Drivers of Long-Term Land-Use Pressure in the Merguellil Wadi, Tunisia, Using DPSIR Approach and Remote Sensing

Land

卷:11

Ronny Berndtsson¹  Naceur Mahdhi²  Sinan Bacha³  Sihem Jebari⁴  Ines Saidi⁴  Khaoula Khemiri⁴ 

[1] Division of Water Resources Engineering, Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 22100 Lund, Sweden;

[2] Institute of Arid Regions (IRA) of Medenine, Medenine 4119, Tunisia;

[3] National Centre for Cartography and Remote Sensing (CNCT), BP 200, Marsa 2045, Tunisia;

[4] National Research Institute for Rural Engineering, Water and Forestry, BP 10, Ariana 2080, Tunisia;

关键词: drivers of land use change;    DPSIR approach;    remote sensing;    socioeconomic changes;    semiarid Tunisia;   

DOI  :  10.3390/land11010138

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Increasing land use pressure is a primary force for degradation of agricultural areas. The drivers for these pressures are initiated by a series of interconnected processes. This study presents a novel methodology to analyze drivers of changing land use pressure and the effects on society and landscape. The focus was on characterizing these drivers and relate them to land use statistics obtained from geospatial data from the important semiarid Merguellil Wadi between 1976 and 2016. Cause-and-effect relationships between different drivers of land use change were analyzed using the DPSIR approach. Results show that during the 40-year period cultivated land increased and wetland areas decreased substantially. Drivers for change were pressure from economic development, cultivation practices, and hydro-agricultural techniques. This leads to stress on water and soil resulting in soil erosion, poverty increase, and rural exodus. We show that hydro-agricultural techniques adapted to the semiarid climate, allocation of land property rights, resource allocation, and improved marketing of agricultural products can help rural residents to diversify their economy, and thus better preserve the fragile semiarid landscape. Results of this study can be used to ensure sustainable management of water and soil resources in areas with similar climate and socio-economic conditions.

【 授权许可】

Unknown