Now let's examine the other landcover change that is associated with
forest landuse. The replacement of native forests and woodlands by plantations
of exotic species is a substantial part of the operations of most state
forestry departments. The most extensive plantations are in NSW, Victoria
and Queensland.
The extent and pattern of landcover change associated with plantation forestry
is first illustrated in Gippsland, Victoria. This is a forestry area based
on native as well as exotic plantation forests.
Use your browser to open each image
in a new window to compare them.
Forest landcover change in the Gippsland (NSW and Victoria) area during
the 16 year period 1972 to 1988. It is obvious that the largest change that
has already occurred is the result of agricultural clearing. About 30% of
the scene has been cleared of all forest landcover and replaced by sown
pastures. During the 16 year period, the landcover changes are much smaller
in area and concentrated around the margins of the existing clearing. By
eyeballing the early and late images, the shapes and sizes of the clearing
of native forests and their replacement by plantations, can be detected.
These plantations are almost certainly of exotic conifer species. Using
the state border to navigate, the clearing of entire watersheds (in NSW)
and their replacement with plantations can be interpreted. The Difference
FCC image displays the balance between clearing and plantation establishment
in 16 years. The absolute area of change here is small. An informative exercise
is to estimate what proportion of the area has been cleared for agricultural
landuse. What is the area of change in 16 years relative to the area of
forest present in 1972?
