Monitoring land-cover changes in semi-arid regions: remote sensing data and field observations in the Ferlo, Senegal
(2001) Journal of Arid Environments — Vol. 48, n° 2, p. 129-148 (2001)
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- Abstract
- Dryland degradation rarely translates into linear, declining trends in vegetation cover due to interannual climatic variability. Appropriate indicators of land-cover modifications need to be defined for semi-arid regions. Our hypothesis is that degradation can be measured by: (1) a decrease in the resilience of vegetation to droughts; (2) a decrease in rain-use efficiency; and (3) a modification of floristic composition. The objective of this paper is to test the relationships between a remotely sensed indicator of vegetation, rainfall data and field measurements of biomass and floristic composition. The study was based on field measurements of vegetation conditions covering a period of 10 years, in the semi-arid region of the Ferlo in Senegal. Our results indicate that land-cover modifications in the Ferlo are best measured by changes in rain-use efficiency. No consistent trend in the relative abundance of grass species was visible at the scale of the decade, even on the two sites affected by degradation. Just after a drought, a given increase in rainfall results in less biomass production than is the case for normal years. (C) 2001 Academic Press.
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Diouf, A., & Lambin, E. (2001). Monitoring land-cover changes in semi-arid regions: remote sensing data and field observations in the Ferlo, Senegal. Journal of Arid Environments, 48(2), 129-148. https://doi.org/10.1006/jare.2000.0744 (Original work published 2001)