ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Evaluation of Land Cover Changes in
Southwestern Lithuania from 1984 to 2018
Using Medium Spatial Resolution
Satellite Imagery
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1
Department of Biometry, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
2
Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas, Lithuania
3
Marine Research Institute, Klaipėda University, Lithuania
Submission date: 2019-10-14
Final revision date: 2020-03-03
Acceptance date: 2020-03-04
Online publication date: 2020-06-01
Publication date: 2020-08-05
Corresponding author
Dariusz Gozdowski
Department of Biometry, Warsaw University of Life Sciences - SGGW, Nowoursynowska 159, 02-776, Warsaw, Poland
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2020;29(6):4041-4051
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ABSTRACT
In this study, we assess the land cover changes in southwestern Lithuania from 1984 to 2018. These
changes were examined using data derived from Landsat 5, Landsat 8, and Sentinel-2 multispectral
images. The study area encompasses the Nemunas Delta, which is affected by river-induced floods
leading to seasonal variations in water coverage. The water-covered area was found to be quite stable
across the years during the dry seasons, i.e., in summer and early autumn. A significant increase in
forested areas was observed during the study period (from 15.1% to 19.0% of the total area). During the
examined period, the average size of agricultural parcels decreased several times (from approximately
35 ha to approximately 5 ha), which was caused by the transition from socialist to private ownershipbased
agricultural practices in the early 1990s. Almost all changes observed had rather positive
environmental impacts (for biodiversity and maintenance of wildlife). Positive impacts included the
establishment of several new protected territories between analysed periods. Negative impacts included
the construction of wind turbines (approximately 50 in the area of study), which were not present at the
beginning of the study period and may negatively affect the natural (agricultural and wetland) landscape
of the region.