ANALYSIS OF LANDSCAPE FRAGMENTATION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE VEGETATION OF TROPICAL DECIDUOUS FOREST ECOSYSTEM USING GEOSPATIAL TECHNIQUES
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Date
2019
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Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur
Abstract
The present investigation on “Analysis of Landscape Fragmentation and its Impact on the Vegetation of Tropical Deciduous Forest Ecosystems Using Geospatial Techniques” was carried out in Pench Landscape, Central India located between 20º 35' to 21º 44' N lat. and 78º 15' to 79º 40' E long. Landsat 4 TM and Landsat 8 OLI data corresponding to years 1998 and 2017 were used for characterization of land use dynamics using supervised Maximum Likelihood algorthim in ERDAS Imagine and ARC GIS platforms. Fragstat software was used for calculating landscape metrics. Results revealed that Pench landscape has experienced extensive deforestation and forest fragmentation over last 20 years. The change detection analysis showed that 45.79 % of the total land area has undergone negative change, 38.22% positive and 15.97% unchanged from 1998 to 2017. Very dense forest area was decreased and transferred into open forest and scrubland. Landscape analysis revealed that increase in number of patches from 6399 to 7818 from 1998 to 2017. The largest patch represented byan area of 69.47% in 1998 which has reduced to 68% in 2017. The core forest area has decreased, whereas patch density, edge density and perforations have increased from 1998 to 2017. Based on distribution of patches and edges, two zones viz., highly fragmented and least fragmented zones were identified. The quadratic sampling was done in this zones to characterize the impact of fragmentation on structure and diversity of vegetation. Phyto-sociological study showed that the native plant communities were replaced by lesser known alien invasive communities in tree, shrub and herbaceous layers in highly fragmented zone. Similarly, the diversity values reflects a decrease in Shannon- Wiener index, Margalef species richness in tree layer of least fragmented zone, and Simpson index, equitability index and beta diversity had increased in tree layer of least fragmented zone. The study demonstratedthat Geospatial techniques were proved as effective tools for understandingland use and vegetation dynamics and assessing landscape fragmentation. The study discussed the implications of forest fragmentation on structure and diversity of vegetation and brought out suitable interventions for sustainable management ofecologically fragile landscape of Pench.
Description
ANALYSIS OF LANDSCAPE FRAGMENTATION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE VEGETATION OF TROPICAL DECIDUOUS FOREST ECOSYSTEM USING GEOSPATIAL TECHNIQUES
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