Energy & Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India; Centre for Sustainable Technologies (astra), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India; Centre for infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning (CiSTUP), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
Energy & Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.
J Environ Manage. 2018 Jan 15;206:1253-1262. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.08.001. Epub 2017 Aug 9.
Forest ecosystems sustain biota on the earth as they are habitat to diverse biotic species, arrests soil erosion, play a crucial role in water cycle, sequester carbon, and helps in mitigating the impacts of global warming. Large scale land use land cover (LULC) change leading to deforestation is one of the drivers of global climate changes and alteration of biogeochemical cycles with significant consequences in ecosystem services and biodiversity. This has necessitated the investigation of LULC by mapping, monitoring and modelling spatio-temporal patterns and evaluating these in the context of human-environment interactions. The current work investigates LULC changes with temperature dynamics of select protected areas in Western Ghats. The land use analyses reveal changes in the forest cover across Kudremukh National Park (KNP), Rajiv Gandhi Tiger Reserve (RTR), Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR). KNP region has lost evergreen forest cover during 1973-2016 from 33.46 to 27.22%, while BTR lost deciduous cover from 61.69 to 47.3% due to mining, horticulture plantations, human habitations, etc. The LST increase has impacted regeneration of species with the induced water stress, etc. CA-Markov modelling was used for forecasting the likely land uses in 2026 and validation was done through Kappa indices. Results highlight decline of evergreen cover in KNP (9%) and deciduous cover in RTR (2%) followed by BTR (3%) with further expansion of plantations, which will impact biodiversity, hydrology and ecology. Insights of LULC dynamics help natural resource managers in evolving appropriate strategies to ensure conservation of threatened biota in Western Ghats.
森林生态系统为地球上的生物提供了栖息地，因为它们是多种生物物种的栖息地，阻止了土壤侵蚀，在水循环中起着至关重要的作用，固碳，并有助于减轻全球变暖的影响。大规模的土地利用和土地覆盖（LULC）变化导致的森林砍伐是全球气候变化和生物地球化学循环改变的驱动因素之一，对生态系统服务和生物多样性产生了重大影响。这就需要通过制图、监测和建模来研究土地利用/土地覆盖变化，以时空模式评估这些变化，并在人类与环境相互作用的背景下进行评估。本研究探讨了与西高止山脉特定保护区的温度动态相关的土地利用/土地覆盖变化。土地利用分析揭示了库德鲁姆国家公园（KNP）、拉吉夫甘地老虎保护区（RTR）和班迪普尔老虎保护区（BTR）的森林覆盖变化。KNP 地区的常绿森林覆盖在 1973-2016 年间从 33.46%减少到 27.22%，而 BTR 地区由于采矿、园艺种植园、人类住区等原因，落叶林覆盖从 61.69%减少到 47.3%。LST 的增加对物种的再生产生了影响，导致了诱导的水分胁迫等。CA-Markov 模型被用于预测 2026 年的土地利用情况，并用 Kappa 指数进行了验证。结果突出了 KNP 的常绿覆盖减少（9%）、RTR 的落叶覆盖减少（2%）和 BTR 的落叶覆盖减少（3%），随后是种植园的进一步扩张，这将对生物多样性、水文学和生态学产生影响。土地利用/土地覆盖动态的见解有助于自然资源管理者制定适当的战略，以确保西高止山脉受威胁生物的保护。
