Analysis of the forest covers dynamics in the Samur-Yalama National Park of Azerbaijan

Most forests in Azerbaijan are distributed in mountain ecosystems, and lowland forests cover very small area. The biodiversity of Caspian coastal lowlands has come face-to-face with the danger of depletion over the last 100 years. At the present, their main broad-leaved forest example remains in the Samur-Yalama zone. Due to a strong anthropogenic impact, forest-covered areas are decreasing. From this point of view, a comprehensive study of the forests of the Samur-Yalama National Park is of special importance. In the studying of the dynamics of the forest cover, the spectral vegetation indices are main technique. The aim of the research is to analyze the forest covers dynamics by using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index for the Samur-Yalama National Park of Azerbaijan. For this study, multi-spectral images were obtained from the Landsat 5 TM and 8 OLI program of the United States between 1984-2019 years. According to the analysis, the dynamics of forest cover development show a negative value and gradually replacement of the densely forested areas by sparse forest-shrub vegetation. Although the overall condition of forests has deteriorated in recent years and it has been considered to fit the category of moderately healthy forests. If this decrease will continue with current speed, then next decades’ forests will move towards the weak healthy forests. That is why it needed to increase management, protection and awareness activities.