Change of woody vegetation and land cover using high resolution images on the Dogon Plateau and Seno Plains (Mali)

Contrary to the long-standing belief that the Sahel region has undergone irreversible desertification, high-resolution satellite imagery reveals significant vegetation recovery since the 1980s. This study, focusing on the Dogon Plateau and Seno Plains in Mali, used panchromatic Corona images from 1967 and multispectral RapidEye images from 2011 to analyze woody vegetation and land cover changes over a 3600 km² area. The research identified a notable increase in sparsely vegetated areas and primary fields with trees, while dense bushland decreased, particularly in the Seno Plains. Degraded areas accounted for only 9.9% of the Dogon Plateau in 2011. These findings challenge both the desertification and 'greening' paradigms, highlighting complex spatial variations in land cover transformation.

Spiekermann, R. I. (2013). Change of woody vegetation and land cover using high resolution images on the Dogon Plateau and Seno Plains (Mali). :None. https://doi.org/10.25365/THESIS.28182