Fig 1 - uploaded by Sudhakar Reddy Chintala
Content may be subject to copyright.
Source publication
This study quantifies the nationwide land cover and long-term changes in forests and its implications on forest fragmentation in Nepal. The multi-source datasets were used to generate the forest cover information for 1930, 1975, 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2014. This study analyzes distribution of land cover, rate of deforestation, changes across forest t...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... days are considered as dry semiarid (http://www.fao.org/docrep/x5308e/x5308e02.htm). The climatic data pertaining to temperature and rainfall was collected from the site www.worldclim.com. SRTM Digital Elevation Model was used to understand the relation of elevation and forest types ( Rabus et al. 2003). Elevation zone map of Nepal is given in Fig. 1. ...
Context 2
... during , 1975Nepal during -1985Nepal during , 1985Nepal during -1995Nepal during , 1995Nepal during -2005Nepal during and 2005Nepal during -2014. The spatial database generated on forest types and forest canopy density from 1975 to 2014 and land cover information for 2014 at a national level is useful for land use planning and conservation. Fig. 1 Elevation map of Nepal Fig. 2 Land cover map of Nepal (2014) Fig. 3 Forest cover of Nepal, (1930, 1975, 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2014) Forest cover maps of Nepal (1930Nepal ( , 1975Nepal ( , 1985Nepal ( , 1995Nepal ( , 2005Nepal ( and 2014) Fig. 4. Forest type and canopy density map of Nepal ...
Context 3
... spatial analysis of forest type wise fragmentation for 1975, 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2014 are shown in Tables 1-5. Forest cover change maps of Nepal for 1930Nepal for -1975Nepal for , 1975Nepal for -1985Nepal for and 2005Nepal for -2014 are shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. Fig. 1. ...
Context 4
... spatial analysis of forest type wise fragmentation for 1975, 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2014 are shown in Tables 1-5. Forest cover change maps of Nepal for 1930Nepal for -1975Nepal for , 1975Nepal for -1985Nepal for and 2005Nepal for -2014 are shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. Fig. 1. Forest cover change in Nepal, 1930Nepal, -1975 ...
Similar publications
Habitat loss and degradation represent a major threat to Nearctic-neotropical migratory birds in the tropics. Managed agroecosystems have the potential to mitigate some impacts of land conversion, however, we know little regarding the quality of expanding oil palm plantation habitat for migratory birds in the neotropics. In this study, we used sex...
The Chinese Grouse (Tetrastes sewerzowi) is a rare, endemic bird in China, inhabiting conifer-dominated mountain forests. Both the natural fragmentation and heavy cutting of mature forests have resulted in patchy grouse habitats. We used SPOT (XS-sensor) satellite imagery to discriminate between open land and conifer or broadleaf forests. The area...
The influences of human and physical factors on species invasions have been extensively examined by ecologists across many regions. However, how habitat fragmentation per se may affect forest insect and disease invasion has not been well studied, especially the related patterns over regional or subcontinental scales. Here, using national survey dat...
Background
Flying foxes (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) are large bats that often roost in the sun, hence solar-powered GPS/GSM devices can track their movements over extended periods. The endemic Mauritian flying fox (Pteropus niger) has recently been subjected to large-scale culling because of perceived damage to commercial fruit, and a consequent red...
The Atlantic Forest is a threatened biodiversity hotspot. Anthropogenic and environmental factors affect this biodiversity, including floristics and, consequently, the seed dispersal syndrome. The objective was to evaluate the influence of environmental factors on floristic composition, seed dispersal syndrome and potential for wild fauna refuge, e...
Citations
... Following that, an expert level discussion is required to establish a common census to classify and layout the whole map of the country's vegetation and forest kinds. Despite an increase in population, Nepal's forest cover has expanded, and the rate of deforestation has decreased in recent years (Reddy et al. 2018). This could help save significant plant species in the forest or in the wild. ...
Nepal’s forests and vegetation are categorized in a number of ways. We have made an effort to illustrate the various categorization schemes now in use and to give the classification of Nepal’s vegetation and forest according to altitudinal ranges in this chapter. In the tropical zone (up to 1000 m), subtropical zone (1000–2000 m), temperate zone (2000–3000 m), subalpine zone (3000–4100 m), alpine zone (beyond 4100 m), and nival zone (beyond 6000 m) zones, we have characterized various vegetation and forest types with related plant species. Additionally, we have included information on the condition of the forests, shrubland, grassland, and agricultural land. For the plant species mentioned in the chapter, we have also included the family, names in Nepali, and range in the appendix.
