DETERMINING NATURAL AND CULTURAL CHANGES AROUND WETLANDS BY MEANS OF REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES: A CASE STUDY IN EGIRDIR LAKE

摘要

In wetlands, the land use/cover is under pressure of natural and human impacts and studies focus on changes of these areas are important. Turkey's wetlands are under threat due to gain land for agricultural production. Not only restrict the wildlife habitat, causes pollution due to usage of herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers. Egirdir Lake area and its surrounding in particular has been an important settlement region in the northeast Mediterranean. After 1960's, the distinctive usage of the lake for agricultural irrigation increased the negative impact on it. The aim of this study is to examine the degree of the impact using Landsat satellite data dated 1987, 2002 and 2006, which are acquired and processed with remote sensing science and technology. Supervised classification was used in the research and land use/cover changes are presented. Class numbers and character names of the classes in the study area follow the CORTNE methodology. According to the research results, the lake area decreased from 45,212 ha to 44,974 ha between 1987 to 2002 and then increased to 45,226 in 2006. With respect to specific cover types, the spread of Marshy and Reed Bed cover type expands from 1,345 ha to 2,903 ha between 1987 and 2002 and decreased to 2,625 ha in 2006. The Forest areas in the region decreased from 48,391 ha to 37,966 ha over the approximately 20 year study period. Furthermore scattered spread of Open Areas with Little or No Vegetation increased from 10,677 to 14,927 ha between 1987 to 2006. Perennial production patterns determined as Permanent Crops increased from 5,892 ha to 6,090 ha. Another land use class is annual agricultural production named as Arable Lands according to CORINE methodology, which expands from 4259 ha to 8585 ha. between 1987 to 2006. According to research findings, Urban Fabric land use class around Egirdir Lake is determined to increase 1,066 ha to 1,422 ha. According to research results, some land use around Egirdir Lake has been detected as not appropriate, especially Forest land types are decreased significantly and convert to agricultural lands and urban structures. An increase in Marshy and Reed Bed cover is detected in approximately 20 years.