Assesment of Vegetation Cover Status in Dry Lands of The Sudan Using Social and Terrestrial Data

https://doi.org/10.22146/jik.16508

Mohammed Hamed Mohammed(1*), Suzan Abdelrahman Hamad(2), Hassan Elnour Adam(3)

(1) Department of Forestry and Range Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, University of Kordofan, 51111 Elobeid, Sudan
(2) Forests National Corporation, North Kordofan, Sudan
(3) Department of Forestry and Range Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, University of Kordofan, 51111 Elobeid, Sudan
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract


The current study was conducted in 2015 in Bara Locality, North Kordofan, Sudan. The study area has experienced recurrent drought spells since 1970s of the past century. The main objective of this study was to assess and map the vegetation cover in the area using social, terrestrial and remotely sensed data. To accomplish the above mentioned objective, the study was based on qualitative and quantitative data. In qualitative data, household survey was conducted in which 100 respondents were randomly interviewed. Quantitative data was collected using terrestrial inventory and satellite imageries. In terrestrial inventory, 22 ground control points (GCPs) were randomly registered using GPS in order to get general overview of the land cover of the study area. In each GCP, tree species by number was inventoried within an area of 1 ha. Remote sensing data, covering the target study area, were acquainted using LANDSAT5 imageries (2014) with spatial resolution of 30×30 m. Results of the household survey revealed that only 13 shrub/tree species mentioned by 45% of the respondents, while only 9 woody species were identified, belonging to 8 families from terrestrial inventory. The results of the household survey, 45% of the respondents, indicated that vegetation cover was very good 20 years ago. The study categorized the present land cover as woody vegetation (19%), Acacia senegal stands (5%), shrubs i.e. Leptadenia pyrotechnica and Acacia nubica (18%), small scale farms and grasses (19%) and sandy soil and dunes (39%). The results of the land cover distribution indicated that vegetation cover decreased by 24% while sand/sand dunes was increased by 21% from 1985 to 2015. The study concluded that the study area is under threat of land degradation that may lead to depletion of vegetation cover and decline land productivity.

 

Pengukuran Status Penutupan Vegetasi di Lahan Kering Sudan Menggunakan Data Sosial dan Terestrial

Intisari

Penelitian ini dilakukan pada tahun 2015 di Lokalitas Bara, Kordofan Utara, Sudan. Lokasi penelitian telah mengalami masa kekeringan yang berulang sejak dekade 1970-an. Tujuan utama dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menilai dan memetakan tutupan vegetasi di lokasi penelitian dengan menggunakan data sosial, terestrial, dan penginderaan jauh. Untuk mencapai tujuan dimaksud, penelitian ini menggunakan data kualitatif dan kuantitatif. Untuk data kualitatif, survei rumah tangga dengan wawancara terhadap 100 responden yang dipilih secara acak. Data kuantitatif dikumpulkan dengan menggunakan inventarisasi terestrial dan satelit citra. Untuk inventarisasi terestrial, 22 titik kontrol (GCP) didaftar secara acak dengan menggunakan GPS untuk mendapatkan gambaran umum dari tutupan lahan daerah penelitian. Pada setiap GCP, jumlah spesies pohon diinventarisasi dalam area 1 ha. Data penginderaan jauh yang mencakup wilayah studi diambil dengan citra LANDSAT5 (2014) dengan resolusi spasial 30 × 30 m. Hasil survei rumah tangga menunjukkan bahwa hanya 13 jenis semak/pohon yang disebutkan oleh 45% responden, sementara hanya 9 spesies kayu yang terindentifikasi, milik 8 keluarga dari inventarisasi terestrial. Berdasarkan hasil survei rumah tangga, 45% dari responden menyatakan bahwa tutupan vegetasi yang sangat baik 20 tahun yang lalu. Penelitian ini mengelompokkan tutupan lahan saat ini ke dalam vegetasi berkayu (19%), tegakan Acacia senegal (5%), semak yaitu Leptadenia pyrotechnica dan Acacia nubica (18%), pertanian skala kecil dan rerumputan (19%), dan tanah dan bukit pasir (39%). Hasil dari distribusi tutupan lahan menunjukkan bahwa tutupan vegetasi mengalami penurunan sebesar 24%, sedangkan proporsi pasir/bukit pasir meningkat 21% dari 1985 ke 2015. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa daerah penelitian berada di bawah ancaman degradasi lahan yang dapat menyebabkan penipisan vegetasi tutupan dan menurunkan produktivitas lahan.


Keywords


Acacia senegal; land cover; remote sensing; sand dune; Sudan

Full Text:

