Abstract
The Amazon Region of Ecuador (ARE) hosts a great variety of biodiversity and ecosystems. These hotspots are internationally recognized for presenting unique fauna and flora found nowhere else in the world. Within the ARE, there is the Yasuní National Park (YNP), a recognized Biosphere Reserve located in the sub-basins of various rivers. The study area is the “ITT Oil Block” (Ishpingo, Tambococha, and Tiputini), situated in the Province of Orellana and superimposed on the YNP. The block has an area of 179,449.53 ha. The main objective of the current study was to analyze the multi-temporality of land-use change in the ITT Oil Block of the ARE. In the methodological process, the PCI Geomatic and ARCGIS programs were used for the processing and classification of satellite images (Landsat 7 and 8). The changes in land use in the ITT Oil Block over the three periods (2001, 2014, and 2017) indicated that forest cover decreased by 24.23% in soils, while infrastructure and cultivation increased throughout the time period by 0.27% and 0.23%, respectively. The most significant land-use change rate in the ITT Oil Block in the period 2001–2017 are the categories of bare soil with 9.01% (10,640.82 ha) and cultivation with 7.27% (591.29 ha).
Highlights
The classification of the images was unsupervised because the study area is militarized and it is forbidden to fly aircraft and drones over it
It was concluded that it is faster and more efficient, and the classification process was compared to ARCGIS 10.7
The unsupervised classification of the images allowed the visualization of variations of vegetation cover, hydrographic basins, and soils of the ITT Oil Block of the Ecuadorian
Summary
Deforestation is nowadays one of the greatest and rapidly growing environmental problems for the lives of species and human health in predominantly tropical areas [1,2,3,4]. Deforestation accelerates erosion, loss of soil cover and biodiversity, spreads vector diseases, drought, or hydric deficits, changes tropical land use, increases surface temperature, global warming, and contributes to climate. During the last few decades, scientists have been determining the rate of deforestation in order to inform the public and authorities alike to create awareness regarding such losses that harm human health locally and globally [22,23,24,25]. The area with the world’s highest deforestation rates is the Amazon rainforest due to the Amazonian countries’ erroneous policies and/or interests [26,27,28,29,30]
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