Abstract
Landscape ecology is sensitive to economic and social alterations caused by land use changes. Aim of this research is to quantify the land use changes in Isfahan city, central Iran during 2002–2020 using landscape metrics while it also tries to simulate land use changes for the prespective of 2029. Hence, land use maps were extracted using the maximum likelihood algorithm for 2002 and 2011 of Landsat 5 and 2020 of Landsat 8 satellite images. Analysis of land use change patterns was conducted with ENVI and ArcGIS software. Totally, 12 metrics were picked up for analysis through applying Fragstats software at two levels of class and landscape. Then, simulation of land use was implemented in TerrSet software environment. The results confirmed that the built-up area had the most extention during the study period and increased from18859.20 to 21961.50 hectares whereas agricultural lands showed a decrease from 16700.30 to 14364.30 hectares. Hence, economic growth and urban development were recognized as the most important factors of land use change in this study. Land transformation is one of variables of agricultural lands destruction globally similar to the findings of this study. The land use simulation for 2029 also revealed a significant increase for the built-up area as much as 1761.80 hectares compared to 2020. Conclusively, the strongest recommendation for the Isfahan city in an attempt to look for sustainable development destiny is to prevent further extention of built-up area and simultaneously to stop the destruction and even restoration of agriculture lands.
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All authors contributed to the methodology, study design, draft review and writing of this paper. Moreover, data collection and analysis were carried out by Mahin Saedpanah while Bubak Souri conducted supervision, consultation and resources preparation.
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Saedpanah, M., Souri, B. Routing land use changes using the landscape ecology approach in Isfahan city, central Iran. Earth Sci Inform 18, 47 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12145-024-01508-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12145-024-01508-y