Changes In Land-use Intensity Research Articles

Assessing the impact of changes in land-use intensity and climate on simulated trade-offs between crop yield and nitrogen leaching

In this study, a global vegetation model (LPJ-GUESS) is forced with spatial information (Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics (NUTS) 2 level) of land-use intensity change in the form of nitrogen (N) fertilization derived from a model chain which informed the Common Agricultural Policy Regionalized Impact (CAPRI) model. We analysed the combined role of climate change and land-use intensity change for trade-offs between agricultural yield and N leaching in the European Union under two plausible scenarios up until 2040. Furthermore, we assessed both driver importance and uncertainty in future trends based on an alternative land-use intensity dataset derived from an integrated assessment model. LPJ-GUESS simulated an increase in wheat and maize yield but also N leaching for most regions when driven by changes in land-use intensity and climate under RCP 8.5. Under RCP 4.5, N leaching is reduced in 53% of the regions while there is a trade-off in crop productivity. The most important factors influencing yield were CO2 (wheat) and climate (maize), but N application almost equaled these in importance. For N leaching, N application was the most important factor, followed by climate. Therefore, using a constant N application dataset in the absence of future projections has a substantial effect on simulated ecosystem responses, especially for maize yield and N leaching. This study is a first assessment of future N leaching and yield responses based on projections of climate and land-use intensity. It further highlights the importance of accounting for changes in future N applications and land-use intensity in general when evaluating environmental impacts over long time periods.

Influence of Three Types of Boundary on the Level of Greenspace in Cities

Greenspace is undoubtedly a main component of urban ecosystems. An urban greenspace system should not only include parks and attached greenspace within the city but should also encompass larger areas of greenspace around the city. However, in mega-cities that are undergoing rapid urbanization, intense changes in land use and land cover are occurring as large areas of farmland and forest are built up. In urban agglomerations, urban boundaries can extend beyond administrative boundaries; this process can exert a substantial influence on the index of urban greenspace. In contrast, mountains and rivers may effectively act as natural boundaries for the control of urban sprawl. What are the correlations among metropolitan boundaries, natural boundaries, and urban boundaries (called the “three types of boundary”) and their influence on the level of greenspace? By analyzing Tokyo, New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong, and Shanghai as cases, this study examines the patterns and interrelations among these three types of boundary. Model analysis results indicated that different models of the three types of boundary gave rise to different levels of greenspace. There are benefits to improving the level of greenspace (1) when metropolitan boundaries exceed urban boundaries; (2) when metropolitan boundaries are consistent with natural boundaries; or (3) when farmland around the city can be incorporated into greenspace and made part of the urban GI, which occurred in London and was presumed to contribute to its high figure for per capita greenspace. Furthermore, it was determined that the current administrative boundaries of Shanghai could be optimized by breaking with the administrative boundaries established in 1958 and redrawing its western boundary to conform to natural boundaries. Optimized metropolitan boundaries can facilitate the establishment of larger areas of greenspace, which can increase per capita greenspace, provide new spaces for development, and enhance international competitiveness.

Understanding Land System Change Through Scenario-Based Simulations: A Case Study from the Drylands in Northern China.

The drylands in northern China are expected to face dramatic land system change in the context of socioeconomic development and environmental conservation. Recent studies have addressed changes of land cover with socioeconomic development in the drylands in northern China. However, the changes in land use intensity and the potential role of environmental conservation measures have yet to be adequately examined. Given the importance of land management intensity to the ecological conditions and regional sustainability, our study projected land system change in Hohhot city in the drylands in northern China from 2013 to 2030. Here, land systems are defined as combinations of land cover and land use intensity. Using the CLUMondo model, we simulated land system change in Hohhot under three scenarios: a scenario following historical trends, a scenario with strong socioeconomic and land use planning, and a scenario focused on achieving environmental conservation targets. Our results showed that Hohhot is likely to experience agricultural intensification and urban growth under all three scenarios. The agricultural intensity and the urban growth rate were much higher under the historical trend scenario compared to those with more planning interventions. The dynamics of grasslands depend strongly on projections of livestock and other claims on land resources. In the historical trend scenario, intensively grazed grasslands increase whereas a large amount of the current area of grasslands with livestock converts to forest under the scenario with strong planning. Strong conversion from grasslands with livestock and extensive cropland to semi-natural grasslands was estimated under the conservation scenario. The findings provide an input into discussions about environmental management, planning and sustainable land system design for Hohhot.

