Cartography of Vegetation and Conservation plans. B.R. Ramesh & G. Muthu Sankar French Institute of Pondicherry

Transcription

1 Cartography of Vegetation and Conservation plans B.R. Ramesh & G. Muthu Sankar French Institute of Pondicherry

2 Vegetation map of the Peninsular India Scale: 1 million 12 sheets published during In collaboration with ICAR Our illustrious predecessors: Gausen Legris Meher-Homji Blasco Troys Virat Fontanel Gupta Pascal...

3 Scale 1: Forest Map of South India (Pascal et al. 1982, 1984, 1992, Ramesh et al. 1997, 2002) 80,000 km2 forest area 150 vegetation classes

4 Vegetation classes Characterization and classification of vegetation: Based on dynamics and succession along the natural gradient and the disturbance regime Heterogeneity in vegetation: Variability in bioclimate, soil and topography Anthropogenic activities of different intensity

5 Climatic Climax a climax is the mature, stable and optimal state of a phytocoenosis, representing the final outcome of a progressive series of successive stages of vegetation. Under a given climate, all the successions converge towards a unique climax, which is the climatic climax (Clements,1936)

6 What is an ecosystem? Odum, 1953 Systems of biotic communities interacting with their physical environment

7 Ecosystem Structure Varies Geographically

8 Ecosystem / biodiversity regulators Natural Process Human intervention (threats) Climate, Soil, Topography Effects Processes / Function Logging, grazing, Land conversion, burning, NWFP, exotics Structure Responses Landscape level Distribution Reproduction Dispersal Migration Regeneration Trophic dynamics Biogeochemical process Vegetation type Fragmentation Area change Neighborhood. Habitat level Habitat diversity Interior to exterior Degradation. Species level Biodiversity / Ecosystem Components of ecosystem assessment Species diversity Population structure Species shift Extirpation / extinction Genetic level

9 Western Ghats Great escarpment running parallel to West Coast of India km Best non-equatorial forests: from Wet Evergreen to Dry Evergreen forests Moist to Dry Deciduous forests and Grasslands High rate of Endemism (45% of 4000 plant species; 29% of 1153 vertebrates) High human population density (341 Per km²) One of the Biodiversity Hotspots of the World

10 Palnis Anamalai LONGITUDE profile Nilgiris 2700 m Babudangiri 600 m N S Latitude ( N) LATITUDINAL profile (Latitude N) 1400 m 800 m W 0 E km

11 Temperature decreases with altitude High-elevation (> 1400 m) mountain forests (Sholas) and grasslands _ (Source: Pascal 1984) Palnis Anamalai Nilgiris Babudangiri C m 600 m N S Latitude ( N) Medium- ( m) and low- (< 600 m) elevation forests (tall forests) 8

12 1st JULY 15th JUNE 10th JUNE 5th JUNE 1st JUNE Western monsoon arm Eastern monsoon arm

13 15th SEPTEMBER 1st SEPTEMBER 1st OCTOBER 1st JULY 15th JUNE 10th JUNE 5th JUNE 1st JUNE 15th OCTOBER

14 Rainfall decreases from west to east (Source: Pascal 1982) 5000 mm/an ip ec Pr ita tio MONSOON WINDS n 2000 mm/an 500 mm/an W 0 E km

15 Rainfall decreases from west to east (Source: Pascal 1982, 1984) Rainfall (mm/an) > Moist deciduous forest 5000 mm/an < 600 Dry deciduous forest ip ec Pr ita n Wet evergreen forest tio MONSOON WINDS 2000 mm/an 500 mm/an W 0 E km Deciduous

16 Dry season increases from south to north (Source: Pascal 1982) Palnis Anamalai 2700 m Nilgiris MONSOON WITHDRAW Babudangiri 600 m N S Latitude ( N) MONSOON ONSET

17 Dry season increases from south to north (Source: Pascal 1982) Palnis Anamalai Nilgiris Number of dry months/yr 1-2 Babudangiri 7-8 mo Numbe r of dry m onths/ yr 1-2 mo N S Latitude ( N)

18 Potential areas of 22 forest types (Source: Pascal 1984, 1988) D Palnis Anamalai e c Nilgiris 2700 m u s u o i d Babudangiri 600 m N S Latitude ( N) s s t r e f o

