Bodjrènou, R.; Comandan, F.; Danso, D.K. Assessment of Current and Future Land Use and Land Cover in the Oueme Basin for Hydrological Studies. Sustainability2023, 15, 2245.
Bodjrènou, R.; Comandan, F.; Danso, D.K. Assessment of Current and Future Land Use and Land Cover in the Oueme Basin for Hydrological Studies. Sustainability 2023, 15, 2245.
Bodjrènou, R.; Comandan, F.; Danso, D.K. Assessment of Current and Future Land Use and Land Cover in the Oueme Basin for Hydrological Studies. Sustainability2023, 15, 2245.
Bodjrènou, R.; Comandan, F.; Danso, D.K. Assessment of Current and Future Land Use and Land Cover in the Oueme Basin for Hydrological Studies. Sustainability 2023, 15, 2245.
Abstract
The modification of land use is a crucial factor in the dysfunction of ecosystems. It considerably influences the hydrological cycle of basins. This study focuses on the Oueme basin, which represents almost half of the total area of Benin, and describes the current and future evolution of its land cover using the maps of the Land Use Land Cover Dynamics project (1975, 2000 and 2013). A temporal analysis of the surface states was performed with QGIS and the potential land cover in 2025, 2050 and 2085 was estimated using the Markov chain algorithm in the IDRISI software. The results show that the Oueme basin is predominantly savanna (77.70% in 1975, 66.29% in 2000 and 57.10% in 2013). Forest areas, which represented the second class in 1975 with a total proportion of 13.34%, have gradually decreased to 8.66% and 6.89% respectively in 2000 and 2013. Conversely, cultivated areas more than tripled in 2000 and quadrupled in 2013. Residential areas are increasing very strongly in the southern part of the basin with an amplification in the recent period (6% between 2000-2013 against 2% between 1975-2000). The recent period is more exposed to changes in surface condition and these changes are likely to be amplified in the future (probable total disappearance of forested areas in 2085). We recommend clarifying the impacts that each land use category generates/will generate on the hydrological cycle of this basin.
Keywords
land cover; Oueme basin; Oueme delta; forest areas; cultivated areas; residential areas
Subject
Environmental and Earth Sciences, Environmental Science
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