Climate change versus land-use change—What affects the mountain landscapes more?

Land use and climate change are both strong drivers of landscape transformation. Using a representative valley of the Central Alps (Stubai Valley, Tyrol, Austria) we assess (1) the historical and likely future spatial patterns of land use/land cover (LULC), (2) the influence of temperature increase on the LULC distribution, and (3) the speed at which these changes will occur. Based on the historical landscape development and spatially explicit models, the effects of various land use and climate scenarios were modelled. Employing a pan-Alpine model, we were able to detect the temporal trajectory of spatial reforestation. The results show that land-use changes that already occurred during the last decades are responsible for the main future LULC changes (by secondary succession). Only an extreme land abandonment scenario and extreme climate scenarios (5K temperature increase) would bring about similar changes in LULC distribution and expansion of the forested areas. While alpine grasslands, alpine pioneer formation and glaciers would shrink drastically, especially deciduous forests would spread. To a considerable degree, such changes might take place over the next 300 years. By contrast, the increase in forest areas triggered by temperature changes would be slower and longer termed (up to 700–800 years).The effects and intensity of land-use change in the investigated valley, that is comparable to many regions in the Alps, will be at least equally severe and responsible for transformation of the landscape as those of a projected temperature increase.

Rubber Plantation Expansion Related Land Use Change along the Laos-China Border Region

Spatial-temporal changes of land use and land cover in Luang Namtha Province in northern part of Laos was analyzed using Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper)/ETM+ (Enhanced Thematic Mapper) images from 1990 to 2010 since the opening of the Boten border adjacent to China. The results showed that: (1) “forest land—cultivated land—grassland” was the primary landscape structure. Woodland was the major land cover type, while paddy field was the dominant land use type replaced by rubber plantation in 2010; (2) since the opening of the border crossings in 1994, the rate and intensity of land use change were accelerated and enhanced gradually, especially in the recent decade. Woodland decreased significantly, while shrubland, rubber plantation and swidden land increased obviously. Rubber plantation and swidden land showed the fastest growth derived from woodland and shrubland, indicating continuous human activities and slash-and-burn farming; and (3) during 1990–2010, swidden land was mainly located in northern mountainous areas with frequently increased changing spatial distribution in the recent decade. Rubber plantation was mainly distributed in the border region of China and Laos with the expansion from the border region into the non-frontier of Laos with Luang Namtha City as the center. Woodland reduction was so obvious along the Kunming-Bangkok highway.

Effect of land cover on channel form adjustment of headwater streams in a lateritic belt of West Bengal (India)

Present work is exploring the influence of land cover on channel morphology in 34 headwater catchments of the lateritic belt of West Bengal. Non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis) and multivariate analysis (Principal Component Analysis and Canonical Discriminant Function models) have successfully differentiated the performance of land cover on channel morphology adjustment among the three groups of headwater streams (forested, transitional, and agricultural) on the Kunur River Basin (KRB). Spatial Interpolation Techniques reveal that intense land-use change, particularly forest conversion to agricultural land, is significantly increasing channel widths (269%) and cross-section area (78%), whereas agricultural channels become shallower (40%) than would be predicted from forested streams. Catchments with the dominance of forest and agricultural land are classified as ‘C′ and ‘B′ types of streams respectively, as per Rosgen's Stream Classification Model. Finally, the work claimed that transitional stream group is the definitive area to exaggerate the river restoration plan to stabilize the anthropogenic deformation on channel morphology.

Evaluation of forest ecosystem services in Mediterranean areas. A regional case study in South Spain

An ecosystem services approach entails the development of a set of evaluation tools in order to quantify the benefits and vulnerabilities of each ecosystem. In this context, the current research explores the conceptualization of different evaluation tools for representative forest ecosystem services in Mediterranean areas.Mediterranean forests provide a wide range of ecosystem services, nevertheless they have to confront various threats such as deforestation, fires, and urban/industrial development. The Mediterranean region has suffered intense changes in land use over the past several decades such as intensification of agricultural and urban development, while marginal croplands have been abandoned and reforested. Thus, the dynamics of land use change have become an important driving force for the potential impact on ecosystem services. Quantifying the magnitude of land use change is therefore essential to estimate its consequences on ecosystem services.Taking this into account, the general aims of this research are (a) to evaluate the state and trends of forest ecosystem services at regional scale in Andalusia (South Spain), (b) to contribute to the methodology for accounting three main forest ecosystem services: carbon storage, protection of soil erosion, and cork oak provisioning, and (c) to assess how theses ecosystem services are affected by drivers of change, such as land use change. In this sense, the main results are the methodologies for the standardization and harmonization of the types of forest ecosystems using the mappings of land use (LULCMA), obtaining an objective quantification of the balance of surface supplying forest ecosystem services, and monitoring over time.

