Three centuries of land cover changes in the largest French Atlantic wetland provide new insights for wetland conservation |
| |
| Institution: | 1. CNRS, Laboratoire LETG-Nantes-Géolittomer, UMR 6554 LETG, Université de Nantes, 44312 Nantes Cedex 3, France;2. 11, Rue Marcel Lebois, Moricq, 85750 Angles, France;1. División de Mecánica, Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Tianguistenco, Carretera Tenango-Marquesa Km 22, Santiago Tilapa, C.P. 52650, Santiago Tianguistenco, Estado de México, Mexico;2. Facultad de Química, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Paseo Colón y Tollocan s/n., C.P. 50000 Toluca, Estado de México, Mexico;3. Centro Conjunto de Investigación en Química Sustentable UAEM-UNAM, Carretera Toluca, Atlacomulco Km 14.5, Unidad San Cayetano, C.P. 50200, Toluca, Estado de México, Mexico;1. Estonian University of Life Sciences, F.R. Kreutzwaldi Str. 1A, 51014 Tartu, Estonia;2. Estonian Environment Agency, Mustamäe Road 33, 10616 Tallinn, Estonia;3. Institute of Agricultural and Forest Environment, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Bukowska 19, 60-809 Poznan, Poland |
| |
| Abstract: | Grassland to cropland conversion has been a major land cover change in wetlands during recent decades. Many conservation strategies have therefore focused on the protection or restoration of grasslands considered the remnant fragments of nature in wetlands before agricultural development. Through the example of the largest French Atlantic wetland (the Marais Poitevin) and using high-resolution historical records documenting landscape changes since the beginning of the 18th century, we propose the first long-term analysis of a wetland conversion at a large spatial scale. We demonstrate that, although the last land cover changes corresponded to significant grassland to cropland conversions, the mid-20th century was characterized by an exceptional grassland cover (90% of the area). We also show that current surface areas covered by grasslands are similar to those of the 18th and 19th centuries, and that grassland to cropland conversion followed a massive decline in the most natural habitats of the wetland such as marshes, salt-marshes and other marine habitats. From a long-term perspective, grassland to cropland conversion is rather a recent change and grasslands can be viewed as the result of agricultural development in this wetland rather than pristine habitats. In contrast, marshes, salt-marshes and other marine habitats can be considered the remnant fragments of nature of conservation interest, although they are neglected in current conservation plans. We discuss the problem of the time-span and the reference state to be considered when analyzing land cover changes and assessing wetland conservation issues at large spatial scales. |
| |
| Keywords: | Land cover Map Wetland Grassland Conservation Marais Poitevin |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
