ABSTRACT
The recent concerns about land-use/land-cover change have been highlighted by almost every other nation in the world in the wake of major changes in climate, frequent natural disasters, and humaninduced changes, partly due to the differential demands for sustainability and functioning of life. Most of the large-scale changes in land cover in the last decade can be attributed to changes in vegetation and to urban expansion associated with continuing increase in food and ‡ber production, resource-use ef‡ciency, and the wealth and well-being of a society. Although changes in land cover provide a positive stimulus for a nation’s economic growth, these can signi‡cantly affect the functioning of the earth system.
