Environmental degradation assessment in arid areas: a case study from Basra Province, southern Iraq

Environmental Earth Sciences, Feb 2013

Evaluation of recent land degradation affecting Basra Province, Iraq, resulted in the identification of five prominent environmental degradation processes: desertification, secondary salinization, urbanization, vegetation degradation, and loss of wetlands. This analysis was carried out using ‘3S’ technologies [remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS), and global position system], with the layers extracted and manipulated from available topographic, climatic, and soil maps, as well as satellite image (thematic mapping in 1990 and enhanced thematic mapping in 2003) and field survey data analyses. Rates of conversion were calculated and distribution patterns were mapped with the aid of a GIS. The results revealed that land use changes have affected the wider environment and accelerated land degradation, with severe damage located in southwestern Basra Province representing 28.1 % of the total area. Areas of high to moderate degradation characterize the rest of the south, representing 52.7 % of the total area; while the north of the study region is characterized by very low and low degradation levels accounting for 8.5 and 10.7 %, respectively. Iraq faces serious environmental degradation problems that must be addressed immediately; failure to do so will greatly compound the cost and complexity of later remedial efforts, with environmental degradation beginning even now to pose a major threat to human well-being, especially among the poor.

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Environmental degradation assessment in arid areas: a case study from Basra Province, southern Iraq

Mushtak T. Jabbar 0 1 Jing-xuan Zhou 0 1 0 M. T. Jabbar Department of Soil and Water, College of Agriculture, University of Basrah , Basra, Iraq 1 M. T. Jabbar (&) J. Zhou Environmental Science and Engineering College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology , 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, People's Republic of China Evaluation of recent land degradation affecting Basra Province, Iraq, resulted in the identification of five prominent environmental degradation processes: desertification, secondary salinization, urbanization, vegetation degradation, and loss of wetlands. This analysis was carried out using '3S' technologies [remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS), and global position system], with the layers extracted and manipulated from available topographic, climatic, and soil maps, as well as satellite image (thematic mapping in 1990 and enhanced thematic mapping in 2003) and field survey data analyses. Rates of conversion were calculated and distribution patterns were mapped with the aid of a GIS. The results revealed that land use changes have affected the wider environment and accelerated land degradation, with severe damage located in southwestern Basra Province representing 28.1 % of the total area. Areas of high to moderate degradation characterize the rest of the south, representing 52.7 % of the total area; while the north of the study region is characterized by very low and low degradation levels accounting for 8.5 and 10.7 %, respectively. Iraq faces serious environmental degradation problems that must be addressed immediately; failure to do so will greatly compound the cost and complexity of later remedial efforts, with environmental degradation beginning even now to pose a major threat to human well-being, especially among the poor. - Environmental degradation and intensive deforestation due to industrialization and urbanization, war, and natural disasters such as flooding and drought caused by global warming are becoming increasingly common (Al-Dousari et al. 2000; Hui et al. 2008; Jabbar and Xiaoling 2006; Jabbar and Zhou 2011; Lindskog and Tengberg 1994; Sonneveld 2003; Symeonakis and Drake 2004). Analysis of land use/cover change (LUCC) is an important research field across the globe, being supported as a core project within the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP) and the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) (Gray 1999; Hui et al. 2008; Johnson and Lewis 1995). LUCC is a very complicated process, affected by both natural and anthropogenic factors, although the former is generally dominant (Amissah-Arthur et al. 2000; Haboudane et al. 2002; Sujatha et al. 2000; Thiam 2003; Wessels et al. 2004). Research involving LUCC is a basic precondition of regional LUCC monitoring, driving factor analysis and even LUCC prediction (Eiumnoh 2001; Hoffman and Todd 2000; Symeonakis and Drake 2004; Taddese 2001). The landscape of Iraq has witnessed many changes during the past two to three decades (e.g., UNEP 2001), with current land use/cover percentages standing at arable land 13.12 %, permanent crops 0.61 %, permanent pastures 7.27 %, and other 79 %. Land under cultivation in Iraq, which is predominantly an agricultural country, represents around 12 % of the total area. Most of this land is in the region adjacent to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (Al Janabi et al. 1988; Jabbar 2001). Environmental degradation assessment requires the identification and inclusion of various indicators of desertification, both natural and man-made. Mouat et al. (1997) developed five indicators: drifting sand, grazing pressure, climatic stress, change in vegetation greenness, and weedy invasive species as a percentage of total plant cover. In contrast, Scoging (1993) identified the excessive exploitation of fragile ecosystems by human beings, the inherent fragility of resource systems, and adverse climatic conditions as causes of desertification. Assessment of degradation severity is, therefore, realistic only when both natural and anthropogenic factors are taken into consideration. Two natural factors that can significantly influence the severity of desertification are the percentage of existing vegetative cover and the amount of drifting sand. These two parameters are usually mapped using satellite imagery. For instance, visual interpretation of Landsat MSS images and aerial photographs enabled Gad and Daels (1986) to identify landforms indicative of desertification and to assess desert encroachment along the Nile Valley. Using historical aerial photographs and a Landsat MSS image, Omojola and Ezigbalike (1993) mapped the attendant land degradation processes and actions in the Sokoto-Rima River Basin in northwestern Nigeria, whereas a combination of coarse-resolution satellite data and fine-resolution Landsat MSS satellite data has proven ideal for the assessment of regional desertification status in the Patagonia region of South Ameri (...truncated)


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Mushtak T. Jabbar, Jing-xuan Zhou. Environmental degradation assessment in arid areas: a case study from Basra Province, southern Iraq, Environmental Earth Sciences, 2013, pp. 2203-2214, Volume 70, Issue 5, DOI: 10.1007/s12665-013-2290-6