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A Knowledge-Based Approach for Mapping Land Degradation in the Arid Rangelands of North Africa

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Title A Knowledge-Based Approach for Mapping Land Degradation in the Arid Rangelands of North Africa
 
Creator Mahyou, Hamid
 
Contributor Tychon, Bernard
Balaghi, Riad
Louhaichi, Mounir
Mimouni, Jamal
 
Subject arid steppes
 
Description Rangelands cover about 82% of the arid area of Morocco. It is generally acknowledged that these areas are threatened by desertification.
Monitoring desertification requires accurate knowledge about the current status of rangeland degradation. Remote sensing is widely used
to assess changes in land cover, but its use in arid rangelands has limitations because of spectral confusion among various types of land cover.
The objective of this study was to assess the severity and spatial extent of rangeland degradation in the high plateaus of eastern Morocco,
using a knowledge-based approach combining remote sensing and ancillary data. This approach relies on analyzing datasets derived from
Landsat TM satellite imagery, lithology, bioclimatic data and field measurements. The level of rangeland degradation was assessed using
indicators such as vegetation parameters, grazing levels and cultivation intensity, which provided a high level of accuracy for mapping
and monitoring the degradation of the arid rangelands. The results showed that the total area of degraded rangeland in the high plateaus
of eastern Morocco is about 17,417 km2, accounting for 48% in the studied area.
 
Date 2016-08-31
2016-04-18T10:25:46Z
2016-04-18T10:25:46Z
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier https://mel.cgiar.org/dspace/limited
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ldr.2470/abstract
Hamid Mahyou, Bernard Tychon, Riad Balaghi, Mounir Louhaichi, Jamal Mimouni. (31/8/2016). A Knowledge-Based Approach for Mapping Land Degradation in the Arid Rangelands of North Africa. Land degradation & development, 27 (6), pp. 1574-1585.
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11766/4626
Limited access
 
Language en
 
Format PDF
 
Publisher Wiley
 
Source Land degradation & development;27,(2016) Pagination 1574-1585