Environmental degradation assessment in arid areas: a case study from Basra Province, southern Iraq
Mushtak T. Jabbar
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Jing-xuan Zhou
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M. T. Jabbar Department of Soil and Water, College of Agriculture, University of Basrah
, Basra,
Iraq
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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.
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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)