404
land. On the other hand, land use refers to the activities of human beings and various
uses which are conducted over land. One of the most essential earth system properties is land cover which is defined as biotic and abiotic component assemblage on
the surface of the earth. While land cover refers to that which covers the earth surface, land use is defined as the way in which land cover is transformed. Land cover
is comprised of bare soil, forest, grassland snow, and water. Conversely, land use
includes wildlife management areas, recreation area, built-up land, and agricultural
land. Land use describes the activities of man on land, which are directly associated
to the land [3, 4]. Land cover mirrors the biophysical condition of the surface of the
earth and the immediate subsurface, hence embracing water, vegetation, and soil
material. Land cover and land use are self-motivated, and transformations may
include the intensity of nature of change, although it may as well involve spatial and
time aspects. In addition, land cover and land use involve the alteration either indirect or direct of natural habitations and their influence on the area ecology. Moreover,
population pressure which results in the intense use of land minus proper management practices is mainly the cause of land degradations [2, 5]. Because of overpopulation, people tend to shift toward sensitive areas on earth, and use land without
taking into consideration the slope as well as the erodibility, which eventually
results in severe soil erosion. Road construction effect as well as other similar landscape disturbances on landslides and erosion, and other mass movements on earth,
are well recognized [6, 7]. Evidently, the extent of the land underneath forest is getting reduced due to human activities. Similarly, the land being utilized for cultivation is decreasing as well. On the other hand, instantaneously, land underneath
built-up region is constantly increasing. In recent times the function of the property
promoters and the real estate individuals has been bringing a severe tragedy to agricultural land and forest area. Clearly, this is a harmful land management condition.
Therefore, understanding the existing state is essential for this kind of study on
land-use and land-cover change detection, to make a bright future. Simply the use
of land cover or land-use change investigation, as well as human activity assessments and biophysical capacities, would greatly increase the method to comprehend
the key causes and extent of land degradation as well as loss of variety [8, 9]. Land
use, however, involves dynamic and essential data for planning of operative land
measurement program, and thus requires more practicality to deal with degradation’s root cause. This report therefore offers an overall framework and guide for
this analysis. The report also discusses the exact information that can be acquired
from land-use investigation and provides a theoretical framework for recognizing
the key causes of land-use change. Thus, it offers a set of common problems as well
as research questions and finally discusses the analytical framework implications
for the choice of approaches and result interpretations. This is based on intuitions as
well as capabilities acquired from enduring research and development activities
carried out by team members of LUCID project across numerous sites within
East Africa, and from other land-use transformations and research on key causes
[10–12]. Through offering an overall analytical framework for research design of
land use and the gathering and analysis of data, this report matches other LUCID
project procedural papers.
20 Land
land. On the other hand, land use refers to the activities of human beings and various
uses which are conducted over land. One of the most essential earth system properties is land cover which is defined as biotic and abiotic component assemblage on
the surface of the earth. While land cover refers to that which covers the earth surface, land use is defined as the way in which land cover is transformed. Land cover
is comprised of bare soil, forest, grassland snow, and water. Conversely, land use
includes wildlife management areas, recreation area, built-up land, and agricultural
land. Land use describes the activities of man on land, which are directly associated
to the land [3, 4]. Land cover mirrors the biophysical condition of the surface of the
earth and the immediate subsurface, hence embracing water, vegetation, and soil
material. Land cover and land use are self-motivated, and transformations may
include the intensity of nature of change, although it may as well involve spatial and
time aspects. In addition, land cover and land use involve the alteration either indirect or direct of natural habitations and their influence on the area ecology. Moreover,
population pressure which results in the intense use of land minus proper management practices is mainly the cause of land degradations [2, 5]. Because of overpopulation, people tend to shift toward sensitive areas on earth, and use land without
taking into consideration the slope as well as the erodibility, which eventually
results in severe soil erosion. Road construction effect as well as other similar landscape disturbances on landslides and erosion, and other mass movements on earth,
are well recognized [6, 7]. Evidently, the extent of the land underneath forest is getting reduced due to human activities. Similarly, the land being utilized for cultivation is decreasing as well. On the other hand, instantaneously, land underneath
built-up region is constantly increasing. In recent times the function of the property
promoters and the real estate individuals has been bringing a severe tragedy to agricultural land and forest area. Clearly, this is a harmful land management condition.
Therefore, understanding the existing state is essential for this kind of study on
land-use and land-cover change detection, to make a bright future. Simply the use
of land cover or land-use change investigation, as well as human activity assessments and biophysical capacities, would greatly increase the method to comprehend
the key causes and extent of land degradation as well as loss of variety [8, 9]. Land
use, however, involves dynamic and essential data for planning of operative land
measurement program, and thus requires more practicality to deal with degradation’s root cause. This report therefore offers an overall framework and guide for
this analysis. The report also discusses the exact information that can be acquired
from land-use investigation and provides a theoretical framework for recognizing
the key causes of land-use change. Thus, it offers a set of common problems as well
as research questions and finally discusses the analytical framework implications
for the choice of approaches and result interpretations. This is based on intuitions as
well as capabilities acquired from enduring research and development activities
carried out by team members of LUCID project across numerous sites within
East Africa, and from other land-use transformations and research on key causes
[10–12]. Through offering an overall analytical framework for research design of
land use and the gathering and analysis of data, this report matches other LUCID
project procedural papers.
20 Land