Author(s)

Maimouna Ali^1*, Salamatou Abdourahamane¹, Abdourhimou Amadou Issoufou¹, Idrissa Soumana², Mahamane Ali³

¹Département de Biodiversité et Productions Végétales, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université de Diffa, Diffa, Niger.
²Département de Productions Animales, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique du Niger, Niamey, Niger.
³Département de Biologie, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Abdou Moumouni de Niamey, Niamey, Niger.

In south-west Niger, ecosystems are losing several hectares of their surface area every year due to internally displaced persons and refugees. The commune of Gothèye is not immune to this situation. The aim of this research is to assess the impact of displaced persons and refugees on socio-spatio-temporal dynamics of ecosystems using Landsat images. To achieve this, Landsat TM, Landsat ETM+ and OLI 8 satellite images from September and March were used (2010 to 2024). Operations on Envi 5.3, field validation output and finally mapping on ArcGIS were the steps involved. Discrimination is significant, with kappa coefficients of 0.97, 0.96, 0.86 and 0.85. The results obtained indicate a degradation of natural ecosystems, reflected in a change in landscape structure, with a marked reduction in the quantity and quality of ecosystem goods. Analysis of the evolution of land use showed that 31% of the land remained in its initial state (unchanged), 69% underwent modifications, and 11% was converted to cropland. Over these fourteen years, the study area has undergone changes in land use patterns, which have resulted in a modification of landscape structure, with a marked decline in the quantity and quality of ecosystem services.

Dynamics, Ecosystem, Anthropization, Remote Sensing, Displaced Persons

Ali, M. , Abdourahamane, S. , Issoufou, A. , Soumana, I. and Ali, M. (2024) Socio-Spatial Dynamics of Land in Southwest Niger: The Case of the Commune of Gothèye. Open Journal of Ecology, 14, 673-682. doi: 10.4236/oje.2024.149039.