Ukrainian Journal of Forest and Wood Science

Forests as indicators of changes in the geographical landscape

Ilira Llupa
Download article
Abstract

Deforestation and fragmentation of forest ecosystems serve as key indicators of geographical landscape transformation, as they influence regional climate, water balance, and biodiversity, thereby altering ecological stability and natural processes. The study aimed to determine spatiotemporal changes in forest cover between 2016 and 2024, analyse the factors driving these processes, and assess their ecological consequences. To achieve this, satellite imagery, automated land cover classification methods, spatial analysis, and statistical change assessment techniques were employed. The findings revealed significant variations in forest cover dynamics depending on geographical location and natural-anthropogenic factors. The most substantial forest losses were recorded in the Amazon Basin and Central Africa, where forest cover decreased by 9.2% and 8.3%, respectively, due to agricultural expansion, uncontrolled logging, and mineral extraction. In the Balkan region and East Asia, deforestation rates were lower (10.5% and 2.7%); however, increased forest fragmentation and declining bioproductivity indicate gradual deterioration of these territories' ecological conditions. In South America, within Mediterranean climate zones, forest cover area decreased by 13%, primarily driven by increased frequency of wildfires and droughts. Analysis of the spatial heterogeneity index demonstrated that forest fragmentation levels rose across all studied regions, reflecting intensified anthropogenic pressure. The results highlighted spatial heterogeneity in forest cover changes and their impact on ecological processes. It was established that forest loss in the studied regions coincides with escalating ecosystem fragmentation, which may alter local climatic conditions, reduce biodiversity, and disrupt water balance. The practical significance of this study lies in the urgent need to develop effective conservation strategies to prevent further degradation of forest landscapes

Keywords

satellite imagery, ecosystem fragmentation, climatic conditions, bioproductivity, urbanisation, biodiversity

