, India. Using Google Earth Engine, LULC classifications were generated from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery acquired over a decadal period (2014–2024). A change detection algorithm was employed to decipher the long-term spatio-temporal LULC patterns, complemented by seasonal analysis using LULC maps of wet and dry months. Historical data from government agencies and private entities validated these findings, strengthening the analysis. The results indicate a 4.6% increase in built-up areas and a 5.7% decrease in forest cover over the analysis period. Rainfall data from 2015 to 2024 was correlated with groundwater level records, revealing enhanced recharge in 2024 compared to 2014. This improvement is attributed to increased rainwater harvesting structures observed during the assessment period, contributing significantly to recharge in dug wells. Seasonal LULC variations also influenced recharge dynamics, with the dry season showing higher recharge potential compared to the wet season. These findings provide critical insights into the interplay between LULC changes, groundwater recharge processes, and sustainable water resource management in the study area.Keywords: LULC, impact assessment, Groundwater recharge, Western Deccan Basalt, India

The impact of land use and land cover change on groundwater recharge in northwestern Bangladesh

Impacts of land use and land cover changes on hydrology of the Gumara catchment, Ethiopia