Fine-grained detection of land use and water table changes on organic soils over the period 1992⿿2012 using multiple data sources in the Drömling nature park, Germany

The construction of consistent time series of land use presents a key challenge when accounting for elective land use-based activities under the Kyoto Protocol (wetland drainage and rewetting (WDR), cropland management (CM) and grazing land management (GM)), in which current land use-driven greenhouse gas emissions are compared to a reference situation in 1990.This case study is the first to demonstrate the feasibility of using high-resolution land-use proxies from different datasets for Kyoto accounting in a data-rich case study region in Germany. The study region is characterised by organic soils and has been subject to significant nature conservation measures, including land-use changes, reductions in land-use intensity and changes in groundwater table depth.A consistent time series of 20 years of land use with a spatial resolution of 0.01ha was created from various fine-grained spatial datasets for organic soils in the Drömling nature park by applying a newly developed ⿿translation key⿿. The translation key accounted for systematic differences in legends and thematic resolution. We also tested whether the land-use datasets served as trustworthy proxies for groundwater table depth.Land use in the Drömling nature park became less intensive during the study period of 1992⿿2012. The greatest land-use change (142hayear⿿1, 1.14% year⿿1) occurred between 2000 and 2008. This was in line with management measures undertaken in the nature park. The centre of the nature park became wetter and there was an increase in the share of grassland and more natural vegetation types.The groundwater table correlated with land use and land-use intensity on organic soils in the study area throughout the entire period. Land-use changes were accompanied by altered groundwater tables, except for the conversion from cropland to grassland.Our study indicates that detailed land-use time series can serve as a semi-quantitative proxy for groundwater depth, but that any robust quantitative assessment of water table changes requires in situ data, e.g. from a network of dipwells. Therefore, the combination of land-use and dipwell data provided an accurate basis for estimating GHG emission reductions from drained organic soils since 1990, which is the centre of the Kyoto activity WDR, but also part of afforestation/reforestation (AR) and deforestation (D), forest management (FM), CM and GM. Even the detailed land-use time series on its own would fulfil the requirements for WDR accounting, although with considerable uncertainty about the drainage status of the organic soils. We present the study area of organic soils as a showcase for combining the difficult issues of monitoring changes in land-use intensity as well as in soil wetness, the latter being most relevant for organic soils. The methodology is equally applicable to and relevant for mineral soils.

Land-use change under a warming climate facilitated upslope expansion of Himalayan silver fir (Abies spectabilis (D. Don) Spach)

Global warming is triggering some species to shift towards the poles or higher elevations, but spatial translocation is also influenced by land-use regime or intensity. The Himalayan climate is getting warmer and land use has changed, reducing in intensity in some areas. We estimated the upper species limit (USL) and tree limit of Abies spectabilis (D. Don) Spach and assessed whether these have changed over recent years. We hypothesise an upslope shift in response to enhanced temperature and changes in land-use intensity. Our four transects were located in treeline ecotones of two protected areas in Nepal, namely Manaslu Conservation Area (3 transects) and Gaurishankar Conservation Area (1 transect). Transects (20 m wide) ran from the USL of A. spectabilis down towards the treeline and beyond to the forest line. Length of each transect varied depending on local conditions. Co-ordinates, elevation, height and age of each A. spectabilis individual along the transects were recorded. We noted an upward shift of both the USL and the tree limit. The rate of shift was ca. 20 m per decade for the USL and 12 m per decade for the tree limit in the area of reduced land-use intensity and in the area with no change in land use, 5 m per decade for the USL, but almost nil for tree limit. The seedling density was higher below the treeline than above. Reduced intensity of land use was the dominant factor in upslope shift of A. spectabilis at both the USL and the tree limit.

