Skip to main content

Recent landscape change at the ecoregion scale in Southern Québec (Canada), 1993–2001

Environmental Monitoring and Assessment volume 164, pages 631–647 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

Landsat images covering the St. Lawrence Lowlands (30,000 km2) and Appalachians (33,000 km2) ecoregions of southern Québec, Canada, have been classified for the years 1993 and 2001 to (1) quantify land use/land cover (LULC) changes and changes to agricultural landscapes and (2) relate LULC changes to changes of farm-related descriptors of economic and farming activities. Over 25 LULC classes were identified on each classification which were merged into 5 LULC classes (anthropogenic, annual crop, perennial crop, forest, water/wetlands) used to delineate a gradient of five types of agricultural landscapes. Transition matrices reveal a shift in major agricultural classes in the St. Lawrence Lowlands where perennial crops have been converted into annual crops. Furthermore, suburban sprawl was observed adjacent to major cities whereas overall forest cover was reduced. Changes in agricultural land classes were few in the agroforested landscapes of the Appalachian ecoregion. Landscapes dominated by intensive agriculture expanded onto adjacent regions previously under extensive agriculture. Most farm-related variables extracted from agriculture censuses showed an increase, reflecting an intensification of agriculture in both ecoregions though no clear association with LULC changes were revealed. Increase in annual crops may be related to intensive corn production associated with pig farming. Differences in landscape changes between the two ecoregions may be related to proximal causal factors such as soil topography and suitability for high-quality crops. Our analysis will provide baseline information to implement a monitoring program of habitat dynamics in this vast region.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  • Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (2007a). Soil Landscapes of Canada (SLC). http://res.agr.ca/cansis/nsdb/slc/intro.html. Accessed 27 September 2007.

  • Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (2007b). Interpolated census of agriculture to soil landscapes of Canada v3.0 and water survey of Canada sub-sub drainage areas v5. Documentation and user guide. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, National Land and Water Information Service, Ottawa, Ontario. http://www.agr.gc.ca/nlwis-snite/. Accessed 6 December 2007.

  • Bélanger, L., & Grenier, M. (2002). Agriculture intensification and forest fragmentation in the St. Lawrence valley, Québec, Canada. Landscape Ecology, 17, 495–507. doi:10.1023/A:1021443929548.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bélanger, L., Grenier, M., & Deslandes, S. (1999). Report on habitat and land use in southern Québec. Environment Canada, Canadian Wildlife Service, Québec Region. http://www.qc.ec.gc.ca/faune/bilan/bilanhabitat.html. Accessed 21 September 2007.

  • Biondini, M., & Kandus, P. (2006). Transition matrix analysis of land-cover change in the accretion area of the Lower Delta of the Paraná River (Argentina) reveals two succession pathways. Wetlands, 26, 981–991. doi:10.1672/0277-5212(2006)26[981:TMAOLC]2.0.CO;2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brassard, J. P., & Singh, B. (2007). Effects of climate change and CO2 increase on potential agricultural production in Southern Québec, Canada. Climate Research, 34, 105–117. doi:10.3354/cr034105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, D. G., Johnson, K. M., Loveland, T. R., & Theobald, D. M. (2005). Rural land-use trends in the conterminous United States, 1950–2000. Ecological Applications, 15, 1851–1863. doi:10.1890/03-5220.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bürgi, M., Hersperger, A. M., & Schneeberger, N. (2004). Driving forces of landscape change—current and new directions. Landscape Ecology, 19, 857–868. doi:10.1007/s10980-004-0245-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Canters, K. J., den Herder, C. P., de Veer, A. A., Veelenturf, P. W. M., & de Waal, R. W. (1991). Landscape-ecological mapping of the Netherlands. Landscape Ecology, 5, 145–162. doi:10.1007/BF00158062.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castrale, J. S. (1985). Responses of wildlife to various tillage conditions. Transaction of the North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference, 50, 142–156.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, W. B., & Goward, S. N. (2004). Landsat’s role in ecological applications of remote sensing. Bioscience, 54, 535–545. doi:10.1641/0006–3568(2004)054[0535:LRIEAO]2.0.CO;2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Congalton, R. G., & Green, K. (1999). Assessing the accuracy of remotely sensed data: Principles and practices. Boca Raton: Lewis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deslandes, S., Grenier, M., Bélanger, L., Lacroix, G., & Zingraff, V. (2002). The wetland conservation atlas of the St. Lawrence valley produced from decision tree classifications of RADARSAT and Landsat images. In Geoscience and remote sensing symposium, 2002 (Vol. 5, pp. 2893–2895). IGARSS ‘02. 2002 IEEE International.

