Land Use and Land Cover Change and Its Impacts on the Ecosystem Services in Guder River Sub-Basin, Ethiopia

Abstract

 In developing nations, land use and cover, change rates have doubled due to rapid population expansion, economic growth, and agricultural development. This study aimed to analyze the impacts of land use and cover change on ecosystem services in the Guder River sub-basin. Satellite imageries from the United States Geological Survey for 1990, 2000, and 2020 were used to detect and classify land use and cover types using Remote Sensing, ERDAS, and ArcGIS software. Ground truth data were gathered using GPS. The areas of different land use and cover types were analyzed using ArcGIS's geometric tool and the ecosystem values were calculated by multiplying the global biome coefficients by the area of each land use type. The study identified six land use types: grassland, forestland, cultivated land, settlement shrub, and barren lands. The results revealed significant changes in land use and land cover types over the study period compared to 1990.  In 2020, the grassland, forestland, and shrubland areas decreased by 64.62%, 36.50%, and 15.20%, respectively.  Conversely, cultivated land increased by 48.20%, settlement land by 386.66%, and barren land by 1644.1%. These changes in land use and land cover types led to a decrease in the overall ecosystem services (ESV) value between 1990 and 2020.  The degradation of grassland, forestland, and shrubland significantly decreased the ESV by 64.7%, 36.47%, and 15.07%, respectively, while the expansion of cultivated land ESV increased by 48.21%. The total ESV across the study river basin decreased from $15.62 million in 1990 to $11.11 million in 2020, a 28.87% reduction. The study highlights the urgent need for land use planning and administration strategies to mitigate these impacts and promote sustainable land management in the sub-basin.