The Extent of Infrastructure Causing Fragmentation in the Hydrocarbon Basin in the Arid and Semi-Arid Zones of Patagonia (Argentina)

BUZZI M.; RUETER B.; GHERMANDI L.; LASAPONARA R.

Sustainability

MDPI

Año: 2019

2071-1050

Abstract: Fragmentation is a disruption in the connectivity of landscapes. The aims of this paperare (i) to quantitatively assess the fragmentation rates in three landscape units located in ahydrocarbon basin, and (ii) to model their behavior between 2001 and 2013 using landscape metricsat different scales of resolution. The following metrics were selected using principal componentanalysis (PCA): The Clumpiness Index (CLUMPY), patch density (PD), perimeter-area fractaldimension (PAFRAC) and effective mesh size (MESH). Results from our investigations pointed outthat hydrocarbon activity increased the fragmentation at the sites. In particular, the CLUMPY indexincreased in all three landscape units, the average of PD decreased from 60 to 14 patches per 100hectares, whereas the mean of MESH was quite constant, however, due to oil production, itdecreased mainly in the coastal valleys. Finally, the PAFRAC also decreased at sites with oilproduction, being more evident in the plateau and coastal canyons. As a whole, outputs from ouranalyses clearly pointed out that the monitoring of landscape fragmentation trends in arid andsemi-arid zones can be successfully achieved using metrics derived from satellite spectralinformation.