干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Land cover changes (LCC) in Mediterranean lands are generally connected with anthropogenization and climate changes. The territory of Haskovo region is located in south-eastern part of Bulgaria, where, in the last years, intensification of degradation processes in landscapes, induced by drought is occurred. There is a real threat from intensification of desertification processes in these landscapes in the next decades. The precise investigation of degradation processes requires in-depth knowledge of landscape components, of the ongoing processes that take place in them and functions that ensures existence and maintenance of ecosystems. In the case study, we have determined the LCC that have occurred in the last 18 years. Remote sensing methods and GIS have been applied. The LCC have been determined by using supervised classification, as for the basis of the classification, vector layers of Land cover and vegetation have been used. Two landscape maps were created. The first is valid to 2000 and the second is a map of the modern landscapes. In order type of the change and its magnitude to be determined, Tasseled Cap Transform (TCT) and modified Change Vector Analysis (mCVA) techniques were applied. The application of this approach allows differentiation of the most affected by the LCC landscapes, determination of the type and direction of change, and assessment of the potential of the landscape to deliver ecosystem services in changing environmental conditions.