Remote sensing-based artificial surface cover classification in Asia and spatial pattern analysis

Artificial surfaces, characterized with intensive land-use changes and complex landscape structures, are important indicators of human impacts on terrestrial ecosystems. Without high-resolution land-cover data at continental scale, it is hard to evaluate the impacts of urbanization on regional climate, ecosystem processes and global environment. This study constructed a hierarchical classification system for artificial surfaces, promoted a remote sensing method to retrieve subpixel components of artificial surfaces from 30-m resolution satellite imageries (GlobeLand30) and developed a series of data products of high-precision urban built-up areas including impervious surface and vegetation cover in Asia in 2010. Our assessment, based on multisource data and expert knowledge, showed that the overall accuracy of classification was 90.79%. The mean relative error for the impervious surface components of cities was 0.87. The local error of the extracted information was closely related to the heterogeneity of urban buildings and vegetation in different climate zones. According to our results, the urban built-up area was 18.18×104 km2, accounting for 0.59% of the total land surface areas in Asia; urban impervious surfaces were 11.65×104 km2, accounting for 64.09% of the total urban built-up area in Asia. Vegetation and bare soils accounted for 34.56% of the urban built-up areas. There were three gradients: a concentrated distribution, a scattered distribution and an indeterminate distribution from east to west in terms of spatial pattern of urban impervious surfaces. China, India and Japan ranked as the top three countries with the largest impervious surface areas, which respectively accounted for 32.77%, 16.10% and 11.93% of the urban impervious surface area of Asia. We found the proportions of impervious surface and vegetation cover within urban built-up areas were closely related to the economic development degree of the country and regional climate environment. Built-up areas in developed countries had relatively low impervious surface and high public green vegetation cover, with 50–60% urban impervious surfaces in Japan, South Korea and Singapore. In comparison, the proportion of urban impervious surfaces in developing countries is approaching or exceeding 80% in Asia. In general, the composition and spatial patterns of built-up areas reflected population aggregation and economic development level as well as their impacts on the health of the environment in the sub-watershed.

Dynamic Land Use Change and Sustainable Urban Development in a Third-tier City within Yangtze Delta

The main purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between dynamic land use change and sustainable urban development in a typical third-tier city within Yangtze Delta. This study also attempts to provide suggestions in terms of land use cover change (LUCC) and land use intensity change (LUIC) for governments and planners to achieve better land use performance and more rational urban development. Spatial and regression analyses show LUCC rather than LUIC affects urban sustainability. Thus, implications for future city construction were proposed.

The lost lochs of Scotland: tracking land-use change and its effects on the archaeological record

ABSTRACTThis paper examines how loch drainage in eighteenth and nineteenth century Scotland has shaped the archaeological record, with particular reference to lake dwellings known as ‘crannogs’. The analysis uses the Roy Military Survey of Scotland (1747–1755) as a baseline for charting changes to lacustrine environment through time. The work is unique for its scale which examines all of mainland Scotland, and the results have revealed unrecognized patterns in the timing and intensity of land-use changes that have impacted lacustrine environments. These patterns are linked to the development of archaeological investigation in Scotland demonstrating that the current distribution of crannogs across the country is an artefact of loch drainage and antiquarian investigation and not representative of the past distribution of these critical sites. This paper presents one way in which we can begin to account for these historic changes to land-use and their impact to our understanding of the archaeological record.

ESTIMASI HILANGNYA CADANGAN KARBON DARI PERUBAHAN PENGGUNAAN LAHAN DI KABUPATEN BOGOR

One of the primary sectors that contributes to green house gas emissions is land use changes. Bogor Regency is one of the districts close to the capital city and industrial areas so that the intensity of land use changes are very dynamic. This study aims to determine the dynamics of land use changes and CO2-eq emissions from land use change in 2000 to 2014 in Bogor. In the period 2000-2014 the most land undergone many changes occur in mixed garden, cropland, open land and shrub that converted turned into settlement with a total amounted to 11.12% of the total area, while the CO2-eq emissions in 2005-2009 increased approximately six times the emissions from 2000-2005 in the amount of 681 006.94 tons of CO2-eq per year.

