12
2.3. Land degradation and land use land cover change
Land use and land cover change have become a central component in current strategies for managing natural resources and monitoring environmental
change. Since the late 1960’s, the rapid development of the concept of vegetation mapping has lead to increased studies of land use and land cover change
worldwide. Providing an accurate assessment of the extent and health of the world’s forest, grassland, and agricultural resources has become an important
priority.
2.3.1. Land use and land cover
Every parcel of land on the Earth’s surface is unique in the cover it possesses. Land use and land cover are distinct yet closely linked characteristics
of the Earth’s surface. Land use is the manner in which human beings employ the land and its resources. Examples of land use include agriculture, urban
development, grazing, logging, and mining. In contrast, land cover describes the physical state of the land surface. Land cover categories include cropland, forests,
wetlands, pasture, roads, and urban areas. The term land cover originally referred to the kind and state of vegetation, such as forest or grass cover, but it has
broadened in subsequent usage to include human structures such as buildings or pavement and other aspects of the natural environment, such as soil type,
biodiversity, and surface and groundwater. Myers, 1988 Land use change is generally conscious, volitional responses by humans or
human societies to changes in biophysical or societal conditions. It is a response indicator, therefore, reflecting how and to what extent society is responding to
meet its changing needs and goals or to adapt to changing environmental
13 conditions. This does not exclude the possibility that some land use changes may,
in turn, constitute a driving force for changes in the state of the environment. That is in the very nature of the complex causal network not a simple causal chain,
including a number of feedback loops, that is societys relationship with its environment.
As is the case for land use change, it is doubtful whether a single or aggregate measure of land condition change would be feasible. What is feasible in
principle is an estimation of the change in the different land qualities that influence the suitability of the land for one use or another, or for conservation
purpose, for example, of biodiversity and erosion for land degradation. Land qualities are discussed in FAO, 1976
.
2.4. GIS and RS in Soil Erosion Modeling and Land UseCover Change
Kategori