Investigating Impact of physical changes on changes in the area of Hyrcanian forests in the mountains of the southern margin of the Caspian Sea using remote sensing
Subject Areas : Journal of Radar and Optical Remote Sensing and GIS
Marjan Kaffash Majidi
1
,
Teimour Amar
2
,
Eisa Pourramazan
3
1 -
2 - Faculty member, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran
3 - Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran
Keywords: Hyrcanian forests, Remote sensing, SVM, Landsat images, second homes, Caspian Sea,
Abstract :
Abstract: Objective: Knowledge of the extent of forest cover changes is essential for the conservation and management of these natural resources. The present study was conducted with the aim of revealing the extent of changes in the area of Hyrcanian forests in the southern Caspian Sea mountain range.
Methods: This study used Landsat satellite image processing to extract forest, vegetation, and water classes between 2000 and 2022. The method was based on supervised classification with the Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm.
Results: The results showed that the forest area in the study area, which includes 11 rural districts, decreased by -232,265 hectares over 22 years.
Conclusion: According to the results obtained from this study, it can be concluded that the increase in man-made land use in the form of second homes in the study area has led to the destruction and change in land use of one of the most important ecosystems in the world in the Middle East, and the continuation of this trend is one of the main factors in the reduction of the area of Hyrcanian forests and its inhabitants.
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