Distribution and patterns of olive groves across an altitudinal gradient
Al Achkar, Y.
Olive groves represent one of the iconic landscapes of the Mediterranean. In recent decades, this has undergone rapid land use change. The objectives of this research are to: (1) describe and analyze the distributional patterns of olive groves across an altitudinal gradient forming the present land use patterns in Platanias, Western Crete, based on an IKONOS image from 2007 and by means of a cumulative relational database created by Geographic Information System (GIS) data including topology, geology and soil data; and (2) study the multi-temporal land use/land cover changes in this area over the six decades, using aerial photographs from 1945 and 1998 in addition to the IKONOS image 2007. It was found that through the last six decades, olive groves have significantly increased, following the same trend in the three reference years, to reach 100 percent at high altitudes. The European CAP subsidies are likely to be the main drivers of olive grove development in Platanias.
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