Geospatial analysis of Tamil Nadu Eastern Ghats forest types at landscape level with reference to fragmentation and spec
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J. Indian Soc. Remote Sens. (September 2010 : Special issue on Biodiversity and Landscape Ecology) 38 : 453-463
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Geospatial Analysis of Tamil Nadu Eastern Ghats Forest Types at Landscape level with reference to Fragmentation and Species Diversity K.R. Ambastha • C.S. Jha
Received: 11 November 2009 / Accepted: 01 April 2010 Keywords Landscape analysis • Forest • Species diversity • Tamil Nadu • Fragmentation • Disturbance Abstract The present study has generated spatial databases on the vegetation type with plant biodiversity, forest fragmentation and disturbance regimes in Tamilnadu parts of Eastern Ghats (EG), India. These databases have been analysed geospatially with landscape ecology approach. The study also includes ground inventory of plant species based on Remote Sensing (RS) data stratification. The vegetation type map was generated from the visual interpretation of two season IRS LISS III data. K.R. Ambastha and, C.S. Jha( ) Forestry & Ecology Division, National Remote Sensing Centre, Balanagar, Hyderabad – 500625, A.P. India
The spatial landscape analysis of the remotely sensed interpreted images was carried out using customized software, SPLAM. This is first such study in Tamilnadu Eastern Ghats that provides a comprehensive spatial database on vegetation types, disturbance regime and plant species diversity. The study has shown that the dry deciduous and thorn forests have shown better resistance to disturbance compared to the most disturbed evergreen and semievergreen forests. The study outputs are being utilized by forest department and biodiversity boards for conservation action planning and compliance to Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
Introduction
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In fast-changing tropical landscapes, effective strategies for conservation must incorporate information on ecosystems and species distribution with that on landscape change (Nagendra, 2001).
454 J. Indian Soc. Remote Sens. (September 2010 : Special issue on Biodiversity and Landscape Ecology 38 : 453-463
While biodiversity is usually considered at the species level, maintenance of biodiversity requires management at higher levels of organization, particularly at the landscape scale. Conservation approach targeted at individual species is difficult and runs the risk of losing on ecosystem functions whereas, a landscape level management provides insight into both landscape diversity and species diversity and suggests a theoretical and practical basis for conservation planning. In many tropical forests a long history of human use has shaped up the current species patterns (Flenley, 1979; Horn and Sanford, 1992). Landscape ecology approach provides a framework to the study of the processes at different scales and time. Satellite data at various resolutions allow assessing the changes in the forest area which is processed further to quantify and map forest disturbance (Turner and Gardner, 1991; Gustafson, 1998). Vegetation type and land-cover mapping of the entire north-east India, Western Hi
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