Quantifying nationwide land cover and historical changes in forests of Nepal (1930–2014): implications on forest fragmentation

Reddy, C. Sudhakar; Pasha, S. Vazeed; Satish, K. V.; Saranya, K. R. L.; Jha, C. S.; Murthy, Y. V. N. Krishna

doi:10.1007/s10531-017-1423-8

Cited by 54 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The historical forest cover change study from 1930 to 2014 has found that forest cover decreased at the high rate during 1930-1975 at the annual rate of 760 km 2 . After 1975, the annual forest degradation rate has been controlled by 212 km 2 , 57 km 2 , 38 km 2 , 4 km 2 in between 1975-1985, 1985-1995, 1995-2005 and 2005-2014, respectively [90]. The current study observed the forest cover increasing trend between 1990 and 2015 in the GRB.…”

Section: Lucc In the Mid-stream Reachessupporting

confidence: 48%

Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics and Assessing the Ecosystem Service Values in the Trans-Boundary Gandaki River Basin, Central Himalayas

et al. 2018

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Land use and land cover is a fundamental variable that affects many parts of social and physical environmental aspects. Land use and land cover changes (LUCC) has been known as one of the key drivers of affecting in ecosystem services. The trans-boundary Gandaki River Basin (GRB) is the part of Central Himalayas, a tributary of Ganges mega-river basin plays a crucial role on LUCC and ecosystem services. Due to the large topographic variances, the basin has existed various land cover types including cropland, forest cover, built-up area, river/lake, wetland, snow/glacier, grassland, barren land and bush/shrub. This study used Landsat 5-TM (1990), Landsat 8-OLI (2015) satellite image and existing national land cover database of Nepal of the year 1990 to analyze LUCC and impact on ecosystem service values between 1990 and 2015. Supervised classification with maximum likelihood algorithm was applied to obtain the various land cover types. To estimate the ecosystem services values, this study used coefficients values of ecosystem services delivered by each land cover class. The combined use of GIS and remote sensing analysis has revealed that grassland and snow cover decreased from 10.62% to 7.62% and 9.55% to 7.27%, respectively compared to other land cover types during the 25 years study period. Conversely, cropland, forest and built-up area have increased from 31.78% to 32.67%, 32.47–33.22% and 0.19–0.59%, respectively in the same period. The total ecosystem service values (ESV) was increased from 50.16 × 108 USD y−1 to 51.84 × 108 USD y−1 during the 25 years in the GRB. In terms of ESV of each of land cover types, the ESV of cropland, forest, water bodies, barren land were increased, whereas, the ESV of snow/glacier and grassland were decreased. The total ESV of grassland and snow/glacier cover were decreased from 3.12 × 108 USD y−1 to 1.93 × 108 USD y−1 and 0.26 × 108 USD y−1 to 0.19 × 108 USD y−1, respectively between 1990 and 2015. The findings of the study could be a scientific reference for the watershed management and policy formulation to the trans-boundary watershed.

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Section: Lucc In the Mid-stream Reachessupporting

confidence: 48%

Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics and Assessing the Ecosystem Service Values in the Trans-Boundary Gandaki River Basin, Central Himalayas

et al. 2018

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“…Nepal represents the land cover diversity in the Hindu Kush Himalayas region. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007) has acknowledged the Hindu Kush Himalayas region as a data deficit area [53].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change on Distribution of Major Non-Timber Forest Plants in Chitwan Annapurna Landscape, Nepal

2018

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For many decades, non-timber forest products (NTFPs) have been an important livelihood commodity in Nepal as a traditional source of food, fiber, and medicines. However, the importance of NTFPs have been recognized only recently. NTFPs form more than 5% of Nepal’s national gross domestic product and are facing threat due to anthropogenic drivers and changing climate. Understanding of the current distribution and future dynamics of NTFPs is essential for effective conservation planning and management. In the maiden attempt, we used the Maxent model to understand the current and predict the future distribution by 2050 of 10 major NTFPs in Chitwan Annapurna Landscape, Nepal. The prediction accuracy of the models calculated based on the area under curve was high (>90%) and the prediction by 2050 highlights potential increase in distribution range of seven NTFPs and potential decrease in that of three NTFPs in the study area. The results from our study could play an important role in planning and management of these NTFPs considering their high economic and ecological significance and sensitivity to predicted climate change.

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“…The loss of forest habitats and forest fragmentation have been extensively investigated in the last few decades [1]. Studies carried out at various scales show that forest fragmentation is critical for maintaining biodiversity levels [2][3][4] and that deforestation increases forest fragmentation by dissecting intact forest areas, isolating forest patches, and eliminating forest corridors [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. The vast evidence that forest-cover decrease is linked to increasing forest fragmentation may lead to a belief that forest expansion, on the contrary, decreases forest fragmentation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest-Cover Increase Does Not Trigger Forest-Fragmentation Decrease: Case Study from the Polish Carpathians

Kozak¹,

Ziółkowska

Vogt

et al. 2018

Sustainability

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Understanding the causes and consequences of forest-fragmentation changes is critical for preserving various ecosystem services and to maintain biodiversity levels. We used long-term (1860s-2010s) and large-scale data on historical forest cover in the Polish Carpathians to identify the trajectories of forest fragmentation. Past forest cover was reconstructed for the 1860s, 1930s, 1970s and 2010s using historical maps and the contemporary national database of topographic objects. We analyzed forest-cover changes in 127 randomly selected circular test areas. Forest fragmentation was quantified with GuidosToolbox software using measures based on a landscape hypsometric curve (LHC). Despite a general increase in forest cover, forest fragmentation showed divergent trajectories: a decrease between the 1860s and 1930s (in 57% of test areas), and an increase between the 1930s and 1970s and between the 1970s and 2010s (in 58% and 72% of test areas, respectively). Although deforestation typically involves the increasing fragmentation of forest habitats, we found that forest expansion may not necessarily lead to more homogenous forested landscape, due to complex land-ownership and land-use legacy patterns. This is both a challenge and an opportunity for policy makers to tune policies in such a way as to maintain the desired fragmentation of forest habitats.

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Quantifying nationwide land cover and historical changes in forests of Nepal (1930–2014): implications on forest fragmentation

Cited by 54 publications

References 19 publications

Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics and Assessing the Ecosystem Service Values in the Trans-Boundary Gandaki River Basin, Central Himalayas

Land Use and Land Cover Dynamics and Assessing the Ecosystem Service Values in the Trans-Boundary Gandaki River Basin, Central Himalayas

Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change on Distribution of Major Non-Timber Forest Plants in Chitwan Annapurna Landscape, Nepal

Forest-Cover Increase Does Not Trigger Forest-Fragmentation Decrease: Case Study from the Polish Carpathians

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