Modelling of the changes in land cover in the forest of Sidi Bel'Abbes
between 1987 and 2018 and the impact of fires on soil evolution in
western Algeria
Abstract
The aim of our study is to know the rate of restoration, the
reconstitution of the forest landscape and the impact of fires on the
resilience of the soils of the Tenira forest. The frequent fires in the
latter are one of the main major disruptive factors for the various
components of the soil, regeneration and their dynamics. The uses of
remote sensing data reduce the cost and time required to assess damage
in the forest. It periodically and automatically provides information on
very large areas and on several spectral bands. Our approach is based on
the chronic study of this forest through the use of landsat sensor data,
after collecting real field data. A supervised classification was
applied to the selected images in order to identify the types of soils
and the vegetation. The analysis of the results obtained showed
remarkable of dominance agricultural soils of the type calcisols,
calcaric fluvisols and the regeneration of the forest cover in the study
area. There is also an increase areas cleared for agriculture which has
accelerated soil erosion in this region. Indeed, the intensification of
crops requires an increase in inputs which can lead to a decrease in the
biological activities of the soil, in particular earthworms. This type
of vegetation existing after this fire; indicates the low water storage
capacity and the high risk of erosion. The final results generally
showed that the rate of recovery of land use and type of soils in the
Tenira forest has changed considerably.