Spatial and temporal variability of the plant cover of the Montecristi canton, province of Manabí. (Period 2010 – 2021)

Abstract

Human behavior in relation to land use often has negative effects on this resource, resulting in the loss of fertility and its degradation. This, in turn, leads to a decrease in vegetation cover. Four Landsat 7 images were used corresponding to the years 2010, 2015, 2020 and 2021. The results obtained reveal that the values of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) present similar trends in the coverage of the years 2015 to 2021. In this analysis, the presence of scarce and dispersed vegetation stands out. In 2015, this category experienced an increase of 0.98% compared to 2010, totaling approximately 28,866.9 hectares and covering a total area of 72,964.76 hectares. However, it is still only 4,437 hectares away from covering the entire territorial area studied. The most significant loss rate is observed in 2015, with -9.6% of dense vegetation. It is evident that the pressure of human activities on soil cover has generated a considerable increase in scarce and scattered vegetation. The spatial analysis allowed us to identify the areas with reduction or increase during the study years.