  • Domon, G., & Bouchard, A. (2007). The landscape history of Godmanchester (Québec, Canada): Two centuries of shifting relationships between anthropic and biophysical factors. Landscape Ecology, 22, 1201–1214. doi:10.1007/s10980-007-9100-z.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donald, P. F., Sanderson, F. J., Burfield, I. J., & van Bommel, F. P. J. (2006). Further evidence of continent-wide impacts of agricultural intensification on European farmland birds, 1990–2000. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment, 116, 189–196. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2006.02.007.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duguay, S. M., Arii, K., Hooper, M., & Lechowicz, M. J. (2001). Ice storm damage and early recovery in an old-growth forest. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 67, 97–108. doi:10.1023/A:1006464511158.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ecological Stratification Working Group (1995). A national ecological framework for Canada. Report and national map at 1:7 500 000 scale. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Research Branch, Centre for Land and Biological Resources Research and Environment Canada, State of the Environment Directorate, Ecozone Analysis Branch, Ottawa/Hull, Canada. http://www.agr.gc.ca/nlwis-snite/. Accessed 6 December 2007.

  • ESRI (1996). ArcView GIS. Redlands: ESRI.

    Google Scholar 

  • Etheridge, D. A., MacLean, D. A., Wagner, R. G., & Wilson, J. S. (2006). Effects of intensive forest management on stand and landscape characteristics in northern New Brunswick, Canada (1945–2027). Landscape Ecology, 21, 509–524. doi:10.1007/s10980-005-2378-9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fahrig, L. (2003). Effects of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity. Annual Review of Ecology Evolution and Systematics, 34, 487–515. doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.34.011802.132419.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Filloy, J., & Bellocq, M. I. (2007). Patterns of bird abundance along the agricultural gradient of the Pampean region. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment, 120, 291–298. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2006.09.013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Financière Agricole du Québec and Groupe AGÉCO (2007). Valeur des terres agricoles dans les régions du Québec, Édition 2007. http://www.fadq.qc.ca. Accessed 12 December 2007.

