Efectos del crecimiento urbano del Área Metropolitana de Concepción sobre los humedales de Rocuant-Andalién, Los Batros y Lenga

Abstract

The Metropolitan Area of the city of Concepción (Chile) has grown systematically substituting rural, natural and semi natural covers -among them wetlands- by urban land uses. Through the analysis and digitally processing satellite images, some environmental selected characteristics were evaluated. The relevance of these characteristics was weighted following a Multicriteria Evaluation, classifying four different kinds of landscape quality. The first consequence of the urbanization process has been a 40% reduction in the size of the wetlands and the fragmentation of their higher quality landscapes, located in and around them. Two steps could be distinguished in the disappearance of the wetlands: firstly, a substitution of their prime landscapes by vegetation covers, and secondly, the properly installation of urban uses