Reverse causality: What we think is what we get

Dynamics in the coupled human-environmental system are often analysed through studies of land use change trajectories and identification of drivers of change. This study presents one such approach. However, when change detection studies are based on various versions of thematic maps one should be aware that observed changes in land use could be due to changes in the mindsets of cartographers. In this study, we present a land use change detection based on cartographic maps, and validate the findings on historic orthophotography. Our results indicate that the link between Real World biophysical land cover and the corresponding map categories should be treated with caution and the changes detected by comparing thematic maps may be dubious.