Spatial-Temporal Analysis of Transformation Processes Occurring in Forest Ecosystems of the Guba Region Based on Gis Technologies

Preserving natural balance, protecting species diversity, and maintaining climate stability can be ensured by forest ecosystems. Human activities, climate changes, land use changes, and economic activities have considerably changed forest ecosystems in the recent years. The Guba region of Azerbaijan, with rich forest resources and varied natural environment, which need a detailed scientific assessment, has undergone substantial environmental changes. This study aims to apply Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to conduct a spatial-temporal analysis of the changes in the forest ecosystem of the Guba region. The paper operates with remote sensing data of multiple time periods, satellite pictures, topographic maps, and numerical environmental indices to determine the changes in forest cover and fragmentation, and land use over different periods. Spatial analysis tools based on GIS, including land-use type classification and change detection and overlay analysis were used to investigate the spatial extent and transforming direction of ecosystem changes. The findings depict a large spatial variation of the changes in the forest ecosystem where deforestation and degradation are increasingly occurring in agricultural development zones and infrastructural development zones, and uncontrolled resource exploitation zones. Another example is when partial regeneration of forests occurs in certain regions because of the implementation of conservation initiatives and reduced human activity. In general, the results prove that GIS can be used to monitor changes in forests and to give data to make wise environmental decisions. The time-space analysis is useful in regard to sustainable forest management, biodiversity and planning of climate change. This research helps to improve the regional ecosystem monitoring system. It provides recommendations to the policy makers and environmental management institutions on how to maintain the durability of the forest ecosystems of Guba region.