Land use/cover changes using Landsat TM/ETM images in a tropical and biodiverse mountainous area of central-eastern Mexico

Land use/cover (LUC) and changes between 1990 and 2003 in a tropical mountainous watershed were analysed with Landsat TM images using a GIS-RS approach. The La Antigua River upper catchment is a 1325km(2), biodiverse hydrological region in central Veracruz, Mexico. A large set of training pixels was used to optimize the representation of environmental heterogeneity. Classification accuracy was assessed with spectral and field-checked error matrices. Overall classification accuracy for the 1990 (78.2%) and 2003 (79.7%) images was satisfactory. Ancillary data (DEM) was incorporated to improve discrimination between LUC categories. The Landsat TM sensor proved sensitive enough to separate the different spectral patterns related to the LUC classes in this complex landscape. The time interval and scale selected are suitable for strategic planning purposes. Depletion of tropical montane cloud forest, and its conversion to pasture and agriculture, was by far the most important LUC change over the period of study.