  • Fox, J., & Vogler, J. B. (2005). Land-use and land-cover change in montane mainland southeast Asia. Environmental Management, 36, 394–403. doi:10.1007/s00267-003-0288-7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallant, A. L., Loveland, T. R., Sohl, T. L., & Napton, D. E. (2004). Using an ecoregion framework to analyze land-cover and land-use dynamics. Environmental Management, 34(suppl 1), S89–S110. doi:10.1007/s00267-003-0145-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gauthier, D. A., & Wicken, E. B. (2003). Monitoring the conservation of grassland habitats, prairie ecozone, Canada. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 88, 343–364. doi:10.1023/A:1025585527169.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grenier, M., Demers, A.-M., Labrecque, S., Benoit, M., Fournier, R., & Drolet, B. (2007). An object-based method to map wetland using RADARSAT-1 and Landsat-ETM images: Test case on two sites in Québec, Canada. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, 33(suppl 1), S28–S45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffith, J. A., Stehman, S. V., & Loveland, T. R. (2003). Landscape trends in mid-atlantic and southeastern United States ecoregions. Environmental Management, 32, 572–588. doi:10.1007/s00267-003-0078-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Groom, G., Mücher, C. A., Ihse, M., & Wrbka, T. (2006). Remote sensing in landscape ecology: Experiences and perspectives in a European context. Landscape Ecology, 21, 391–408. doi:10.1007/s10980-004-4212-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Güler, M., Yomralıoğlu, T., & Reis, S. (2007). Using landsat data to determine land use/land cover changes in Samsun, Turkey. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 127, 155–167. doi:10.1007/s10661-006-9270-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hendrickx, F., Maelfait, J.-P., van Wingerden, W., Schweiger, O., Speelmans, M., Aviron, S., et al. (2007). How landscape structure, land-use intensity and habitat diversity affect components of total arthropod diversity in agricultural landscapes. Journal of Applied Ecology, 44, 340–351. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2006.01270.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hietel, E., Waldhardt, R., & Otte, A. (2007). Statistical modelling of land-cover changes based on key socio-economic indicators. Ecological Economics, 62, 496–507. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2006.07.011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iverson, L. R. (1988). Land-use changes in Illinois, USA: The influence of landscape attributes on current and historic land use. Landscape Ecology, 2, 45–61. doi:10.1007/BF00138907.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Javorek, S. K., Antonowitsch, R., Callaghan, C., Grant, M., & Weins, T. (2007). Changes to wildlife habitat on agricultural land in Canada, 1981–2001. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 87, 225–233.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, J. R. (2005). Introductory digital image processing: A remote sensing perspective (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jobin, B., DesGranges, J.-L., & Boutin, C. (1996). Population trends in selected species of farmland birds in relation to recent developments in agriculture in the St. Lawrence Valley. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment, 57, 103–116. doi:10.1016/0167-8809(96)01016-X.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jobin, B., Beaulieu, J., Grenier, M., Bélanger, L., Maisonneuve, C., Bordage, D., et al. (2003). Landscape changes and ecological studies in agricultural regions, Québec, Canada. Landscape Ecology, 18, 575–590. doi:10.1023/A:1026047625427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jobin, B., Latendresse, C., Maisonneuve, C., Sebbane, A., & Grenier, M. (2007). Changements de l’occupation du sol dans le sud du Québec pour la période 1993–2001. Série de rapports techniques no 483, Environnement Canada, Service canadien de la faune, région du Québec, Sainte-Foy, Québec.

  • Kerr, J. T., & Cihlar, J. (2003). Land use and cover with intensity of agriculture for Canada from satellite and census data. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 12, 161–172. doi:10.1046/j.1466-822X.2003.00017.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lambin, E. F., Rounsevell, M. D. A., & Geist, H. J. (2000). Are agricultural land-use models able to predict changes in land-use intensity? Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment, 82, 321–331. doi:10.1016/S0167-8809(00)00235-8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Legendre, P., & Legendre, L. (1998). Numerical ecology (2nd English ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Létourneau, G. (2007). Suivi de l’occupation du territoire du bassin Grands Lacs—Saint-Laurent, État d’avancement du projet: Avril 2007. Document de travail. Environnement Canada, Direction générale des sciences et de la technologie, Monitoring et surveillance de la qualité de l’eau au Québec.

  • Lunetta, R. L., & Elvidge, C. D. (1998). Remote sensing change detection: Environmental monitoring methods and applications. London: Taylor and Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maron, M., & Fitzsimons, J. A. (2007). Agricultural intensification and loss of matrix habitat over 23 years in the West Wimmera, south-eastern Australia. Biological Conservation, 135, 603–609. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2006.10.051.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, R. I., & Urban, D. L. (2006). Spatially varying rules of landscape change: Lessons from a case study. Landscape and Urban Planning, 74, 7–20. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2004.08.005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLaughlin, A., & Mineau, P. (1995). The impact of agricultural practices on biodiversity. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment, 55, 201–212. doi:10.1016/0167-8809(95)00609-V.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Millington, J. D. A., Perry, G. L. W., & Romero-Calcerrada, R. (2007). Regression techniques for examining land use/cover change: A case study of a mediterranean landscape. Ecosystems, 10, 562–578. doi:10.1007/s10021-007-9020-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moeller, M. S., Stefanov, W. L., & Netzband, M. (2004). Characterizing landcover changes in a rapidly growing metropolitan area using long term satellite imagery. In Proceedings of the ASPRS 2004 annual conference. Denver, USA.

