Assessing land use change and moving sand transport in the western Hodna basin (central Algerian steppe ecosystems)

The application of land use and land cover change (LULC) techniques for identifying the state of the environment is both a suitable tool and cost-effective. The study was conducted in the western part of the Hodna Basin (province of M'sila, Algeria). In this study, we combined remotely sensed data and ground truth observations to analyze the trends of LULC and their drivers during the 30 years from 1984 to 2014. In addition, we evaluated the sand transport using wind data. We assessed LULC using the supervised image classification method. The results indicated that rangelands experienced a considerable decrease with 50,000 hectares. This shrinkage in rangelands cover is associated with an expansion in bare soil cover with an increase of 57,000 hectares. Furthermore, woody vegetation and sand experienced a decrease in their cover. However, there is an increase in agriculture area. The analysis of land cover of sand indicated a decrease in the area of this class, and the assessment of wind data revealed that within the study area there is a transition zone of moving sands. The dynamic of LULC was mostly conducted by the anthropogenic and overgrazing factors. These drivers have a considerable role in the patterning of different types of land cover in the investigated landscape. We can conclude that the LULC technique used for the assessment of the environmental state identified a regressive trend of ecosystem values and a process of land degradation which implies the need for implementation of sustainable management practices.