Geographia Technica, Vol 12, Issue no. 1/2017, pp. 46-56
TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL VARIATION OF FOREST COVERAGE IN APUSENI NATURAL PARK, 2000-2014 PERIOD
Paula FURTUNĂ
ABSTRACT: Specific knowledge of forest cover change over a protected area, such as Apuseni Natural Park, is important for resource management, ecosystem quality and biodiversity protection. Landsat satellite imagery archive allows the annual changes characterization of forest cover over a long period of time. In the study area significant changes were detected in forest dynamic during the 2000-2014 period, it has been found, that around 15% of forests were disturbed during the period analysed. Spatial and temporal distributions of forest cover during the time period shows specific locations of forest loss, they are mainly spotted in the coniferous forest, and in the central part of the park. The overall accuracy was obtained 88.01%, the lowest values obtained was for 2002 (55.73%) and the higher for the year 2014 (95.48%). The forest loss year-to-year revealed the higher loss rate for year 2007 (21.13%).
Keywords: Forest variation, Apuseni Natural Park, Mountains regions, Forest loss.
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