IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i10p4241-d1396903.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Environmental Sustainability Analysis of Land Use/Land Cover Change Using the WEI Index: Application to the Municipalities around the Doñana Area in Spain

Author

Listed:
  • Jesús-María Sánchez-González

    (Departamento de Geografía, Historia y Filosofía, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Ctra. Utrera 1, 41013 Sevilla, Spain)

  • Javier Rodrigo-Ilarri

    (Instituto de Ingeniería del Agua y del Medio Ambiente (IIAMA), Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain)

  • Claudia P. Romero

    (Instituto de Ingeniería del Agua y del Medio Ambiente (IIAMA), Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain)

  • María-Elena Rodrigo-Clavero

    (Instituto de Ingeniería del Agua y del Medio Ambiente (IIAMA), Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain)

Abstract

This paper presents a novel definition of the Weighted Environmental Index (WEI) specifically adapted to integrate with the official land use and land cover (LULC) cartographic historical database employed in Andalusia. This adapted WEI framework was applied to investigate land use changes within municipalities surrounding the Doñana area (South of Spain). The analysis focused on the period 1991–2016, with a detailed examination of land use modifications in thirteen individual municipalities. The results demonstrate the WEI’s adaptability in incorporating information from diverse databases. Furthermore, they highlight the importance of integrating the analysis of WEI evolution over time. This combined approach facilitates a deeper understanding of the socio-economic and environmental drivers influencing land use changes in municipalities around the Doñana area. The findings reveal a sustained decrease in WEI values over the analyzed period. This decline is attributed to the expansion of irrigated cropland at the expense of rain-fed agriculture. Additionally, a significant increase in greenhouse surface area was observed. This intensification of agriculture has contributed to aquifer overexploitation, with potential environmental consequences for the Doñana area.

Suggested Citation

  • Jesús-María Sánchez-González & Javier Rodrigo-Ilarri & Claudia P. Romero & María-Elena Rodrigo-Clavero, 2024. "Environmental Sustainability Analysis of Land Use/Land Cover Change Using the WEI Index: Application to the Municipalities around the Doñana Area in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-23, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:10:p:4241-:d:1396903
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/10/4241/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/10/4241/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:10:p:4241-:d:1396903. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.