EDAFOLOGÍA, Vol. 10 (3), pp. 123-130, 2003
SEGUIMIENTO Y EVALUACIÓN DE LOS CAMBIOS DE DENSI- DAD DE VEGETACIÓN EN ZONA ÁRIDA Y SUS IMPLICACIONES SOBRE LA DEGRADACIÓN DEL SUELO
A. AFANA, G. DEL BARRIO, J. PUIGDEFÁBREGAS
Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (EEZA). C/ General Segura, 1, 04001, Almería. Ashraf@eeza.csic.es.
The density and spatial structure of vegetation cover are relevant properties for the assessment of land degradation at different scales. The basic problem of whether landforms control the distribution of vegetation cover density is approached in this work through three elements: a Digital Elevation Model and a set of derived topographic variables, vegetation index (NDVI) and a regionalization process. The Tabernas basin (ca. 1100 km2) was selected as a representative study area under semi-arid climate. The results show that vegetation density decreases along slope catena, with higher values on divides and upper hillslopes and lower values on footslopes. This trend is independent of altitude. The general analytic result was confirmed by a field campaign.
Key words: Digital Elevation Model (DEM), topographic variables, vegetation index, regionalization.