TY - JOUR
T1 - Dynamics of Forest Fragmentation and Connectivity Using Particle and Fractal Analysis
AU - Andronache, Ion
AU - Marin, Marian
AU - Fischer, Rico
AU - Ahammer, Helmut
AU - Radulovic, Marko
AU - Ciobotaru, Ana Maria
AU - Jelinek, Herbert F.
AU - Di Ieva, Antonio
AU - Pintilii, Radu Daniel
AU - Drăghici, Cristian Constantin
AU - Herman, Grigore Vasile
AU - Nicula, Alexandru Sabin
AU - Simion, Adrian Gabriel
AU - Loghin, Ioan Vlad
AU - Diaconu, Daniel Constantin
AU - Peptenatu, Daniel
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Dr. Kohei Koyama (Department of Life Science and Agriculture, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Inada-cho, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan) for his very valuable comments, suggestions and support. The research activities were financed by the projects “Spatial projection of the human pressure on forest ecosystems in Romania”, University of Bucharest, (UB/1365) and “Development of the theory of the dynamic context by analyzing the role of the aridization in generating and amplifying the regressive phenomena from the territorial systems”, Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding, Romanian Ministry of Education Research Youth and Sport (UEFISCDI) (TE-2014-4-0835).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, The Author(s).
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - The ever decreasing area of forests has lead to environmental and economical challenges and has brought with it a renewed interest in developing methodologies that quantify the extent of deforestation and reforestation. In this study we analyzed the deforested areas of the Apuseni Mountains, which has been under economic pressure in recent years and resulted in widespread deforestation as a means of income. Deforested surface dynamics modeling was based on images contained in the Global Forest Database, provided by the Department of Geographical Sciences at Maryland University between 2000 and 2014. The results of the image particle analysis and modelling were based on Total Area (ha), Count of patches and Average Size whereas deforested area distribution was based on the Local Connected Fractal Dimension, Fractal Fragmentation Index and Tug-of-War Lacunarity as indicators of forest fragmentation or heterogeneity. The major findings of the study indicated a reduction of the tree cover area by 3.8%, an increase in fragmentation of 17.7% and an increase in heterogeneity by 29%, while fractal connectivity decreased only by 0.1%. The fractal and particle analysis showed a clustering of forest loss areas with an average increase from 1.1 to 3.0 ha per loss site per year. In conclusion, the fractal and particle analysis provide a relevant methodological framework to further our understanding of the spatial effects of economic pressure on forestry.
AB - The ever decreasing area of forests has lead to environmental and economical challenges and has brought with it a renewed interest in developing methodologies that quantify the extent of deforestation and reforestation. In this study we analyzed the deforested areas of the Apuseni Mountains, which has been under economic pressure in recent years and resulted in widespread deforestation as a means of income. Deforested surface dynamics modeling was based on images contained in the Global Forest Database, provided by the Department of Geographical Sciences at Maryland University between 2000 and 2014. The results of the image particle analysis and modelling were based on Total Area (ha), Count of patches and Average Size whereas deforested area distribution was based on the Local Connected Fractal Dimension, Fractal Fragmentation Index and Tug-of-War Lacunarity as indicators of forest fragmentation or heterogeneity. The major findings of the study indicated a reduction of the tree cover area by 3.8%, an increase in fragmentation of 17.7% and an increase in heterogeneity by 29%, while fractal connectivity decreased only by 0.1%. The fractal and particle analysis showed a clustering of forest loss areas with an average increase from 1.1 to 3.0 ha per loss site per year. In conclusion, the fractal and particle analysis provide a relevant methodological framework to further our understanding of the spatial effects of economic pressure on forestry.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85071199091&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-019-48277-z
DO - 10.1038/s41598-019-48277-z
M3 - Article
C2 - 31439903
AN - SCOPUS:85071199091
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 9
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
IS - 1
M1 - 12228
ER -