Temporal changes in green spaces of Guwahati city, Assam, India with special reference to tree community structure of selected urban green patches

Abstract

Urban green spaces are of utmost necessity in the context of urban ecology and there is an ever-growing list of challenges being faced by these due to various anthropogenic activities. The current study aims to estimate the temporal changes in green spaces of Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and also investigate the tree community structure of three selected green patches. The change detection analysis of the identified green spaces has been done by comparing Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) map of the year 2022 with that of the year 1972 using satellite images for both the years. The NDVI maps have been reclassified into three threshold categories viz., No Vegetation (NV), Moderate Vegetation (MV) and High Vegetation (HV). The results show changes in the area of the selected green patches between 1972 and 2022. Whereas, the tree community structure in the three selected patches indicates low diversity of plant species. Subsequently, the categories of the green spaces viz., NV, MV and HV also show significant changes over the last 50 years. The result of the current study prioritizes patch wise management of urban green spaces in the Guwahati city with the help of both remotely sensed and ground data. Thus, the present study can significantly contribute in conservation and management of urban greeneries based on landscape management strategies.