ABSTRACT
Land-cover and land-use change are perhaps the most immediate and visible aspects of global change. Land cover can change through the natural processes of succession, natural disturbances such as ‡re, or from changing climatic conditions. At the local scale, land-use change occurs because of a decision by individual farmers, ranchers, landowners, or managers. Change in land use at the regional scale occurs through processes summarized as agricultural intensi‡cation, extensi‡cation, abandonment, or through a change in policy. Most land-use changes are associated with a change in land cover. Changes in land cover can be monitored directly from space and airborne-sensing systems.
