Estimating the Severity of Landscape Degradation in Future Management Scenarios based on Modeling the Dynamics of Hoor Al-Azim International Wetland in Iran-Iraq Border

Abstract

Abstract Temporal and spatial changes in land cover in wetland ecosystems indicate the severity of degradation. Understanding such processes in the past, present, and future might be necessary for managing any type of development plan. Therefore, this research has monitored and analyzed the Hoor Al-Azim International Wetland, aiming to determine the orientation of its changes in different future scenarios. Wetland status modeling was done using developed hybrid approaches and cellular automata along with evaluating the accuracy of the modeled maps. The dynamics of the land were simulated using a higher accuracy approach in three scenarios -Water Conservation, Water Decreasing, and Business-as-Usual- to get the level of degradation of the wetland. The results showed that the amount of water in the wetland has decreased in all three periods, and the salt lands and vegetation have undergone drastic changes. However, according to the results, these developments are expressed better by the developed hybrid approach than the CA-MC approach and are more reliable for future simulation. The assessment of degradation in hexagonal units showed the least degradation in the water conservation scenario compared with the other two scenarios in 2030.