A multi-agent system for simulating land-use and land-cover change in the Atankwidi catchment of Upper East Ghana [Elektronische Ressource] / vorgelegt von Julia Schindler

A multi-agent system for simulating land-use and land-cover change in the Atankwidi catchment of Upper East Ghana Dissertation zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades (Dr. rer. nat) der Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Rheinischen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn vorgelegt von JULIA SCHINDLER aus BASEL Bonn 2009 1. Referent: Prof. Dr. P.L.G. Vlek 2. Referent: Prof. Dr. E. Ehlers Tag der Promotion: 24.09.2009 Erscheinungsjahr: 2009 Diese Dissertation ist auf dem Hochschulschriftenserver der ULB Bonn http://hss.ulb.uni-bonn.de/diss_online elektronisch publiziert Für meinen VaterHansgeorg Schindler(1943-2001)ABSTRACTLand-use and land-cover change (LUCC), which is a general term for the human modificationof the Earth’s terrestrial surface, increasingly gains attention in the scientific community, dueto its vast global extent and the role it plays in the Earth system functioning. About one thirdto one half of the global land surface has been modified by humans, and these changes arehighly interrelated with many environmental, economic and social processes and problems.However, studies on LUCC processes are often challenged by the complex nature and unex-pected behavior of both human drivers and natural constraints.