Corridor analysis in Rajaji-Corbett elephant reserve — A Remote sensing and GIS approach

Hanna, Vinod K.; Ravichandran, M. S.; Kushwaha, S. P. S.

doi:10.1007/bf02989913

Cited by 18 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Interestingly, whilst collecting ground truth data, we identified large areas of damage as a direct result of elephants trampling and uprooting trees, particularly within the Mwaluganje elephant sanctuary in the north of the SHNR (Figure 9). This supports previous reports of elephants creating large clearings in the forest since the fencing of the area [17] and provides evidence of the ability of using remote sensing methods to measure damage influenced by mega-herbivores, as shown in other studies [73,74].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Detecting Vegetation Change in Response to Confining Elephants in Forests Using MODIS Time-Series and BFAST

et al. 2018

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Afromontane forests are biodiversity hotspots and provide essential ecosystem services. However, they are under pressure as a result of an expanding human population and the impact of climate change. In many instances electric fencing has become a necessary management strategy to protect forest integrity and reduce human-wildlife conflict. The impact of confining hitherto migratory elephant populations within forests remains unknown, and monitoring largely inaccessible areas is challenging. We explore the application of remote sensing to monitor the impact of confinement, employing the Breaks For Additive Season and Trend (BFAST) time-series decomposition method over a 15-year period on Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) (MOD13Q1) datasets for two Kenyan forests. Results indicated that BFAST was able to identify disturbances from anthropogenic, fire and elephant damage. Sequential monitoring enabled the detection of gradual changes in the forest canopy, with degradation and regeneration being observed in both sites. Annual rates of forest loss in both areas were significantly lower than reported in other studies on Afromontane forests, suggesting that installing fences has reduced land-use conversion from human-related disturbances. Negative changes in EVI were predominantly gradual degradation rather than large-scale, abrupt clearings of the forest. Results presented here demonstrate that BFAST can be used to monitor biotic and abiotic drivers of change in Afromontane forests.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Detecting Vegetation Change in Response to Confining Elephants in Forests Using MODIS Time-Series and BFAST

et al. 2018

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“…The Rajaji Tiger Reserve is also situated in the Shivalik ranges in the districts of Dehradun, Haridwar and Pauri (Hanna et al, 2001). The Kosi river originates from the Budha Peenath village in the Kausani area of Almora district of Uttarakhand, and has a total length of about 240 km and a catchment area of 3,420 km 2 (Kumar & Bahadur, 2013).…”

Section:  Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

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2015

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“…In the Indian Himalayan landscape, Khanna et al (2001), Nandy et al (2007); worked on corridor analysis in Rajaji and adjoining parks. Singh and Sharma (2001) worked upon the threats faced by wild Asian Elephants in Rajaji National Park.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing impact of forest landscape dynamics on migratory corridors: a case study of two protected areas in Himalayan foothills

2011

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Contiguity of protected areas (PAs) is a critical factor to promote well being of the native flora, fauna and life support system to humans. Such contiguity cannot be guaranteed without providing a path or 'a corridor' through forested landscapes that includes natural land cover and undisturbed patches. Incidentally, the Himalayan foothills have greater pressure on these landscapes due to high human dependence for livelihood. This pressure is expected to increase in the coming years altering the potential corridors between PAs. The PA managers need flexible processing, modeling and decision tools to propose a range of acceptable corridors between the PAs and ensure their sustainable health. Such flexible tools can be utilized in future to modify for taking decision to conserve the patches connecting patches and adapt as per changing landscapes. This article describes utility of geospatial modeling tools to assess the status of corridors in light of changing landscapes between Rajaji and Jim Corbett National Park, the two most important PAs in the Himalayan foothills. The work has been carried out in four stages, first-using satellite data land use land cover (LULC) maps were prepared for year 1990, 2000 and 2005, second-Land Change Modeler (LCM) was used for LULC change analysis, third-Multi Layer Perceptron Neural Network (MLPNN) was used to predict the status of LULC for 2015 and 2020, and fourth-using temporal morphology of the areas behaving both as barrier and easiness, friction surface cost was calculated to identify least cost pathways (LCPs)/migratory corridors between the PAs. The LULC maps for 1990, 2000 and 2005 were evaluated using accuracy assessment (80%) and Khat statistics ([0.79). The change prediction model was validated by comparing actual LULC of 2005 with predicted LULC of 2005 and the agreement was 71%. The LCP has shifted with the predicted change in the classes. The corridor has shifted by 0.5-3 km towards the south and has come closer to the agriculture fields and river channels.

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Corridor analysis in Rajaji-Corbett elephant reserve — A Remote sensing and GIS approach

Cited by 18 publications

References 2 publications

Detecting Vegetation Change in Response to Confining Elephants in Forests Using MODIS Time-Series and BFAST

Detecting Vegetation Change in Response to Confining Elephants in Forests Using MODIS Time-Series and BFAST

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Assessing impact of forest landscape dynamics on migratory corridors: a case study of two protected areas in Himalayan foothills

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