Validation of Geospatial model for Biodiversity Characterization at Landscape Level—a study in Andaman &amp; Nicobar Islands, India

Roy, P. S.; Padalia, Hitendra; Chauhan, Nidhi; Porwal, M. C.; Gupta, Stutee; Biswas, Sayantan; Jagdale, Rohita H.

doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2005.01.001

Cited by 32 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…As such, it is important that decision makers apply the model at address the patterns of forests fragmentation using land-cover maps (Robinson et al 1995;Riitters et al 2000;Wickham et al 2000Wickham et al , 2007Southworth et al 2002Southworth et al , 2004, and at the local scale, address the species loss due to forest fragments (Chittibabu and Parthasarathy 2000;Benitez-Malvido and Martinez-Ramos 2003;Zhu et al 2004;Laurance et al 2006;Laurance and Luizão 2007). Very few studies have been conducted in tropical forests to integrate process and function through a combination of land-cover maps derived from satellite image and phytosociological datasets (Jha et al 2005;Roy et al 2005;Giriraj 2006). Our study identified the needs of such approaches, which could be a useful tool to develop a combined strategy for protection, restoration, and management of forests-a strategy that includes opportunities for sustainable conservation of biological diversity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Evaluating forest fragmentation and its tree community composition in the tropical rain forest of Southern Western Ghats (India) from 1973 to 2004

Amarnath

Murthy

Beierkuhnlein

2009

Environ Monit Assess

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A majority of the research on forest fragmentation is primarily focused on animal groups rather than on tree communities because of the complex structural and functional behavior of the latter. In this study, we show that forest fragmentation provokes surprisingly rapid and profound alterations in tropical tree community. We examine forest fragments in the tropical region using high-resolution satellite imagery taken between 1973 and 2004 in the Southern Western Ghats (India) in relation to landscape patterns and phytosociological datasets. We have distinguished fragmentation in six categories--interior, perforated, edge, transitional, patch, and undetermined--around each forested pixel. Furthermore, we have characterized each of the fragment class in the evergreen and semi-evergreen forest in terms of its species composition and richness, its species similarity and abundance, and its regeneration status. Different landscape metrics have been used to infer patterns of land-use changes. Contiguous patches of >1,000 ha covered 90% of evergreen forest in 1973 with less porosity and minimal plantation and anthropogenic pressures; whereas in 2004, the area had 67% forest coverage and a high level of porosity, possibly due to Ochlandra spread and increased plantations which resulted in the loss of such contiguous patches. Results highlight the importance of landscape metrics in monitoring land-cover change over time. Our main conclusion was to develop an approach, which combines information regarding land cover, degree of fragmentation, and phytosociological inputs, to conserve and prioritize tropical ecosystems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Evaluating forest fragmentation and its tree community composition in the tropical rain forest of Southern Western Ghats (India) from 1973 to 2004

Amarnath

Murthy

Beierkuhnlein

2009

Environ Monit Assess

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“…Nicobar Islands are a group of 28 islands (total area, 1,841 km 2 ) separated from the Andaman group (6,408 km 2 ) by a 10 • channel. ANI are one among the nation's richest biodiversity regions and contains a great assemblage of endemic plant species coupled with high species diversity and density (Roy et al 2005;Prasad et al 2007a;Nagabhatla and Roy 2007 Predominantly five major vegetation types, viz. evergreen, semi-evergreen, moist deciduous, mangrove and littoral, flourish in these islands.…”

Section: Study Area and Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing forest canopy closure in a geospatial medium to address management concerns for tropical islands—Southeast Asia

Prasad

Nagabhatla

Reddy³

et al. 2009

Environ Monit Assess

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The present study outlines an approach to classify forest density and to estimate canopy closure of the forest of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago. The vector layers generated for the study area using satellite data was validated with the field knowledge of the surveyed ground control points. The methodology adopted in this present analysis is three-tiered. First, the density stratification into five zones using visual interpretation for the complete archipelago. In the second step, we identified two island groups from the Andaman to investigate and compare the forest strata density. The third and final step involved more of a localised phytosociological module that focused on the North Andaman Islands. The results based on the analysis of the high-resolution satellite data show that more than 75% of the mangroves are under high- to very high-density canopy class. The framework developed would serve as a significant measure to forest health and evaluate management concerns whilst addressing issues such as gap identification, conservation prioritisation and disaster management--principally to the post-tsunami assessment and analysis.

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“…A landscape analysis was performed using vegetation type data obtained from satellite imagery. The layers so generated were combined with information on biotic pressure and anthropogenic impact zones using customized modeling software SPLAM (Roy et al, 2005) in order to identify critically disturbed areas. SPLAM (Spatial Landscape Analysis Model) is a program generated for the analysis of porosity, interspersion, fragmentation, juxtaposition, terrain complexity, disturbance index and biological richness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial analysis of anthropogenic disturbances in mangrove forests of Bhitarkanika Conservation Area, India

Ambastha

Hussain

Badola

et al. 2010

J Indian Soc Remote Sens

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The dependence of coastal communities on mangrove forests for direct consumptive use due to the scarcity of alternate resources makes them one of the highly disturbed landscapes. This paper examines the spatial characteristics and extent of anthropogenic disturbances affecting the mangrove forests of Bhitarkanika Conservation Area situated along the east coast of India by using remotely sensed data and GIS, supplemented with socioeconomic surveys. The study reveals that resource extractions from these forests were considerable despite the protected status. Around 14% of the total fuel wood consumed annually in each of the household came from the mangrove forests of the Park. The patterns of consumption were spatially heterogeneous, controlled by the availability of alternatives, ease of accessibility, presence of markets, human density, and forest composition. The disturbance surface showed 30% of the major forest classes to be under high to very high levels of disturbance especially at easy access points. Besides, the distribution of economically useful species also determined the degree of disturbance. Resource use surfaces clearly identified the biotic pressure zones with respect to specific mangrove use and could be combined with the disturbance regime map to prioritize areas for mangrove restoration. 6 8

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Validation of Geospatial model for Biodiversity Characterization at Landscape Level—a study in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India

Cited by 32 publications

References 28 publications

Evaluating forest fragmentation and its tree community composition in the tropical rain forest of Southern Western Ghats (India) from 1973 to 2004

Evaluating forest fragmentation and its tree community composition in the tropical rain forest of Southern Western Ghats (India) from 1973 to 2004

Assessing forest canopy closure in a geospatial medium to address management concerns for tropical islands—Southeast Asia

Spatial analysis of anthropogenic disturbances in mangrove forests of Bhitarkanika Conservation Area, India

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