Using MODIS Yearly Land Cover Data to Study Vegetation Changes in Mkomazi National Park 2001 to 2013

Mkomazi National Park in northeastern Tanzania was gazetted to a national park in 2008 by upgrading the Mkomazi-Umba Game Reserves. It is possible that national park policy, management, and additional park visitors may change the vegetation within the park. This study examines vegetation changes in Mkomazi National Park using MODIS yearly land cover data and scripts in Google Earth Engine for 2001 and 2013. Results indicate few significant changes in land cover between the two dates. However, grasslands increased by approximately 13% between the 2 years (69–82%), and there were many additional smaller changes. The relatively subtle changes in Mkomazi National Park’s vegetation cover between 2001 and 2013 are most likely reflective of the subtle changes in land management policy after its conversion from two separate game reserves.