BIODIVERSITY CHARACTERIZATION AT LANDSCAPE LEVEL IN A PART OF HOSHIARPUR DISTRICT IN PUNJAB STATE USING SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING AND GIS

摘要

Conservation of biodiversity should be given the highest priority for the sustainable use of natural resources and safeguard of our future. Identification and prioritization the conservation areas using satellite RS and GIS have several advantages over the conventional method of surveying. The study area is part of Hoshiarpur district in Punjab state. The study area lies between latitude 31° 45' 15" and 31° 45' 05" north and longitude 75° 30' 10" and 76° 00' 05". The total land area extent is 2061.82 km~2. Out of the total land area the forest cover extends to 353.99 km~2 . Spatial data on vegetation cover type and land use has been generated using satellite remote sensing data through visual interpretation of LISS III digital data on 1:50000 scale. Ancillary data of other attributes like settlement, road, and drainage have been generated in GIS domain. The DEM of the study area has been derived using SRTM data. Database has been analyzed and maps were generated using GIS. Disturbance index of the study area has been generated using landscape parameters like fragmentation, porosity, proximity and other patch characteristics using SPLAM. Biological richness has been assessed using ecosystem uniqueness, species richness, biodiversity value, terrain complexity etc. in conjunction with disturbance index. The analysis of disturbance under different vegetation types indicates that 18.51% of very high disturbance related to the chir pine forest. The disturbance map shows that it covers about of 28 .87 km~2 is under very low disturbance while 120.60 km~2 in very high disturbance. High richness was found in the areas, which were related to moist deciduous and dry deciduous dense forest. The very low biological richness comes under plantation forest The study area is highly complex and disturbed. The ownership of forest lies with local communities. One of the important findings of the study is that the high biological diversity can be seen in the lands of which participatory forest programs existed. This programme is collaborative effort of villagers and Forest Department. It should be realized that the importance of Assessment of biodiversity characteristics in a particular area before we implement the conservation measures.