Land cover and land use changes of native forests categories: the case of the Atencio District, Argentina, in the period from 1984 to 2013

Aim of study: The aim of this work was to assess land use and land cover change in Distrito Atencio, near Feliciano, in the province of Entre Ríos, Argentina, from 1984 to 2013 and to make a projection of possible changes in the native forests of Espinal Phytogeographic Region.Area of study: Espinal Ecorregion, Atencio (Argentina)Material and Methods: Ten LANDSAT 5-TM and LANDSAT 8-OLI satellite images were used and two classes were distinguished by vectorization: NF-Native Forests and OL-Other Lands. Besides, four categories were defined by supervised classification: CNF-Closed Native Forest, ONF-Open Native Forest, RF-Riverside Forest with Shrub Jungle, and ONG-Open Native Grassland or Savanna. Main results: It was estimated NF as being 76,619 ha and 59,994 ha for years 1984 and 2013 respectively, which represented a 21.69% reduction over a period of 30 years. In 1984, 32.93% of the district surface was occupied by CNF; the same proportion was covered by ONF; and ONG followed with 16.361 ha (20.66%). In 2013, contrarily, CNF was reduced by 13.67%. Land use change was noted to be directed towards the central eastern region. By 2015, OL are expected to keep 88% of their surface, while ONG areas might suffer a 28.80% and 41.25% reduction for years 2025 and 2050 respectively.Research highlights: District’s areas with higher incidence on changes due to ecosystem fragmentation processes were identified. It is hoped that this study may contribute to settling native forests protection and recovery areas.Keywords: land change; land cover; Landsat; remote sensing; Espinal Region; spatial trend