Land use change patterns in the Río de la Plata grasslands : the influence of phytogeographic and political boundaries

Date

2009

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Elsevier

Abstract

This work characterizes the spatial heterogeneity of land use change dynamics in the Rı´o de la Plata grasslands in relation to phytogeographic and political boundaries. Study of land use change in this zone is of great relevance since these grasslands have a key role in production and exportation of agricultural products at world scale. Projections for Argentina and Uruguay suggest that grassland loss would continue, whereas in Brazil the trend was opposite. Both proportions and sensitivity analysis highlighted that crop and grasslands covers (and their related transitions) have the largest influence on Land Use and Land Cover Change (LULCC) dynamics.

Description

Keywords

WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT, AFFORESTATION, CROP EXPANSION, MARKOVIAN MATRIX MODELS, MATRIX SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS, RIO DE LA PLATA, GRASSLANDS, BIOGEOGRAPHY, BOUNDARIES, LAND USE CHANGE

Citation

DOI