Analyzing the Changing Agricultural Landscape of Northern Louisiana

Abstract

Aims: This paper analyzes the changing agricultural landscape in Northern Louisiana using GIS. Study Design: Adopted a mix scale approach Place and Duration of Study: The inland parishes of Northern Louisiana from May 2011 to December of 2012 Methodology: The study uses a mixed-scale approach of GIS and descriptive statistics in analyzing the changing agricultural landscape of the Northern Louisiana region from temporal-spatial perspective at the parish level. Results: The results point to the incidence of change in the form of declines in agricultural land areas in selected parishes and spatial diffusion of the trends. Aside from a widespread use of pesticides and agrochemicals at the expense of the surrounding ecology, change is attributed to a whole set of socio-economic elements. The use of GIS and descriptive statistics point to a mix of gains and declines in some of the environmental indicators. Conclusions: The use of GIS and descriptive statistics pinpointed the extent of change and ecosystem declines. This trend raises the spectra of responsibilities for planners and those charged with landscape management. With the emergence of GIS and its ability to locate environmental hotspots, analyzing the spatial patterns of landscape change serves a useful purpose. This is crucial in the design of data infrastructure best suited for agricultural landscape analysis and a decision support mechanism for managers. To deal with the problems, the paper offered many suggestions ranging from landscape monitoring to the continual use of GIS.