... The MSPA divides binary grid images into seven categories: Core, Islet, Perforation, Edge, Bridge, Loop, and Branch, each with specific ecological meanings. This widely-used method allows to analyze landscapes through numerical representation (Kang and Kim, 2015;Sudhakar et al., 2018;Wang et al., 2020;Huang et al., 2021;Wang et al., 2022). The input raster for this analysis were the results of MaxEnt for current and future climatic conditions. ...
Acer mazandaranicum is an endemic, endangered, recently described large tree species distributed in the Hyrcanian forest. Only a few scattered populations with low density are known in the Alborz Mountains of Iran. This research aims to approximate the potential geographical distribution range of A. mazandaranicum in the past, present, and future to provide a basis for prioritizing conservation-related activities. For the contemporary climate model, two past scenarios and three future climate scenarios were tested. The most crucial variables, as determined by the model, were the seasonality of precipitation and the amount of precipitation during the driest quarter, which together constituted 90.9% of the model for current conditions and presented A. mazandaranicum climatic requirements for appropriate habitats. According to our findings, the potential habitat of the species will be drastically diminished in suitability in the future. The model projected an area of 7410.8 km 2 as moderate suitability habitat (0.50-0.75) and 13,896.41 km 2 as low suitability (0.25-0.50). The average altitude in the potential range is 1026 m a.s.l. During the LGM, the potential range of A. mazandaranicum was 209.27% of the current area and spread mainly at lower altitudes (1078.8 m a.s.l.). The findings indicate a fascinating possibility that the species may possess the capability to shift their altitudinal distribution and potentially migrate to higher elevations in response to increasing temperatures and decreasing rainfall. According to morphological spatial analysis (MSPA), the central and western regions of the Hyrcanian forests contain a core area with high con-nectivity. In order to mitigate the threats facing this endangered species and reduce the risk of extinction, ex situ conservation measures as well as in situ protection activities within their habitats are necessary for ensuring its long-term survival.
... In South Asia, exchanges between barren, wetlands and woody shrub-land were important exchanges for farmland. Reddy et al. (2017) also reported that cultivated land generally improves compared to other categories. ...
Understanding the spatiotemporal historical drought pattern and their sensitivity effect on potential evapotranspiration (PET) and vegetation coverage changes is essential for efficient drought mitigation policies under climate change. In this study, we used the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) at multiple timescales, such as SPEI‐01, SPEI‐03, SPEI‐06, SPEI‐09 and SPEI‐12; we explored their regional‐scale dry and wet annual changes across seven sub‐regions of South Asia from 1902 to 2018. Results suggest that from 1981 to 2018, the extreme drought of SPEI has increased in South Asia, which mostly affects the summer and winter growing seasons, that is, SPEI‐06 to SPEI‐12 across seven sub‐regions of South Asia. The frequency of drought events during dry and wet annual changes of SPEI had an extremely dry year starting from 1998 to 2018, which mostly affected the South Asia region. Data from the past 18 years showed that the land changing detection has increased in the forests, cultivated land, arid land, savanna and farmland; by contrast, there has been significantly reduced permanent ice and snow, mixed forests, open shrub, grasslands, permanent wetlands, water bodies and evergreen broadleaf forests. Seasonal SPEI presented diverse characteristics such as showing a dry trend in Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka during autumn and winter. Afghanistan and Bhutan are wet during the summer compared with other sub‐regions of South Asia, with drought frequency occurring at 45.3% and 44.4%. Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India are the driest regions in South Asia due to their high drought frequency, duration and intensity. The correlation between PET and crop water stress index (CWSI), PET and regional ETp reduction (Er) indicated a considerably negative correlation, while a significantly positive correlation was found between CWSI and Er, NDVI and Er. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of climate and vegetation coverage changes on PET, ET and SPEI, and can help in formulating long‐term adaptive strategies to reduce the cumulative impacts of droughts.
... In previous studies, researchers usually employed traditional landscape indices, such as the number, shape, size, and connectivity of forest patches, to quantify the degree of forest fragmentation [14][15][16] via a landscape analysis software named Fragstats (v4.2) to calculate the values of these indices to assess the temporal trends or spatial pattern differences of forest fragmentation. For instance, Slattery and Fenner employed Fragstats to assess forest fragmentation in seven Brazilian cities, revealing that regions experiencing agricultural expansion exhibited more intricate shapes in their remaining forest patches and significant losses in their core forest patch areas. ...
