Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Trends on Habitat Disturbance Between 1986 And 2021 In Protected Areas of, Zimbabwe

Abstract

The main aim of this research is to analyse spatio- temporal trends on habitat disturbance between 1986 and 2021 in protected areas of, Zimbabwe with a focus on anthropogenic activities such as mining which are leading to biodiversity loss, habitat and ecosystem services disturbances. This paper provides an overview of recent studies using Remote Sensing (RS and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques to assess the extent of mining disturbance on plant habitats in protected areas of Zimbabwe. Through a systematic review, literature hotspot analysis was done as well as a trend analysis at regional specific level together with statistical tests in order to come up with an overview of the past studies which were done on habitat disturbance in protected areas of Zimbabwe over a thirty-five-year period. The paper highlights the complex nature of the impacts of mining as well as discuss spatial research methods, data sources and limitations. The results indicated an exponential growth of scientific literature on human-environment interactions in the mining environments at regional scale and a non- monotonic trend at country level. This has prompted a need to synthesize literature to guide future research. Conclusively there is limited research done on habitat disturbance in protected mining environments, hence the need for advanced geospatial scientific studies in the future on spatio-temporal analysis of trends on habitat disturbance