Suggested citation
Llupa, I. (2025). Forests as indicators of changes in the geographical landscape. Ukrainian Journal of Forest and Wood Science, 16(2), 82-98. https://doi.org/10.31548/forest/2.2025.82
References
  1. Abdullah, H.M., Islam, I., Miah, M.G., & Ahmed, Z. (2019). Quantifying the spatiotemporal patterns of forest degradation in a fragmented, rapidly urbanizing landscape: A case study of Gazipur, Bangladesh. Remote Sensing Applications: Society and Environment, 13, 457-465. doi: 10.1016/j.rsase.2019.01.002.
  2. Adamenko, Ya., Kachala, T., & Chernysh, R. (2023). Dynamics of forest stands changes on the territory of Skole Beskydy National Nature Park. Ecological Safety and Balanced Use of Resources, 14(2), 61-73. doi: 10.69628/esbur/2.2023.61.
  3. Agnoletti, M., Piras, F., Venturi, M., & Santoro, A. (2022). Cultural values and forest dynamics: The Italian forests in the last 150 years. Forest Ecology and Management, 503, article number 119655. doi: 10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119655.
  4. Aimar, F. (2024). Reconstructing the unknown: An integrated and multisource description of Albanian landscape transformations since the 1850s. Landscape Research, 49(4), 506-526. doi: 10.1080/01426397.2024.2308685.
  5. Bax, V., & Francesconi, W. (2018). Environmental predictors of forest change: An analysis of natural predisposition to deforestation in the tropical Andes region, Peru. Applied Geography, 91, 99-110. doi: 10.1016/j.apgeog.2018.01.002.
  6. Boіaryn, M., Biedunkova, O., Netrobchuk, I., Radzii, V., & Voloshyn, V. (2023). Assessment of ecological sustainability of the landscape of the Prypiat River basin within the Volyn region. Scientific Horizons, 26(12), 99-111. doi: 10.48077/scihor12.2023.99.
  7. Convention on Biological Diversity. (1992, June). Retrieved from https://www.cbd.int/convention.
  8. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. (1979). Retrieved from https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/international-affairs/convention-international-trade-endangered-species-wild-fauna-and.
  9. Daskalova, G.N., Myers-Smith, I.H., Bjorkman, A.D., Blowes, S.A., Supp, S.R., Magurran, A.E., & Dornelas, M. (2020). Landscape-scale forest loss as a catalyst of population and biodiversity change. Science, 368(6497), 1341-1347. doi: 10.1126/science.aba1289.
  10. Doka, D., & Qiriazi, P. (2022). The geography of Albania: Problems and perspectives. Cham: Springer Nature. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-85551-2.
  11. Fa, J.E., Watson, J.E., Leiper, I., Potapov, P., Evans, T.D., Burgess, N.D., & Garnett, S.T. (2020). Importance of Indigenous Peoples’ lands for the conservation of Intact Forest Landscapes. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 18(3), 135-140. doi: 10.1002/fee.2148.
  12. Fedoniuk, T., Zhuravel, S., Kravchuk, M., Pazych, V., & Bezvershuck, I. (2024). Historical sketch and current state of weed diversity in continental zone of Ukraine. Agriculture and Natural Resources, 58(5), 631-642. doi: 10.34044/j.anres.2024.58.5.10.
  13. Ferrara, C., Carlucci, M., Grigoriadis, E., Corona, P., & Salvati, L. (2017). A comprehensive insight into the geography of forest cover in Italy: Exploring the importance of socioeconomic local contexts. Forest Policy and Economics, 75, 12-22. doi: 10.1016/j.forpol.2016.11.008.
  14. Food and Agriculture Organization. (n.d.). Forests: Global initiatives and data. Retrieved from https://www.fao.org/home/search/en/?q=forests.
  15. Fuerst-Bjeliš, B., & Glamuzina, N. (2021). The historical geography of Croatia: Territorial change and cultural landscapes. In B. Fuerst-Bjeliš & N. Glamuzina (Eds.), The historical geography of Croatia: Territorial change and cultural landscapes (pp. 1-19). Cham: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-68433-4_1.
  16. Global Forest Change. (n.d.). High-resolution global maps of 21st-century forest cover change. Retrieved from https://earthenginepartners.appspot.com/science-2013-global-forest.
  17. Gong, J., Zhang, J., Zhang, Y., Zhu, Y., Jin, T., & Xu, C. (2021). Do forest landscape pattern planning and optimization play a role in enhancing soil conservation services in mountain areas of Western China? Chinese Geographical Science, 31, 848-866. doi: 10.1007/s11769-021-1230-8.
  18. Horbachova, O., Mazurchuk, S., Lomaha, V., Buiskykh, N., Matviichuk, A., & Marchenko, N. (2025). Identifying patterns in the resistance of thermally modified ash wood to weathering. Eastern-European Journal of Enterprise Technologies, 1(12(133)), 6-15. doi: 10.15587/1729-4061.2025.322368.
  19. Huang, J., Lucash, M.S., Scheller, R.M., & Klippel, A. (2021). Walking through the forests of the future: Using data-driven virtual reality to visualize forests under climate change. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 35(6), 1155-1178. doi: 10.1080/13658816.2020.1830997.
  20. Hunsberger, C., et al. (2017). Climate change mitigation, land grabbing and conflict: Towards a landscape-based and collaborative action research agenda. Canadian Journal of Development Studies, 38(3), 305-324. doi: 10.1080/02255189.2016.1250617.
  21. Hyka, I. (2021). Assessing the spatio-temporal dynamics of landscape transformation in Western Balkan metropolitan areas. Tirana: Epoka University.
  22. Hyka, I., Hysa, A., Dervishi, S., Solomun, M.K., Kuriqi, A., Vishwakarma, D.K., & Sestras, P. (2022). Spatiotemporal dynamics of landscape transformation in Western Balkans’ metropolitan areas. Land, 11(11), article number 1892. doi: 10.3390/land11111892.
  23. International Union for Conservation of Nature. (n.d.). Forest landscape restoration. Retrieved from https://iucn.org/our-work/topic/forests/forest-landscape-restoration.
  24. Kerebel, A., Gélinas, N., Déry, S., Voigt, B., & Munson, A. (2019). Landscape aesthetic modelling using Bayesian networks: Conceptual framework and participatory indicator weighting. Landscape and Urban Planning, 185, 258-271. doi: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2019.02.001.
