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Quantification and Monitoring of Forest Cover Changes in Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve, Western Ghats, India (1920-2012)


Affiliations
1 Forestry and Ecology Group, National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO, Balanagar, Hyderabad 500 037, India
2 G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora 263 643, India
 

Protected areas need to be monitored regularly to realize the effectiveness of conservation measures. In this study, Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve of Western Ghats has been monitored for deforestation in a historic time frame. The study attempted to identify the changes that occurred within the Biosphere Reserve from the early 1920s to the recent by mapping the land use/land cover and quantifying the forest cover changes that have occurred in the Biosphere Reserve individually for each conservation zone and protected area. Multi-temporal satellite datasets and topographical maps were used for mapping the forest cover of the study area. Visual interpretation technique involving on screen digitization was used for mapping and post-classification comparison method was used for carrying out change detection process. In addition, grid wise spatial tracking was carried out for the periods of 1920-1973 and 1973-2012 to prioritize change areas. Results showed that 747.1 km2 of forests have been lost during the period of 1920-2012. The present study demonstrates the importance of long-term land use/land cover information to examine conservation effectiveness by utilizing remote sensing and GIS techniques to carry out best management practices.

Keywords

Conservation, Deforestation, Land Use/Land Cover, Long-Term Study, Protected Area.
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  • Quantification and Monitoring of Forest Cover Changes in Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve, Western Ghats, India (1920-2012)

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Authors

Kalloli Dutta
Forestry and Ecology Group, National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO, Balanagar, Hyderabad 500 037, India
C. Sudhakar Reddy
Forestry and Ecology Group, National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO, Balanagar, Hyderabad 500 037, India
Subrat Sharma
G.B. Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora 263 643, India
C. S. Jha
Forestry and Ecology Group, National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO, Balanagar, Hyderabad 500 037, India

Abstract


Protected areas need to be monitored regularly to realize the effectiveness of conservation measures. In this study, Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve of Western Ghats has been monitored for deforestation in a historic time frame. The study attempted to identify the changes that occurred within the Biosphere Reserve from the early 1920s to the recent by mapping the land use/land cover and quantifying the forest cover changes that have occurred in the Biosphere Reserve individually for each conservation zone and protected area. Multi-temporal satellite datasets and topographical maps were used for mapping the forest cover of the study area. Visual interpretation technique involving on screen digitization was used for mapping and post-classification comparison method was used for carrying out change detection process. In addition, grid wise spatial tracking was carried out for the periods of 1920-1973 and 1973-2012 to prioritize change areas. Results showed that 747.1 km2 of forests have been lost during the period of 1920-2012. The present study demonstrates the importance of long-term land use/land cover information to examine conservation effectiveness by utilizing remote sensing and GIS techniques to carry out best management practices.

Keywords


Conservation, Deforestation, Land Use/Land Cover, Long-Term Study, Protected Area.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18520/cs%2Fv110%2Fi4%2F508-520