ESTIMASI HILANGNYA CADANGAN KARBON DARI PERUBAHAN PENGGUNAAN LAHAN DI KABUPATEN BOGOR

One of the primary sectors that contributes to green house gas emissions is land use changes. Bogor Regency is one of the districts close to the capital city and industrial areas so that the intensity of land use changes are very dynamic. This study aims to determine the dynamics of land use changes and CO 2 -eq emissions from land use change in 2000 to 2014 in Bogor. In the period 2000-2014 the most land undergone many changes occur in mixed garden, cropland, open land and shrub that converted turned into settlement with a total amounted to 11.12% of the total area, while the CO2-eq emissions in 2005-2009 increased approximately six times the emissions from 2000-2005 in the amount of 681 006.94 tons of CO2-eq per year. Keywords: green house gas emission, land use change, CO 2 -eq emissions

Human impact on the plant cover of four villages in SE Poland

The observation of the rapid rate of plant cover transformation caused by urbanization and agricul tural technology was the inspiration for undertaking the study in rural areas. The study was carried out in the Sandomierz Basin in four typical villages with varying degrees of the anthropogenic impact. The changes observed included: Koszyce Male – evident transformation of fields and meadows into building land; Kolbuszowa Dolna – intensive changes in land use, abandonment of fields and meadows, and river regulation; Roźwienica – emergence of new habitats for plant colo nization after reclamation of land previously occupied by a brick factory and a landfill; Krzeczowice – intensive crop cultivation and unchanged land use. In 2009–2010, floristic investigations with the patrol method were carried out in these areas. The historical-geographical classification and indices of the anthropogenic changes of the flora were employed in the analysis. Substantially, domination of synanthropic species over non-synanthropic spontaneophytes was noted in the analysed floras. In the synanthropic species group, the proportion of apophytes was 3-fold higher than that of anthropophytes. Archaeophytes were more abundant than kenophytes. The flora of Krzeczowice, an area af fected by long-term anthropopressure, was by approx. 30% less abundant than that in the other villages; it was also characterised by the highest synanthropization index, apophytization index, and index of apophytism of spontaneophytes. In turn, the flora found in Kolbuszowa Dolna was rich due to the presence of a wide variety of habitats; it was characterised by the lowest apophytization index accompanied by the highest anthropo phization index. KEy worDs: rural areas, Sandomierz Basin, anthropopressure, changes of plant cover, anthropogenic indices

Changes in the spatial patterns of human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) in Europe 1990–2006

Understanding patterns, dynamics, and drivers of land use is crucial for improving our ability to cope with sustainability challenges. The human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) framework provides a set of integrated socio-ecological indicators that quantify how land use alters energy flows in ecosystems via land conversions and biomass harvest. Thus, HANPP enables researchers to systematically and consistently assess the outcome of changes in land cover and land-use intensity across spatio-temporal scales. Yet, fine-scale HANPP assessments are so far missing, an information important to address site-specific ecological implications of land use. Here, we provide such an assessment for Europe at a 1-km scale for the years 1990, 2000, and 2006. The assessment was based on a consistent land-use/biomass flow dataset derived from statistical data, remote sensing maps, and a dynamic global vegetation model. We find that HANPP in Europe amounted to ~43 % of potential productivity, well above the global average of ~25 %, with little variation in the European average since 1990. HANPP was highest in Central Europe and lower in Northern and Southern Europe. At the regional level, distinct changes in land-use intensity were observed, most importantly the decline of cropland areas and yields following the breakdown of socialism in Eastern Europe and the subsequent recovery after 2000, or strong dynamics related to storm events that resulted in massive salvage loggings. In sum, however, these local dynamics cancelled each other out at the aggregate level. We conclude that this finding warrants further research into aspects of the scale-dependency of dynamics and stability of land use.

Land use intensity trajectories on Amazonian pastures derived from Landsat time series

Monitoring changes in land use intensity of grazing systems in the Amazon is an important prerequisite to study the complex political and socio-economic forces driving Amazonian deforestation. Remote sensing offers the potential to map pasture vegetation over large areas, but mapping pasture conditions consistently through time is not a trivial task because of seasonal changes associated with phenology and data gaps from clouds and cloud shadows. In this study, we tested spectral-temporal metrics derived from intra-annual Landsat time series to distinguish between grass-dominated and woody pastures. The abundance of woody vegetation on pastures is an indicator for management intensity, since the duration and intensity of land use steer secondary succession rates, apart from climate and soil conditions. We used the developed Landsat-based metrics to analyze pasture intensity trajectories between 1985 and 2012 in Novo Progresso, Brazil, finding that woody vegetation cover generally decreased after four to ten years of grazing activity. Pastures established in the 80s and early 90s showed a higher fraction of woody vegetation during their initial land use history than pastures established in the early 2000s. Historic intensity trajectories suggested a trend towards more intensive land use in the last decade, which aligns well with regional environmental policies and market dynamics. This study demonstrates the potential of dense Landsat time series to monitor land-use intensification on Amazonian pastures.