  25. Kerimkhulle, S., Aitkozha, Z., Saliyeva, A., Kerimkulov, Z., Adalbek, A., & Taberkhan, R. (2023). Agriculture, hunting, forestry, and fishing industry of Kazakhstan Economy: Input-output analysis. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, 596, 786-797. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-21435-6_68.
  26. Liang, G., & Liu, J. (2022). Integrated geographical environment factors explaining forest landscape changes in Luoning County in the middle reaches of the Yiluo River watershed, China. Ecological Indicators, 139, article number 108928. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.108928.
  27. Mansourian, S., Parrotta, J., Balaji, P., Bellwood‐Howard, I., Bhasme, S., Bixler, R.P., & Yang, A. (2020). Putting the pieces together: Integration for forest landscape restoration implementation. Land Degradation & Development, 31(4), 419-429. doi: 10.1002/ldr.3448.
  28. Mina, M., Messier, C., Duveneck, M., Fortin, M.J., & Aquilué, N. (2021). Network analysis can guide resilience‐based management in forest landscapes under global change. Ecological Applications, 31(1), article number e2221. doi: 10.1002/eap.2221.
  29. Miranda, A., Lara, A., Altamirano, A., Di Bella, C., González, M.E., & Camarero, J.J. (2020). Forest browning trends in response to drought in a highly threatened mediterranean landscape of South America. Ecological Indicators, 115, article number 106401. doi: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106401.
  30. Müller, D., & Munroe, D.K. (2008). Changing rural landscapes in Albania: Cropland abandonment and forest clearing in the postsocialist transition. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 98(4), 855-876. doi: 10.1080/00045600802262323.
  31. Palmero-Iniesta, M., Espelta, J.M., Gordillo, J., & Pino, J. (2020). Changes in forest landscape patterns resulting from recent afforestation in Europe (1990-2012): Defragmentation of pre-existing forest versus new patch proliferation. Annals of Forest Science, 77(2), article number 43. doi: 10.1007/s13595-020-00946-0.
  32. Porokhniava, O., Rumiankov, Yu., Kopylova, T., Vegera, L., & Ponomarenko, V. (2024). Edaphic aspect in the ecological structure of the dendroflora in the “Nova Sofiyivka” park. Biological Systems: Theory and Innovation, 15(3), 79-92. doi: 10.31548/biologiya/3.2024.79.
  33. Roux, J.L., et al. (2022). Exploring evolving spiritual values of forests in Europe and Asia: A transition hypothesis toward re-spiritualizing forests. Ecology & Society, 27(4), article number 20. doi: 10.5751/ES-13509-270420.
  34. Santos, F., Graw, V., & Bonilla, S. (2019). A geographically weighted random forest approach for evaluate forest change drivers in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon. PloS One, 14(12), article number e0226224. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226224.
  35. Sharma, R., et al. (2019). Impact of land cover change on ecosystem services in a tropical forested landscape. Resources, 8(1), article number 18. doi: 10.3390/resources8010018.
  36. Shi, X., Mao, D., Song, K., Xiang, H., Li, S., & Wang, Z. (2024). Effects of landscape changes on water quality: A global meta-analysis. Water Research, 260, article number 121946. doi: 10.1016/j.watres.2024.121946.
  37. Simon, G L., & Peterson, C. (2019). Disingenuous forests: A historical political ecology of fuelwood collection in South India. Journal of Historical Geography, 63, 34-47. doi: 10.1016/j.jhg.2018.09.003.
  38. Smith, C.C., Espírito‐Santo, F.D., Healey, J.R., Young, P.J., Lennox, G.D., Ferreira, J., & Barlow, J. (2020). Secondary forests offset less than 10% of deforestation‐mediated carbon emissions in the Brazilian Amazon. Global Change Biology, 26(12), 7006-7020. doi: 10.1111/gcb.15352.
  39. Svensson, J., Andersson, J., Sandström, P., Mikusiński, G., & Jonsson, B.G. (2019). Landscape trajectory of natural boreal forest loss as an impediment to green infrastructure. Conservation Biology, 33(1), 152-163. doi: 10.1111/cobi.13148.
  40. Syphard, A.D., Velazco, S.J., Rose, M.B., Franklin, J., & Regan, H.M. (2024). The importance of geography in forecasting future fire patterns under climate change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(32), article number e2310076121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2310076121.
  41. Takam Tiamgne, X., Kanungwe Kalaba, F., Raphael Nyirenda, V., & Phiri, D. (2022). Modelling areas for sustainable forest management in a mining and human dominated landscape: A geographical information system (GIS)-multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) approach. Annals of GIS, 28(3), 343-357. doi: 10.1080/19475683.2022.2026469.
  42. Temperton, V.M., Buchmann, N., Buisson, E., Durigan, G., Kazmierczak, Ł., Perring, M.P., de Sá Dechoum, M., Veldman, J.W., & Overbeck, G.E. (2019). Step back from the forest and step up to the Bonn Challenge: How a broad ecological perspective can promote successful landscape restoration. Restoration Ecology, 27(4), 705-719. doi: 10.1111/rec.12989.
  43. U.S. Geological Survey. (n.d.a). Landsat 8. Retrieved from https://www.usgs.gov/landsat-missions/landsat-8.
  44. U.S. Geological Survey. (n.d.b). Landsat 9. Retrieved from https://www.usgs.gov/landsat-missions/landsat-9.
  45. What you should know about Sentinel-2 climate satellites. (2024). Retrieved from https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/stories/2024-08-what-you-should-know-about-sentinel-2-climate-satellites.
  46. Wilson, S.J., Schelhas, J., Grau, R., Nanni, A.S., & Sloan, S. (2017). Forest ecosystem-service transitions. Ecology and Society, 22(4), article number 38.
  47. Wingate, V.R., Akinyemi, F.O., & Speranza, C.I. (2023). Archetypes of remnant West African forest patches, their main characteristics and geographical distribution. Applied Geography, 158, article number 103024. doi: 10.1016/j.apgeog.2023.103024.
  48. Yang, C., Liu, H., Li, Q., Cui, A., Xia, R., Shi, T., Zhang, J., Gao, W., Zhou, X., & Wu, G. (2021). Rapid urbanization induced extensive forest loss to urban land in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, China. Chinese Geographical Science, 31, 93-108. doi: 10.1007/s11769-021-1177-9.