The effect of short-term socio-economic and demographic change on landuse dynamics and its corresponding geomorphic response with relation to water erosion in a tropical mountainous catchment, Ecuador

• Published in: Landscape ecology Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 1 - 15
• Main Authors: VANACKER, Veerle, GOVERS, Gerard, BARROS, Sandra, POESEN, Jean, DECKERS, Jozef
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer 2003; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aerial photography; Afforestation; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Catchments; Cultivated lands; Deforestation; Erosion control; Eucalyptus; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Geomorphology; Grasslands; Land degradation; Land reform; Land use; Outlets; Rangelands; River networks; Rivers; Sediment concentration; Sediment load; Soil degradation; Soil erosion; Statistical analysis; Suspended sediments; Trees; Water erosion; South America; Ecuador; Andes; America; Socioeconomic impact; Demography; Geomorphology; Landscape; Mountain; Watershed; Change; Land use; Erosion

The analysis of aerial photographs over a 33-year period (1962–1995) shows that land use in the study catchment is highly dynamic as a response to the land reform programs of the 1960s and 1970s and a strong population increase. The secondary forest is increasingly replaced by grassland while old gr...