## 4 Results
### Characteristics of Change
#### 4.1.2 Observed Types of Structural Changes  
In general, identified breakpoints by the Segmented VPR method indicate significant ecosystem structural change--either decrease (i.e., irreversible degradation) or increase in productivity. Those identified with the Segmented RESTREND method indicate changes--either decrease (initiation of degradation) or increase (reversal from degradation)--in productivity that are not significant enough to alter the ecosystem structure. From all obtained 814 significant breakpoints, 62.7% and 37.3% were identified using Segmented VPR and Segmented RESTREND methods, respectively. From those identified by Segmented RESTREND method, 20.8%, 10.5%, 3.4%, and 2.6% were over shrubland, grassland, evergreen forest, and other land cover classes, respectively. From those identified by Segmented VPR method, 37.3%, 12.3%, 9.5%, and 3.6% were over shrubland, evergreen forest, grassland, and other land cover classes, respectively. The total number of pixels identified by the different methods and their direction of change were presented in Table 3. Those showed decreased (significant or insignificant) productivity were 786 or 17.6% (46,976 km\({}^{2}\)) out of 4454. About 4.9% (-14,016 km\({}^{2}\)) were identified using the Segmented VPR method; 4.3% (-12,160 km\({}^{2}\)) were identified using the Segmented RESTREND method; and the remaining 8.5% were identified using the RESTREND method (insignificant decrease or increase in productivity). From all pixels that showed increased productivity (12.8% or 570 pixels, 34,816 km\({}^{2}\)), 5.7% (16,320 km\({}^{2}\)) were identified using the Segmented VPR method (i.e., significant gradual increase), 4.6% (12,992 km\({}^{2}\)) were identified using the RESTREND method (i.e., insignificant increase), and the remaining 2.5% (7168 km\({}^{2}\)) were identified using the Segmented RESTREND method (i.e., reversal of degradation). More than half of NM's area (55.6%-158,592 km\({}^{2}\)) show insignificant change in productivity based on the total number of pixels that fell within the NSC category (\(p\geq 0.1\)). The pixels identified with the RESTREND method that accounted for 25.8% (-73,472 km\({}^{2}\)), and the remaining 29% were considered indeterminate. Regionally, non-reversible decrease in productivity (i.e., degradation) was mostly observed in the northeastern (1.8%-5184 km\({}^{2}\)), northwestern (1.2%-3456 km\({}^{2}\)), and south  
Figure 5: The percentages of breakpoints that were identified within shrubland, grassland, evergreen forest, and other land cover types between 1982 and 2015 in NM categorized by the Segmented RESTREND and Segmented VPR methods. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Method of Change Detection** & **Decreasing** & **Increasing** & **NSC** & **Total** \\ \hline RESTREND & 8.5 & 4.6 & 54.8 & 67.9 \\ Segmented RESTREND & 4.3 & 2.5 & 0.0 & 6.8 \\ Segmented VPR & 4.9 & 5.7 & 0.8 & 11.4 \\ Total & 17.6 & 12.8 & 55.6 & 86.1 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} NSC = Non-Significant Change.  
\end{table} 
Table 3: A summary of the pixels (in % relative to 4454 pixels) and methods used to identify the direction of change in productivity in New Mexico during the 1982–2015 period. eastern (0.99%-2816 km\({}^{2}\)) quadrants NM (Figure 6). Moreover, the initiation of degradation (i.e., decreasing trend based on the Segmented RESTREND method) was mostly detected in northeastern (1.8%-4992 km\({}^{2}\)), and southeastern (2.1%-5888 km\({}^{2}\)) quadrants, with a negligible initiation of degradation in the northwestern and southwestern NM (Figure 6). From all analyzed pixels (i.e., 4454 pixels), the ones that showed increasing trends in productivity based on the Segmented VPR method (i.e., 5.7% or \(\sim\)16,320 km\({}^{2}\)) were detected mostly in the southwestern (2.27%-6464 km\({}^{2}\)), southeastern (2%-5824 km\({}^{2}\)), and northwestern (1.3%-3712 km\({}^{2}\)) quadrants (Figure 6).