landscape Change detection in Mouteh Wildlife Refuge, using Geographic Information Systems

Landscape ecology as a modern interdisciplinary science offers new concepts, theories, and methods for land evaluation and management. A main part of landscape ecology is describing patterns in the landscape and interpreting the ecological effects of these patterns on flora, fauna, flow of energy and materials. Remote sensing and GIS techniques have a high ability for landscape researchers to specify maps and analyze landscape patterns. We can use the trends in indices to our management decisions. In this study, landscape patterns were quantified by the number and size of land cover patches, the degree of naturalness, and the diversity indices were calculated by GIS approaches and compared for 35 years, in order to reinforce the management efforts of Mouteh wildlife refuge in Iran. The results showed increasing destructions with regards to unplanned human activities, while some natural landscape improvements occurred in the core protected area.