Changing land use intensity in Europe – Recent processes in selected case studies

In recent decades the intensification of agricultural production in many European countries has been one of the key components of land-use change. The impact of agricultural intensification varies according to national and local contexts and a greater understanding of the drivers of intensification will help to mitigate against its negative impacts and harness potential benefits. This paper analyses changes in land use intensity in six case studies in Europe. A total of 437 landowners were interviewed and their responses were analysed in relation to changes in land use intensity and agricultural production between 2001 and 2011. In the case studies in Western and Eastern Europe we observed stabilisation during the last decade, and no clear tendency of increase or decrease of land use intensity. The use of fertilizers and pesticides seems to have decreased in our cases in Western Europe, which is contrary to trends in Eastern Europe. Agricultural production remained stable in almost all cases, except for an increase in Austria and Romania which may indicate that the farming efficiency has increased. A statistical analysis showed a division between study areas in Romania and Austria (increasing land use intensity) versus those in the Netherlands, Denmark and Greece (decreasing). In the Mediterranean cases we observe a process where agriculture is becoming increasingly marginalised, at the same time as changes in function with regard to urbanisation and recreational land uses have taken place. Logistic regression highlighted the importance of farm size and farmer type in understanding changes in land use intensity. The dominant pattern of stabilisation which has occurred over the past 10 years may also partly be a result of effective EU and national environmental and agricultural policies, which are increasingly concerned with improving environmental conditions in rural areas.

The Effect of Land-Use Intensity on Surface Temperature in the Dongting Lake Area, China

Land use and its environmental effects can be quantitatively expressed with land-use intensity. In this study, a land-use intensity metric was improved using a geographic mapping method. The relationships between observed rapid changes in land use and temperature in the Dongting Lake area from 2001 to 2010 were examined. The results revealed the following features: (1) The temperature increased when the land-use intensity increased via a hierarchical transition owing to grass and forest land reductions of 26.25% and 11.74%, respectively; built-up land increased by 48.45%. (2) The temperature increase was driven more by the external environment than by land-use intensity changes. Human activities produced larger effects in the western region than in the eastern or central region of the study area, according to the observed variations in the centres of gravity for temperature and land-use intensity. (3) The temperature response to land-use intensity changes was more sensitive in low-altitude areas than in high-altitude areas; the response presented a north-south gradient, possibly due to socioeconomic and urbanisation differences.

Monitoring Tropical Forest Degradation in Betampona Nature Reserve, Madagascar Using Multisource Remote Sensing Data Fusion

This paper demonstrates how animal and plant species diversity in the Betampona Nature Reserve (BNR), Madagascar has become threatened through forest degradation and the introduction of invasive species over the last two decades. First, land-use changes and agricultural activities were analyzed using Landsat and IKONOS-2 data from 1990 to 2010. Then, a decision tree algorithm was developed to map under canopy invasive plant species using high resolution optical stereo imaging, land-use classification, and characterizing plant growth using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and polarimetric InSAR observations from Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR). Next, causal association between land use, climate change, and spatial and temporal dynamics of invasive plant species distribution was explored using satellite derived and in situ climate variables, changes in drought regimes, and tropical cyclones. Results showed that the region experienced intense land-use changes characterized by significant increase in agricultural lands at the cost of primary forest and other land-cover types. Encroachment by habitat-altering invasive plants from 2005 to 2012 within the reserve was obvious, and were probably attributable to illegal logging, erosion of the reserve boundary from anthropogenic activities and cyclone damage as well as shifts in drought regimes. The spatial extent of guava ( Psidium cattleianum ) has increased from 5.6% of the reserve in 2005 to 7.9% in 2012, a 55-ha increase over less than 7 years. Madagascar cardamom ( Aframomum angustifolium ) has increased by 1.7% and Molucca raspberry ( Rubus moluccanus ) by 2.3%, respectively.