Identification of Potential Habitat Patches for Connectivity Using Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) and Integral Index
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Identification of Potential Habitat Patches for Connectivity Using Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) and Integral Index of Connectivity (IIC) at East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh, India Shanthala Devi B. S 1 & M. S. R Murthy 1,2 & Debnath Bijan 1,2 & C. S. Jha 1
Received: 25 October 2014 / Accepted: 17 September 2015 # Indian Society of Remote Sensing 2016
Abstract Connectivity of potential habitat patches has become essential for the biodiversity conservation and protection. In Multi Criteria Evaluation (MCE) of IDRISI software, Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) module facilitates to choose the potential habitat patches for connectivity analysis mainly based on the weights given through the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. Digital Elevation Model, Slope, Disturbance Index layer, Road and natural vegetation layers are the different parameters considered for the WLC analysis along with the Biologcial Richness Layer. AHP results showed 0.05 consistency ratio. WLC generated outputs are applied in the graph theory based Conefor Sensinode 2.6 software. Integral Index of Connectivity (IIC) with special emphasis on each habitat’s importance value (dIIC: Integral Index of Connectivity importance value for each habitat patch in comparison with all the habitat patches of the entire study area based on network analysis and graph theory approach) are analyzed to understand the habitat patch connectivity. Perspective component chosen through dIIC served huge amount of information regarding the potential patches for further intensive field analysis. Spatial analyst tools of ArcGIS helped to find the paths between the chosen source and destination. The two paths generated from WLC and dIIC layer passed through the identified potential habitat patches (A, B, C and D). Thus, these two methods played important role in
* Shanthala ShanthalaDevi DeviB. B.SS [email protected] 1
Department of Space, National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO, Forestry and Ecology Group, Hyderabad, India
2
International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), GPO Box 3226, Kathmandu, Nepal
biodiversity conservation and maintenance of these potential patches. Decision support analysis through WLC, coupled with graph theory based dIIC facilitated to identify the potential patches and the corresponding path efficiently. Keywords Forestry . IDRISI . Multi criteria evaluation (MCE) . Integral Index of Connectivity and potential habitat patches
Introduction Weighted Linear Combination Forests in the peninsular India were affected at a distressing pace over the decades due to internal and external disturbance factors. Forest Ecosystem Dynamics includes soil processes, forest growth and succession, and radiative transfer (Levine et al. 1993). It is principally discussed in many tropical and subtropical countries, although the data were scarce on the structure and functional dynamics of these forests (Parthasarathy and Sethi 1997; Reddy et al. 2007; Reddy et al. 2011). Eastern Ghats remain as a neglected ar
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