Projections towards 2050: severe impact of conversion to pitahaya crops (Hylocereus spp. and Selenicereus spp.) in the xeric forest

Abstract

Global shifts in land usage have many impacts on ecosystem services and biodiversity. This investigation assessed the transition from 2016 to 2021 from xeric forest to Dragon fruit (Hylocereus spp. and Selenicereus spp.) agriculture. To determine the rates of land use change and deforestation, an approach comprising multitemporal analysis, supervised classification of Landsat and Sentinel satellite images, and a transition matrix was used. Furthermore, land use changes up to 2050 were modelled and predicted using Dinamica EGO software. The study noted detrimental effects of dragon fruit cultivation and suggested quick recovery and preservation actions to lessen the startling reduction in forest cover.