Forest fragmentation and its impact on species diversity: an analysis using remote sensing and GIS

Abstract

The process of forest fragmentation, a common phenomenon occurring in tropical forests, not only results into continuously forest getting fragmented but also brings about several physical and biological changes in the environment of forests. Consequently, there is a loss of biodiversity due to change in habitat conditions. These remnant fragments provide the last hope for biodiversity conservation. The present study deals with the impact of decreasing patch size of a fragmented forest on the diversity of the tropical dry deciduous forests in Vindhyan highlands, India. There is considerable change in the vegetation cover of this region owing to rapid industrialization and urbanization, which has also contributed to forest fragmentation. In the present study, remotely sensed data has been used to describe the changes brought about in vegetated areas over a period of 10 years as a result of fragmentation and its impact on biodiversity was assessed. Further, in order to assess the loss of species with respect to the reduction in patch size, species area curves for various change areas were analysed. It was observed that the rate of decrease in the number of species is faster in the case of negative change areas as compared to the positive change areas of the region. Various diversity indices also support this observation. Such an analysis would help in formulating appropriate conservation measures for the region.

Monitoring and Assessment of Land Use and Land Cover Changes (1977 - 2010) in Kamrup District of Assam, India Using Remote Sensing and Gis Techniques

“…The forests are exploited for various purpose as timber, slash and burn cultivation (shifting cultivation; jhum) and pasture development (De Moraes et al, 1998;Jha et al, 2006;Giriraj et al, 2008), because of these anthropogenic activity natural LULC has modified in to man-made LULC with poor species composition (Behera et al, 2005). Deforestation has impacted on biogeochemical cycles and causes soil erosion, surface runoff and water scarcity not only in the region, but also in the reasonably distant area (Hill, 1999).…”

Understanding Forest Health with Remote Sensing -Part I—A Review of Spectral Traits, Processes and Remote-Sensing Characteristics

“…Garnier et al, [50] were able to prove a direct relationship between plant traits (regeneration traits such as reproductive plant height and flowering phenology) as a response to land-use changes and disturbance regimes. Crucial changes to forest traits can be measured by spatial-temporal analyses of forest heterogeneity patterns [258], 3D distribution of forest canopy species patches [257], forest fragmentation [267][268][269][270][271], mapping of forest structures [259], or estimating forest area and forest biomass with TanDEM-X and RapidEye RS Data [143]. For more examples, see Table 1.…”

The role of remote sensing in the development of SMART indicators for ecosystem services assessment

“…For example, sphagnum bogs, wetlands, savannas, salt marshes and coral reefs create habitats that provide food sources, micro-environments and protection for a whole community of species that have specificity to these habitat types (see, for example, Jones et al, 1994). The identification and classification of these macro structures by remote sensing is possible (e.g., Yang and Prince 2000;Ozesmi and Bauer 2002;Silvestri et al 2003;Mumby et al 2004;Harris and Bryant 2009) and quantitative assessments of biodiversity populations have also been made using the species-area relationship and extent of habitat derived from remote sensing (Turner et al 2003;Jha et al 2005). Other examples of the link between specific species and landscape indicators have been reported by Dormann et al (2007) and Hendrickx et al (2007).…”