19 Evergreen forest types (19) Rainfall (mm) Temp ( t:c ) DS (months) DKS DDS DKH DHP DDD PDH DP* DDP* > >23 >20 >20 >20 >20 > Wet eg Medium Elevation ( m) CMPG CMP MP PPH MSA Wet eg High Elevation (>1400m) BGL LSM SMG > < DMMK DMM DMO >23 > Forest types Wet eg Low Elevation (<800m) Dry evergreen

20 Stages of successions derived from climax forest Deciduous climax forest Evergreen climax forest moderate exploitation exploitation Scrub woodland Exploitation + grazing Thickets further degradation Discontinuous thickets Fire Savanna woodland + cutting of trees Tree savanna heavy biotic pressure Shrub savanna heavy anthrpogenic pressure + soil degradation protection Dense evergreen forest with a structure close to the climax forest but with different floristic composition Dense evergreen or semi-evergreen forest, potentially linked to climax type heavy exploitation exploitation Evergreen or semi-evergreen forest with disturbed structure and without characteristic species of the climax forest over exploitation protection Secondary semi-evergreen forest degradation Secondary deciduous forest protection

21 Groundtruthing Satellite data Bioclimate

22 Vegetation criteria Phenology (relative percentage of evergreen and deciduous species) Evergreen forests: pure patches of evergreen species; Deciduous forests: majority of species shed their leaves during the dry season; Semi-evergreen forests: mixture of deciduous and evergreen species in various proportions.

23 Floristic types: Floristic types are determined by species abundance Species with bioclimatic indicator value both Dipterocarpus indicus Cullenia exarillata (<800 m elevation) (700 to 1400 m elevation)

24 Physiognomy: Dense forests: >70% tree cover Disturbed forest: 50 70% tree cover Woodland: 50 70% tree cover and paucity in under storey trees Savanna woodland: woodland with carpet of tall grasses Tree savanna: scattered trees with tall grasses Scrub woodland: thorny bushes with scattered trees Thickets: continuous or discontinuous bushes without trees.

25 Scale 1: Forest map of south India Sources: Pascal et al. 1982a,b, 1984, 1992, Ramesh et al. 1997, 2002) Vegetation classes: classified along bioclimatic gradients and disturbance regimes 150 vegetation classes Vegetation classes defined by: Phenolony (evergreen / deciduous) Physiognomy (dense, disturbed, woodland thickets, savannas) Floristic composition (typology based on species)

26 Broad vegetation groups based on dynamic relationship Climax formations in equilibrium with the prevailing condition of environment when biotic interference is minimum; Formations potentially linked to the climax after moderate exploitation, however, may return to climax if they are protected; Highly degraded formations with different physiognomy due to repeated logging and other biotic pressures like grazing and fire. These formations may no longer return to a climax under natural condition.

27 Temperature decreases with altitude High-elevation (> 1400 m) mountain forests (Sholas) and grasslands _ (Source: Pascal 1984) Nilgiris Babudangiri C + Tea plantations Palnis Anamalai 1400 m T C 600 m T HTE T C N S 16 Coffee plantations Latitude ( N) Medium- ( m) and low- (< 600 m) elevation forests (tall forests) Hevea, Teak and Eucalyptus plantations 8

28 GEOGRAPHICAL DATABASE Habitation Administrative boundaries Road and rail network Vegetation Plantations Floristic types Physiognomic types Hydrology Coastal limits

29 Gap Analysis, Southern Western Ghats, India Current status of Forests in Kerala State: 24 % (9473 km²) of total geographical area Nearly 1000 km² loss between 1961 and 1988 (Prasad, 1998) Primary forest types (4669 km2 49%) (2.92%) (2.29%) (2.05%) (16.31%) 149 (1.57%) 374 (3.97%) 1922 (20.37%) Percentage out of 9437 Km2 Low elevation evergreen climax forest Medium elevation evergreen climax forest High elevation evergreen climax forest Montane evergreen forest High elevation grassland Primary moist decidous forest (PMD) Primary dry deciduous forest (PDD)