  • Moss, M. R. (2000). Interdisciplinarity, landscape ecology and the transformation of agricultural landscapes. Landscape Ecology, 15, 303–311. doi:10.1023/A:1008144402408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, M. T. (2003). Avian population trends within the evolving agricultural landscape of eastern and central United States. The Auk, 120, 20–34. doi:10.1642/0004-8038(2003)120[0020:APTWTE]2.0.CO;2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nagendra, H., Munroe, D. K., & Southworth, J. (2004). From pattern to process: Landscape fragmentation and the analysis of land use/land cover change. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment, 101, 111–115. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2003.09.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Natural Resources Canada (2007). Ethanol expansion program (EEP). Natural Resources Canada. http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/transportation/fuels/ethanol/eep.cfm?attr=8. Accessed 1 October 2007.

  • Painchaud, J. (1999). La production porcine et la culture du maïs. Impacts potentiels sur la qualité de l’eau. Naturaliste Canadien, 123, 41–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pan, D., Domon, G., de Blois, S., & Bouchard, A. (1999). Temporal (1958–1993) and spatial patterns of land use changes in Haut-Saint-Laurent (Québec, Canada) and their relation to landscape physical attributes. Landscape Ecology, 14, 35–52. doi:10.1023/A:1008022028804.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paquette, S., & Domon, G. (2001). Trends in rural landscape development and sociodemographic recomposition in southern Québec (Canada). Landscape and Urban Planning, 55, 215–238. doi:10.1016/S0169-2046(01)00154-2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peppler-Lisbach, C. (2003). Predictive modelling of historical and recent land-use patterns. Phytocoenologia, 33, 565–590. doi:10.1127/0340-269X/2003/0033-0565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petit, S., & Firbank, L. (2006). Predicting the risk of losing parcels of semi-natural habitat to intensive agriculture. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment, 115, 277–280. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2005.11.029.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pontius, R. G., Jr, Shusas, E., & McEachern, M. (2004). Detecting important land changes while accounting for persistence. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment, 101, 251–268. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2003.09.008.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poschlod, P., Bakker, J. P., & Kahmen, S. (2005). Changing land use and its impact on biodiversity. Basic and Applied Ecology, 6, 93–98. doi:10.1016/j.baae.2004.12.001.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Radeloff, V. C., Hammer, R. B., & Stewart, S. I. (2005). Rural and urban sprawl in the U.S. Midwest from 1940 to 2000 and its relation to forest fragmentation. Conservation Biology, 19, 793–805. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00387.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reger, B., Otte, A., & Waldhardt, R. (2007). Identifying patterns of land-cover change and their physical attributes in a marginal European landscape. Landscape and Urban Planning, 81, 104–113. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2006.10.018.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reidsma, P., Tekelenburg, T., van der Berg, M., & Alkemade, R. (2006). Impacts of land-use change on biodiversity: An assessment of agricultural biodiversity in the European Union. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment, 114, 86–102. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2005.11.026.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rohlf, F. J. (1998). NTSYSpc: Numerical taxonomy and multivariate analysis system, version 2.0. User guide. Setauket: Exeter Software.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rounsevell, M. D. A., Annetts, J. E., Audsley, E., Mayr, T., & Reginster, I. (2003). Modelling the spatial distribution of agricultural land use at the regional scale. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment, 95, 465–479. doi:10.1016/S0167-8809(02)00217-7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ruiz, J., & Domon, G. (2009). Analysis of landscape pattern change trajectories within areas of intensive agricultural use: Case study in a watershed of southern Québec, Canada. Landscape Ecology, 24, 419–432. doi:10.1007/s10980-009-9321-4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santelmann, M. V., White, D., Freemark, K., Nassauer, J. I., Eilers, J. M., Vaché, K. B., et al. (2004). Assessing alternative futures for agriculture in Iowa, U.S.A. Landscape Ecology, 19, 357–374. doi:10.1023/B:LAND.0000030459.43445.19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SAS Institute Inc. (1995). JMP statistics and graphics guide, Ver. 3.1. Cary: SAS Institute Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • SAS Institute Inc. (2004). SAS/STAT® 9.1 User’s Guide. Cary: SAS Institute Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Société de la faune et des parcs du Québec (2002). Rapport sur les impacts de la production porcine sur la faune et ses habitats. Vice-présidence au développement et à l’aménagement de la faune, Québec, Québec.

