Abstract

The mid-latitude Patagonian ecosystems have great functional value: their high levels of endemism and biodiversity have the potential to mitigate global climate change impacts. Since the end of the nineteenth century, human occupation processes in western Patagonia have integrated, colonized, and exploited southern environments, anthropizing the Patagonian wilderness in a short period of time. The objective of this chapter is to analyze the processes underlying the transformation of land-cover in temperate rainforests in Patagonia, through the interpretation and quantification of environmental changes along with the identification of their main anthropic drivers. We use remote sensing and geographic information systems to perform a multi-temporal evaluation of the transformations of the Exploradores Valley, through the analysis of Landsat TM and OLI images from 1986, 2001, and 2018. The quantitative analysis was complemented by qualitative analysis of interviews and comparisons of historical photographs that allow the evaluation of forest change at different stages of the occupation of the valley. Although the rate of land cover change between 1986 and 2018 is high, the processes of intensification of land-use changes have a much longer trajectory. Our results suggest that the Exploradores Valley is a dynamic system where the impacts of human activities are imprinted in the spatial changes of vegetation cover.