LOESS EROSION IN RELATION TO LAND-USE CHANGES IN THE GANSPOEL CATCHMENT, CENTRAL BELGIUM

This paper examines the changes of land uses and landscape patterns in the Ganspoel Catchment, central Belgium, using aerial photography interpretation (photographs taken in 1947, 1969 and 1986). The comparison of land cover areal changes and a transition matrix were used to assess land-use changes in time and space. The size, fractal dimension and elongation index of patches were quantified for landscape pattern analysis. Grassland increased and farmland decreased in the study area from the 1940s to the 1980s. Forest increased from 1947 to 1969 and decreased from 1969 to 1986. About 49 per cent of the study area experienced changes of land use between 1947 and 1969, and about 36 per cent between 1969 and 1986. The landscape of the study area is more fragmented than it was in the 1940s. Patches have generally increased in number and decreased in size, although the landscape was most fragmented in 1969; fractal dimension of patches are lower, indicating less complex shapes. From 1969 to 1986, 59 per cent of the area of change was on 0-3 degree slopes, and from 1969 to 1986 6.7 per cent was on > 8 degree slopes. Changing land uses and landscape patterns may have important ecological implications.