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- Title
Land cover dynamics in Osa Region, Costa Rica: secondary forest is here to stay.
- Authors
Algeet-Abarquero, Nur; Sánchez-Azofeifa, Arturo; Bonatti, Javier; Marchamalo, Miguel
- Abstract
Although high deforestation rates are documented in Latin America, there are also significant signs of secondary forest regrowth. In this study, we analyze the land cover dynamics in the Osa Peninsula region of Costa Rica between 1987 and 2009 that provides a good scenario for evaluating the effects over forest trends of the environmental policies set up in 1996. Remote sensing imagery from Landsat and SPOT 2 satellites was classified using the See5 algorithm to obtain land cover maps for 1987, 1998, 2003 and 2009. Our results show that land cover changes in Osa County are driven by grassland/forest dynamics. Forest area diminished over the 1987-1998 period, whereas it increased by 5 and 6 % during the 1998-2003 and 2003-2009 periods, respectively. Grassland abandonment was identified as the main driver of the net increase in forest cover area. Fragmentation analysis was done over the forest class of these maps disclosing secondary forest of the persistent forest of each period. Persistent forest patches decrease in number, but increase in size through time, forming areas of persistent forest established in bigger patches with lower edge density. Secondary forest patches have increased in number and size, forming larger areas of forest established in bigger patches. Nearly half of the reforested area in the period 1987-2009 remained as secondary forest in 2009, playing a key role by decreasing forest fragmentation and strengthening the natural corridor connecting the conservation areas of the region.
- Subjects
OSA Peninsula (Costa Rica); SECONDARY forests; LAND cover; REMOTE sensing; DEFORESTATION; FRAGMENTED landscapes
- Publication
Regional Environmental Change, 2015, Vol 15, Issue 7, p1461
- ISSN
1436-3798
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s10113-014-0714-9