Land-use and Land-cover Change in the Caucasus Mountains after the Collapse of the Soviet Union

press release: 

He Yin, University of Madison

About the talk:

Drastic social and economic changes such as armed conflicts can strongly influence land use, thereby affecting wildlife habitats. The Caucasus Mountains, a global biodiversity hotspot, went through several armed conflicts shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The goal of the project discussed in this presentation was to understand the long-term land use and land cover changes in the Caucasus using satellite imagery time series. Using all the available Landsat imagery from 1985-2015, the researchers found substantial land use changes after wars, mostly as cropland abandonment. Chechnya and Ingushetia, where most of the conflicts occurred, had the highest rates of cropland abandonment. These abandoned croplands, however, were not recultivated after the wars. Very few forestry loss was found; instead, forests expanded on the marginal lands, largely due to cropland abandonment. These findings provide valuable insights into how much land use systems were shaped by social-economic factors.

About the speaker:

He Yin obtained his Ph.D. degree in Geography at Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany. Currently he is a Post-doctoral Research Associate in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology at UW-Madison. Here he works on a NASA funded project – Land Use Change in the Caucasus Mountains Due to Ethnic Differences, National Policies, and Armed Conflicts. Before joining UW-Madison in December 2015, Yin worked at the Center for Development Research at The University of Bonn (Germany) as a senior researcher. His project in Bonn focused on forest cover mapping in Central Asia using satellite remote sensing. Yin’s general research interests include utilizing remote sensing and geospatial techniques for environmental monitoring and assessment. His specific interests are satellite imagery time series and GIS spatial analysis with a strong focus on land use and land cover change.