Abstract

DIAZ GOMEZ, A. R.  and  GASPARI, F. J.. Land use and cover change in the riparian zone of subtropical basins of northwest argentina. Quebracho (Santiago del Estero) [online]. 2017, vol.25, n.1, pp.28-39. ISSN 0328-0543.

The riparian zones with abundant native vegetation are ecologically important areas that provide protection to the water-environment system serving as natural traps (buffer zones) retaining sediments, nutrients and pollutants from soils along watercourses. The basin of the Western and South-west Aconquija foothills (FOAS) comprises about 9.222 km2. Land uses include modern agriculture (sugar cane, citrus, horticulture, and blueberry) and urban populations. The advance of the agricultural frontier into the subtropical basins threatens the riparian zone integrity. The objective of this study was to analyze and quantify the land use and cover changes between 1986-2010 in the FOAS subtropical basins. Effective use of remote sensing techniques, geographic information systems, field control, and supervised classification of Landsat images 5TM was performed. In addition, the width of the buffer zone was reclassified according to the altitudinal gradient. Overall accuracy for the 2010 land use/cover map was 97 % and kappa index 0.95. As a result, it was found that in the upper riparian zone, the forest cover remained constant for the period. However, in the lower riparian zones, a clear pattern of deforestation was found: the riparian forest decreased 18 % (241 km2) and was replaced by crops in the lower zone. The presence of crops in the lower riparian zones suggests possible environmental consequences including the water resources system degradation in the foothills and the flatlands.

Keywords : Deforestation; Riparian forest; Buffer zone.

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