Riparian ecosystems in Northwestern Mexico are subject to diverse biophysical and social-ecological pressures occurring at multiple levels. These pressures promote a constant re-configuration of the landscape and can potentially modify ecological processes and ecosystem services provision, as well as affect local livelihoods. Given the critical current condition of regional riparian ecosystems, it is crucial to describe how tradeoffs between livelihood resources (natural, economic, human, and social capital) are shaping the distribution of native vegetation and anthropogenic cover. Spatial analysis for the assessment of land use trends is a first step towards the description of these tradeoffs, which can then be compared to social variables to identify feedback relationships. Our study aims to explain how social-ecological dynamics interact in an arid riparian corridor by combining remote sensing techniques and information from 10 interviews with local people, including rural farmers with different kinds of land tenure. We developed supervised land use classifications using moderate (Landsat TM and OLI) and high (PlanetScope) resolution sensors to quantify land use change, land cover and fragmentation for years 1988, 2016 and 2018.
Results/Conclusions
Our change detection analysis (based on coarse resolution datasets for years 1988 and 2016) registers an increase of 30% in agriculture, 60% in introduced grassland and 40% in riparian vegetation. Our ‘current state’ analysis (based on high-resolution datasets for year 2018) detected that from the previously registered increase of riparian vegetation only 9% corresponds to obligate species, which presents a high fragmentation. Preliminary social analysis suggests the abandonment of historic agro-ecological practices due to the loss of obligate riparian species, the shift from edible to forage crops, the disappearance of agricultural subsidies and a perception of the progressive increase of drought in the region. Our results highlight the need for alternative management and restoration projects in these key ecosystems, which can be achieved through mixed methodologies and transdisciplinary collaboration.