30 Gap Analysis, Southern Western Ghats, India Current status of Forests in Kerala State: 24 % (9437 km²) of total geographical area Nearly 1000 km² loss between 1961 and 1988 (Prasad, 1998) Disturbed / secondary / degraded forests (4768 km² - 51%) Secondary / disturbed evergreen forest of low, medium and high elevations Secondary moist deciduous forest Degraded formations of low, medium, high elevations 1626 Degraded formations of PMD 2442 Degraded formations of PDD

31 Loss of forest areas in Western Ghats of Karnataka between 1977 and 1997 (Source: Ramesh & Swaminath 1999) Total % Inside Reserve Forests - 4.4% Outside Reserve Forests %

32 Proliferation of coffee plantations in Kodagu district (Source: Ramesh & Swaminath 1999) Kodagu loss 1977 Evergreen forests Deciduous forests km Coffee plantations Teak and Eucalyptus plantations

33 Endemic tree species distribution (356 species and 11,000 records)

34 Prediction model of richness in endemic tree species and actual forest cover

35 Rationalization of protected area network PAs are the repositories of biological richness Kerala has high biological richness vis à vis demographic and socio-economic complexities whether the existing PA network is enough to protect at least the priority areas? Priority areas derived from Biodiversity indicator values projected on vegetation classes: Species Richness Endemism Rare, Endangered and Threatened (RET) species Unique ecosystem Gap analysis: Integration of spatial data of above indicators and protected areas

36 Gap Analysis, Southern Western Ghats, India Species Richness (745 tree species) Endemic (166 tree species) Endemic fauna (8 mammals, 16 bird species ) Density of RET mammals (elephant, gaur, sloth bear, mouse deer, bonnet macaque and wild dog) Unique ecosystems (2 species based & 4 habitat based)

37 Gap Analysis, Southern Western Ghats, India Species Richness (745 tree species) Endemic (166 tree species) Endemic fauna (8 mammals, 16 bird species ) Density of RET mammals (elephant, gaur, sloth bear, mouse deer, bonnet macaque and wild dog) Unique ecosystems (2 species based & 4 habitat based)

38 Gap Analysis, Southern Western Ghats, India Species Richness (745 tree species) Endemic (166 tree species) Endemic fauna (8 mammals, 16 bird species ) Density of RET mammals (elephant, gaur, sloth bear, mouse deer, bonnet macaque and wild dog) Unique ecosystems (2 species based & 4 habitat based)

39 Gap Analysis, Southern Western Ghats, India Species Richness (745 tree species) Endemic (166 tree species) Endemic fauna (8 mammals, 16 bird species ) Density of RET mammals (elephant, gaur, sloth bear, mouse deer, bonnet macaque and wild dog) Unique ecosystems (2 species based & 4 habitat based)

40 Gap Analysis, Southern Western Ghats, India Species Richness (745 tree species) Endemic (166 tree species) Endemic fauna (8 mammals, 16 bird species ) Density of RET mammals (elephant, gaur, sloth bear, mouse deer, bonnet macaque and wild dog) Unique ecosystems (2 species based & 4 habitat based)

41 Gap Analysis, Southern Western Ghats, India Species Richness (745 tree species) Endemic (166 tree species) Endemic fauna (8 mammals, 16 bird species ) Density of RET mammals (elephant, gaur, sloth bear, mouse deer, bonnet macaque and wild dog) Unique ecosystems (2 species based & 4 habitat based)

42 Gap Analysis, Southern Western Ghats, India PTR Shendurni Peppara Neyyar

43 Gap Analysis, Southern Western Ghats, India Conservation value areas Conservation value Area (km2) % Low Medium High (low + low medium) (high + high medium) Total 9794 Gaps in conservation Conservation value PA Non PA (km2) (km2) Low Medium High 1119 (22%) 3889 (78%)

44 Principles for creating Protected Area Network The selection and design of PAs should be based on three basic principles: Representativity (all ecosystems, HCV, unique habitats, cultural value ) Ecological integrity (viable areas where all ecosystem components and their interactions are represented and functioning) Contiguity (PAs that are isolated from each other are prone to species loss; smaller the PA and more isolated it is, then the greater the risk; contiguity among PA network must be maintained to facilitate gene flow and migration of animals)

45 Gap Analysis, Southern Western Ghats, India Rationalization of PA network Sanctuaries Existing Protected Areas (WLS & NP) Extension (WLS & NP) New (WLS & NP) Corridors Conservation Reserves Community Reserves