Özet:

Land use change plays vital roles in regional, economic and social development. The objective of this study is to explore and explain quantitatively the spatiotemporal changes of land cover and landscape pattern in the North Coastal Region of the Gulf Edremit, in Egean Sea with GIS Based on the principle of landscape ecology. In this study, three different Landsat TM and ETM+ images (1987, 2000 and 2010) were used. The spatial pattern and spatial heterogeneity are analyzed by employing and computing landscape metric variables. Both standard and moving window analyses were carried out on the datasets. From landscape structure, spatial distribution and relationship aspects discussed about the landscape changes. We measured an increase in forests and especially in mountains, an increase in artificial areas, especially in coastal zones, but a decrease in orchlands in coastal zones during 1987– 2010. Extensively cultivated areas showed a marked decrease. Urbanization processes developed to transfer orchland dominanted with olive trees (Olea europaea subsp. Europaea) into buildup land is the most important force leading to the spatiotemporal change of landscape pattern in the area, in the last two decades. Results indicate that landscape composition and configuration were important in explaining land cover change. We suggest that an increasing conservation effort should be made to protect not only for the forest areas but also the traditional Olive cultuvitation including agricultural practices.

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