Land Use and Land Cover in Irrigated Drylands: a Long-Term Analysis of Changes in the Mendoza and Tunuyán River Basins, Argentina (1986–2018)

Abstract

Processes of agricultural expansion and retreat have provoked an emerging global debate and driven more focused research, due to its socio-environmental consequences. This paper evaluates large-scale LU/LC changes over 32 years from 1986 to 2018 at eight-year increments, based on freely available Landsat imagery processed with open-source QGIS tos. The results are the first quantification of surface areas and fine-grained maps of long-term LU/LC changes in the region. Results indicate marked cropland expansion in the upper Tunuyan River basin while in the lower Tunuyan River basin, small cultivated plots were abandoned. In the Mendoza River basin, there was significant urban expansion onto previously cultivated land but cropland did expand in some areas. The analysis suggests three main drivers of LU/LC change: abandonment of vineyards and orchards in the lower Tunuyan River basin, vineyard expansion in the upper Tunuyan River basin, and peri-urbanization in the Mendoza River basin.