Trajectory Analysis of Forest Cover Change in the Tropical Dry Forest of Burkina Faso, West Africa

Abstract

Forest cover decline is one of the most important environmental issues in the tropics. The present study was carried out in Burkina Faso, West Africa, and aimed at assessing the trajectories of forest cover change and measuring landscape metrics of the trajectory classes in order to better understand the processes of change. Landsat and ASTER images acquired over a period of 30 years were used for cover change detection and the Fragstats package was used to compute landscape metrics with five unifying change classes. Results showed a substantial increase in cropland with concurrent decline in forest cover. Deforestation represented 63% of the Percentage of Landscape (PLAND) in 2006, while reforestation accounted for only 28%. Both of these classes had high Normalized Landscape Shape Index (NLSI) values, indicating that they were present as scattered small patches. The old cultivation (30-year permanent cropland) was aggregated (IJI approximate to 0) while deforestation exhibited highly interspersed patches. The old forest and old cultivation presented lower Area Weighted Fractal Dimension Index (FRAC_AM), but deforestation and reforestation had the higher FRAC_AM. These results confirmed that there was a high level of deforestation and fragmentation in southern Burkina Faso and justify the need for a proper management plan to ensure the sustainable use of forest resources.

Keywords

Landscape metrics; deforestation; dry forest; land cover change; Fragstats

Published in

Landscape Research
2011, volume: 36, number: 3, pages: 303-320
Publisher: ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD

SLU Authors

• Ouedraogo, Issa

  • Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Savadogo, Patrice

  • Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • Centre national de la recherche scientifique et technologique (CNRST)

• Tigabu, Mulualem

  • Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Oden, Per

  • Southern Swedish Forest Research Centre, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Global goals (SDG)

SDG15 Life on land

UKÄ Subject classification

Forest Science

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2011.564861

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/57893