Land cover change and land degradation in parts of the southwest coast of Nigeria

Frequent alteration in land cover often leads to decreased stability of ecosystems which can also increase the vulnerability of rural communities to externalities of environmental change. This study carried out in parts of the coast of southwestern Nigeria utilized topographic base maps and two-time Landsat TM imageries to assess the trend in land cover changes and ecosystems degradation for the three time periods 1965, 1986 and 2001. Remote sensing, geographic information systems and landscape pattern analysis were employed for data processing and analysis. The focus of the analysis was on land cover change, land degradation, and changes in landscape pattern resulting from interplay of natural and anthropogenic drivers.
The results show increased trend in human-induced land cover change with concomitant severe negative impacts on ecosystems and livelihoods. About 98,000ha (30% of the area) was seriously degraded as at 2001. About 33,000ha (10%) was under permanent saline water inundation with about 21 communities already dislocated. Loss of fragile ecosystems including marshland (from 7.7% in 1965 to 1% in 2001) and mangrove (from 14.6% in 1965 to 3.1% in 2001) was intense, while over 300 ponds/small lakes which are important for the local fishing economy have disappeared. About eighteen communities were also dislocated by erosion in a section around the southeastern parts of the coastline. Landscape metrics generated, suggested increased ecosystems perturbation and landscape fragmentation. The paper also discussed the implications of these rapid changes for ecosystems stability, food security and sustainable rural livelihoods in the area.     

关帝山森林景观异质性及其动态的研究

以４期航片为基础资料,在ＡＲＣ／ＩＮＦＯ支持下,应用地理信息系统（ＧＩＳ）技术,通过景观要素优势度指数、景观多样性指数、景观斑块密度、景观边缘密度、景观镶嵌度指数和景观聚集度指数５类指标,对关帝山林区５０年代末以来的景观异质性及其动态特征进行了全面分析,并介绍了各指标的数据来源和计算方法,分析了各指标的实用性．在ＧＩＳ支持下,上述各指标可以从不同侧面描述和反映景观异质结构特征,用于景观异质性动态变化规律的研究．研究表明,自５０年代末以来,关帝山森林景观受环境异质性、植被自然演替和人为活动的共同控制,总体异质性发生了很大变化,３个时期表现出不同的动态特征．对人为活动频繁的次生林区的森林景观异质性动态变化的基本规律和控制因素进行了讨论     

European-wide GIS-based modelling system for quantifying the feedstock from Miscanthus and the potential contribution to renewable energy targets

Reliable estimates of feedstock resources are a prerequisite to the establishment of a biomass based-industry for energy and non food products. Field trials in the European Union (EU) show that Miscanthus spp. can produce high yields. Here we use a model (MISCANMOD) coupled with a GIS environment to estimate the contribution that Miscanthus could make to projected national electricity consumption. We describe the integration of different data sets, transformation procedures, and spatial analyses using GIS to produce energy statistics for the EU-25. Overall, Miscanthus grown on the 10% of arable land which is currently in set-aside could generate 282 TWh yr⁻¹ electricity. This would meet 39% of the EU-25 target of 723 TWh yr⁻¹ of electricity from renewable energy sources (RES) by 2010. As RES targets rise, land available for energy crops is also expected to increase. We consider three additional scenarios where Miscanthus could be grown on 10%, 20% and 35% of all agricultural land and we estimate it could generate respectively 345, 691 and 1209 TWh yr⁻¹ of electrical energy. At a national scale France, Poland and Germany have the highest potentials for Miscanthus production based on agricultural land area (respectively 83, 52, 49 TWh yr⁻¹ when 10% agricultural land is used). Finally, we reduced the scale to the EU NUTS2 (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) regions to examine regional generation capacities. Key regions have been identified where national RES targets are exceeded. These regions could become net exporters of renewable energy.