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© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Climate change is expected to alter the environmental suitability of land use and land cover (LULC) classes globally. In this study, we investigated the potential impacts of climate change on the environmental suitability of the most representative LULC classes in the southern Brazilian semiarid region. We employed the Random Forest algorithm trained with climatic, soil, and topographic data to project future LULC suitability under the Representative Concentration Pathway RCP 2.6 (optimistic) and 8.5 (pessimistic) scenarios. The climate data included the mean annual air temperature and precipitation from the WorldClim2 platform for historical (1970–2000) and future (2061–2080) scenarios. Soil data were obtained from the SoilGrids 2.1 digital soil mapping platform, while topographic data were produced by NASA’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). Our model achieved an overall accuracy of 60%. Under the worst-case scenario (RCP 8.5), croplands may lose approximately 8% of their suitable area, while pastures are expected to expand by up to 30%. Areas suitable for savannas are expected to increase under both RCP scenarios, potentially expanding into lands historically occupied by forests, grasslands, and eucalyptus plantations. These projected changes may lead to biodiversity loss and socioeconomic disruptions in the study area.

Details

Title
Climate Change Effects on Land Use and Land Cover Suitability in the Southern Brazilian Semiarid Region
Author
Lucas Augusto Pereira da Silva 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Sano, Edson Eyji 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Taya Cristo Parreiras 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Édson Luis Bolfe 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Mário Marcos Espírito-Santo 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Filgueiras, Roberto 6   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Cristiano Marcelo Pereira de Souza 7 ; Claudionor Ribeiro da Silva 8   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Leite, Marcos Esdras 9   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Institute of Geography, Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU), Uberlândia 38408-100, Brazil; [email protected]; Department of Geosciences, State University of Montes Claros, Montes Claros 39401-089, Brazil; [email protected] 
 Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa Cerrados), Planaltina 73301-970, Brazil; [email protected] 
 Institute of Geosciences, State University of Campinas (Unicamp), Campinas 13083-855, Brazil; [email protected] (T.C.P.); [email protected] (É.L.B.) 
 Institute of Geosciences, State University of Campinas (Unicamp), Campinas 13083-855, Brazil; [email protected] (T.C.P.); [email protected] (É.L.B.); Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa Agricultura Digital), Campinas 13083-886, Brazil 
 Department of General Biology, State University of Montes Claros, Montes Claros 39401-089, Brazil; [email protected] 
 Department of Agricultural Engineering, Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), Viçosa 36570-900, Brazil; [email protected] 
 Geology Board, Federal University of Vale do São Francisco, Senhor do Bonfim 48970 000, Brazil; [email protected] 
 Institute of Geography, Federal University of Uberlândia (UFU), Uberlândia 38408-100, Brazil; [email protected] 
 Department of Geosciences, State University of Montes Claros, Montes Claros 39401-089, Brazil; [email protected] 
First page
2008
Publication year
2024
Publication date
2024
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
2073445X
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3149695100
Copyright
© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.