PDF


References

  1. Adam HE. 2011. Integration of Remote Sensing and GIS in Studying Vegetation Trends and Conditions in the Gum Arabic Belt in North Kordofan Sudan. hombas- Verlag, Berlin, Germany.
  2. Agriculture Administration Office. 2015. Agriculture Administration Office, Bara Locality, North Kordofan, Sudan.
  3. Chalmers N & Fabricius C. 2007. Expert and generalist local knowledge about land-cover change on South Africa’s Wild Coast: can local ecological knowledge add value to science? Ecology and Society 12(1), 10.
  4. Elasha BO. 2006. Environmental strategies to increase human resilience to climate change: lessons for Eastern and Northern Africa. A final report submitted to Assessments of Impacts and Adaptations to Climate Change (AIACC), Project No. AF 14. The International START Secretariat, USA.
  5. Elasha BO, Goutbi N, Spanger-Siegfried E, Dougherty B, Hanafi A, Zakieldeen S, Sanjak E, Atti, HA. & Elhassan HM. 2008. Community development and coping with drought in rural Sudan. In : Leary N, Adejuwon J, Barros V, Burton I, Kulkarni J & Lasco R. (Eds). Climate Change and Adaptation. EARTHSCAN, London, Sterling, VA.
  6. Francis A E. 2010. Tree diversity, use and land cover changes in Mt. Otzi Forest Reserve, Northern Uganda. A report submitted to the International Leadership and Capacity Building Bursary (ILCB), Royal Geographical Society. https://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/4BBC0713-4 749-47FB-84D7-6FFC0E1FFC58/0/Reportform ErikFrancisAcanakwoPDF.pdf. Accessed on Feb. 15, 2016.
  7. Gardner TA. et al. 2013. A social and ecological assessment of tropical land uses at multiple scales: the Sustainable Amazon Network. Phil Trans R Soc B 368: 20120166. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0166.
  8. GEF Global Environment Facility. 1994. Sudan community-based rangeland rehabilitation for carbon sequestration and biodiversity. Project Document, UNDP.
  9. Glover EK. 2005. Tropical dryland rehabilitation: Case study on participatory forest management in Gedaref, Sudan. PhD Academic Dissertation, University of Helsinki.
  10. Godinez-Alvarez, H, Herrick JE, Mattocks M, Toledo D & Van Zee J. 2009. Comparison of three vegetation monitoring methods : Their relative utility for ecological assessment and monitoring. Ecological Indicators 9,1001–1008.
  11. Huntington HP. 2000. Using traditional ecological knowledge in science: methods and applications. Ecological Applications 10(5), 1270-1274.
  12. Ibrahim RSM. 2013. Assessment of vegetation cover changes during 1986 -2011, using remote sensing technique in Kunduwa Forest, South Darfur State, Sudan. MSc Thesis, Faculty of Forestry, University of Khartoum, Sudan.
  13. IPCC. 2001. Third assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
  14. Kellner K, Risoli C, & Metz. M. 2011. Terminal evaluation of the UNEP/FAO/GEF Project: Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands (LADA), United Nations Environment Programme.
  15. Khiry MA. 2007. Spectral mixture analysis for monitoring and mapping desertification processes in-semi-arid areas: Applications of remote sensing in monitoring drylands, North Kordofan State- Sudan. PhD Thesis. Institute of Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, TU Dresden, German.
  16. Khiry MA, Mahmoud TE, Csaplovics E, Ali HI, & Khatir AA. 2014. Description and assessment of land cover changes in relation to climatic conditions and socioeconomic activities in semi-arid areas of North Kordofan State, Sudan. University of Kordofan Journal of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies 1(2), 20-38.
  17. Kumar K. 1989. Conducting key informant interviews in developing countries. A.I.D. Program design and evaluation methodology report No. 13. Agency for International Development.
  18. Kumpula T, Forbes BC, Stammler F & Meschtyb N. 2012. Dynamics of a coupled system: multi-resolution remote sensing in assessing social-ecological responses during 25 years of gas field development in Arctic Russia. Remote Sensing 4, 1046-1068.
  19. Lee W, McGlone M, & Wright E. 2005. Biodiversity Inventory and Monitoring : A review of national and international systems and a proposed framework for future biodiversity monitoring by the Department of Conservation. Landcare Research Contract Report: LC0405/122.
  20. Mather PM & Brandt T. 2009. Classification methods for remotely sensed data (2nd Ed.). Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
  21. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. Ecosystems and human well-being: desertification synthesis. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.
  22. NAPA. 2007. National Adaptation Programme of Action. Republic of the Sudan, Ministry of Environment and Physical Development, Higher Council for Environment and Natura Resources, Khartoum.
  23. Sillivan S & Rode R. 2002. On non-equilibrium in arid and semi-arid grazing systems. Journal of Biogeography 29, 1595-1618.
  24. Squires V R. 2010. The subset of UNCCD impact indicators – Land Cover Status. Consultancy report prepared for the UNCCD. http://www.unccd.int/en/programmes/Science/Monitoring-Assessment/Documents/Report_Land-Cover-Status.pdf. Accessed on November 16, 2015.
  25. Wallace W & Furby S. 1994. Assessment of Change in Remnant Vegetation Area and Condition. A report from the LWRRDC project: Detecting and Monitoring Changes in Land Condition Through Time using Remotely Sensed Data. CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences, Agriculture Western Australia.



DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/jik.16508

Article Metrics

Abstract views : 4235 | views : 2445

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Bookmark and Share


Copyright (c) 2016 Jurnal Ilmu Kehutanan

License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

© Editorial Board Jurnal Ilmu Kehutanan
Faculty of Forestry, Universitas Gadjah Mada
Building D 2nd floor
Jl. Agro No 1, Bulaksumur, Sleman 55281
Phone. +62-274-512102, +62-274-550541, +62-274-6491420
Fax. +62-274-550541 E-mail : jik@ugm.ac.id
former website : jurnal.ugm.ac.id/jikfkt/
new website : jurnal.ugm.ac.id/v3/jik/

 

Indexed by:

 

Jurnal Ilmu Kehutanan is under the license of Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International