Deka, P., Chowdhury, G. and Saha, A.K. (2024) Impact of Landuse and Landcover Changes on Population Dynamics in Flood-prone Majuli Island, Assam, India. Human Ecology, 52 (3). pp. 531-548. ISSN 0300-7839
Abstract
This study focuses on the rapidly changing landscape of Majuli island, the world’s largest inhabited riverine island, constantly reshaped by the river Brahmaputra. Investigating the period from 1991 to 2022, we employ Landsat imagery to analyse changes in land use/land cover patterns and their consequential impacts on the island’s inhabitants, leading to significant relocation. We observed notable changes in the spatial coverage of the Brahmaputra, which increased while that of agricultural and barren land decreased. The land use/land cover change data are supplemented by population data to validate satellite data. This approach of analysing satellite imageries on population using both quantitative and qualitative data is novel and important since it not only highlights the rapidly changing land cover but also highlights the complex relationship between environmental dynamics and human responses. Our findings indicate that the population is increasingly (re)settling towards the northern and eastern stretches of the island. Since the population prediction map for the year 2051 indicates that this trend continues, our results can contribute an understanding of the human-environment relationship in the wake of climate change as an important component of planning processes.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Keywords: | Land use, Land cover, Climate change, Erosion, Flooding, Population dynamics, Migration, Brahmaputra River, Majuli Island, Assam, India |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Geography (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 13 Aug 2024 11:49 |
Last Modified: | 23 Sep 2024 14:42 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Nature |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s10745-024-00504-6 |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:216011 |