  • Statistics Canada (1997). Historical overview of Canadian agriculture. Statistics Canada, Catalogue number 93–358-XPB, Ottawa, Canada.

  • Stoate, C., Boatman, N. D., Borralho, R. J., Rio Carvalho, C., de Snoo, G. R., & Eden, P. (2001). Ecological impacts of arable intensification in Europe. Journal of Environmental Management, 63, 337–365. doi:10.1006/jema.2001.0473.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Swift, M. J., Izac, A.-M. N., & van Noordwijk, M. (2004). Biodiversity and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes—are we asking the right questions? Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment, 104, 113–134. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2004.01.013.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tian, G., Yang, Z., & Zhang, Y. (2007). The spatio-temporal dynamic pattern of rural residential land in China in the 1990s using Landsat TM images and GIS. Environmental Management, 40, 803–813. doi:10.1007/s00267-006-0048-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, M. G. (1990). Spatial and temporal analysis of landscape patterns. Landscape Ecology, 4, 21–30. doi:10.1007/BF02573948.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, W., Spector, S., Gardiner, N., Fladeland, M., Sterling, E., & Steininger, M. (2003). Remote sensing for biodiversity science and conservation. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 18, 306–314. doi:10.1016/S0169-5347(03)00070-3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Bochove, E., Thériault, G., Dechmi, F., Leclerc, M.-L., & Goussard, N. (2007). Indicator of risk of water contamination by phosphorus: Temporal trends for the Province of Quebec from 1981 to 2001. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 87, 121–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • VIASAT GeoTechnologies Inc. (2004). Classification d’images Landsat ETM et TM de la vallée du Saint-Laurent. Pour Canards Illimités Canada, Québec. Rapport final.

  • Wolter, P. T., Johnston, C. A., & Niemi, G. J. (2006). Land use land cover change in the U.S. Great Lakes Basin 1992 to 2001. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 32, 607–628. doi:10.3394/0380-1330(2006)32[607:LULCCI]2.0.CO;2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Xie, Y., Mei, Y., Guangjin, T., & Xuerong, X. (2005). Socio-economic driving forces of arable land conversion: A case study of Wuxian City, China. Global Environmental Change, 15, 238–252. doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2005.03.002.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, 1141 route de l’Église, P.O. Box 10100, Sainte-Foy Québec, G1V 4H5, Canada

    Benoît Jobin, Claudie Latendresse & Marcelle Grenier

  2. Ministère des Ressources naturelles et de la Faune, Direction de la recherche sur la faune, 880, chemin Sainte-Foy, 2e étage, Québec Québec, G1S 4X4, Canada

    Charles Maisonneuve & Aïssa Sebbane

Authors
  1. Benoît Jobin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Claudie Latendresse
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marcelle Grenier
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Charles Maisonneuve
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Aïssa Sebbane
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Benoît Jobin.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Jobin, B., Latendresse, C., Grenier, M. et al. Recent landscape change at the ecoregion scale in Southern Québec (Canada), 1993–2001. Environ Monit Assess 164, 631–647 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-0918-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-009-0918-5

Keywords

  • Agricultural landscape
  • Appalachian
  • Ecoregion
  • LULC
  • Québec
  • St. Lawrence Lowlands