Sader, S.A. 1995. Spatial Characteristics of Forest Clearing and Vegetation Regrowth as Detected by Landsat Thematic Mapper Imagery. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 61(9):1145-1151.

Spatial characteristics of forest clearing and vegetation regrowth in the Peten Region of northern Guatemala were analyzed. Forest change detection procedures were applied to compare size and shape of forest clearing, fallow clearing, and regrowth patches between two study sites. The results revealed there were only half as many new forest clearings in 1990 along the Guatemala border as in the vicinity of Carmelita; they were, however, twice as large (mean size = 3.98 ha) as the forest clearings at Carmelita (mean size = 2.04 ha). The mean size of regrowth patches along the border were less than half the size of new clearings; however, the clearing and regrowth patches at Carmelita were approximately equal in size and number. The ratio of forest clearing to regrowth area was one to one at Carmelita, but nearly 3 to 1 along the border. Over 90 percent of all new clearings and regrowth patches were within 3 km of known roads at both study sites. These results indicate that spatial characteristics of forest clearing can be monitored by multi-date Landsat imagery and suggest differences in socioeconomic factors operating at the two study sites. A method for separating fallow clearing from deforestation estimates is presented and discussed.

Return to Selected Publications