Landsat-based land cover mapping in the lower Yuna River watershed in the Dominican Republic

Abstract To aid in the environmental planning and management of Los Haitises National Park, a neotropical park in the Dominican Republic, a land cover change analysis was performed on the lower Yuna River watershed, within which a portion of the park exists and which contains a diversity of agricultural practices. Separate image classifications were performed on a 1973 Landsat MSS image and a 1985 Landsat TM image with resulting overall classification accuracies of 77.3 per cent and 81.3 per cent, respectively. In both classifications, spectral similarities between the various growth stages of rice, mangrove, orchard, and permanent grassland made separation and delineation of these classes difficult. The implications of land cover trends within the watershed for ecologic and economic management issues which affect both the watershed and the park were discussed.