In the context of economic boom and climate change, monitoring the spatio-temporal dynamics of forest fragmentation induced by disturbances and understanding its corresponding associated factors are critical for developing informed forest management strategies. In this study, based on multi-temporal Landsat images acquired from 1999 to 2020, a SVM classifier was first applied to produce high-accuracy land cover maps in Xinyu City. Next, morphological spatial pattern analysis (MSPA) was implemented to characterize the spatio-temporal patterns of forest fragmentation by producing maps of seven fragmentation components, including the core, islet, perforation, edge, bridge, loop, and branch. Then, both natural and human factors responsible for the observed forest fragmentation dynamics were analyzed using the geo-detector model (GDM). The results showed that over the past two decades, Xinyu City experienced a process of significant forest area loss and exacerbating forest fragmentation. The forest area decreased from 1597.35 km2 in 1999 to 1372.05 km2 in 2020. The areal ratio of core patches decreased by 8.49%, and the areal ratio of edge patches increased by 5.98%. Spatially, the trend of forest fragmentation exhibited a progressive increase from the southern and northern regions towards the central and eastern areas. Large-scale forest core patches were primarily concentrated in the northwestern and southwestern regions, while smaller core patches were found in the eastern and central areas. Notably, human activities, such as distance from the roads and land use diversity, were identified as significantly associated with forest fragmentation. The interaction effect of these factors had a greater impact on forest fragmentation than their individual contributions. In conclusion, Xinyu City possesses the potential to further alleviate forest fragmentation by employing the regional differentiation development strategies: (1) intensive development in the northwest and southern regions; (2) high-density development in the western, northwestern, and southern regions, and (3) conservation development in the southwest, northeast, and east-central regions, thus aligning with the path of local social advancement.
... Because of the fragmented vegetation fire spread is restricted. In Nepal, as an example forest fragmentation has dramatically increased during last century (Reddy et al. 2018). The pre-monsoon showers and arrival of monsoon within two months after the litterfall gives only about two months period for fire ignition. ...
Man-made fires have been an integral feature of chir pine (Pinus roxburghii) - banj oak (Quercus leucotrichophora) zone of Uttarakhand since the time immemorial. It is highly seasonal, each year during pre-monsoon, forest fires in Uttarakhand are issue of major debate with regard scale, nature, causes and impact of fires and measures required to address the problem. Here, we have characterized the seasonality of forest fires in Uttarakhand, data discrepancies, and perceptions of the stakeholders. The forest fire regime in Uttarakhand is characterized by frequent surface fires of small sizes, ranging from 1.56 to 7.25 ha/fire incidence. The seasonality and extent of fire depend on the timing of fresh litter fall, the main source of fuel to fire, severity of pre-monsoon drought and people’s felt need for fodder to feed livestock. Largely because of the pre-monsoon droughts, the years 2009, 2012 and 2016 were the most fire affected in Uttarakhand, the annual incidence of forest fires being 1608, 1328, and 2074, respectively, with average fire incidence of 1169.50±219.19 fires per year. Data pertaining to fire frequency and affected area were collated from two sources: State Forest Department (SFD) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The differences in number of fire incidences between the two sources are large and need to be reconciled to develop a meaningful mitigation strategy to deal with forest fires. From the interviews conducted, it was found that while forest officials now realize the importance of community participation in fire control, communities are no more interested to participate, with decreasing day-to-day dependence on forest resources. The ongoing changes in the relationship of people with forests need to be analyzed and included in the policies related to forest fire management.
... Great strides have been made in modeling habitats to predict where species are found (Yonzon, Jones & Fox, 1991;Smith, Ahearn & Mcdougal, 1998;Kafley, 2008) or to locate potential areas for reintroduction (Aryal, Brunton & Raubenheimer, 2013;O'Neil & Bump, 2014;Paudel, Hais & Kindlmann, 2015b). Assessing general habitat suitability can be done quickly with remote sensing techniques (Heinen & Mead, 1984;Kanagaraj et al., 2011;Reddy et al., 2017). The PA system is now large and well-protected, but units are not distributed proportionally throughout the ecosystems of the country (Paudel & Heinen, 2015c). ...
Located along the boundary of two zoogeographic provinces, and with the highest peaks and deepest valleys on Earth, Nepal is a center of adaptive radiation for many taxa. Early zoological research was mostly focused on high-profile large mammals due to availability of funding and policy priorities, but knowledge gaps remain for most other vertebrate taxa. Technologies ranging from genetic mapping to GPS, GIS, digital cameras and micro-transmitters have advanced with time and greatly expanded research capacities. Here, we present our suggestions of research needs for the lesser terrestrial vertebrate fauna of Nepal and the broader Himalayan region, pointing out knowledge gaps and suggesting where to go from here. The growing numbers of Nepali researchers focusing on small mammalian and avian research is encouraging, but the status of many taxa remains unknown and much of the country remains under-surveyed for breeding and migratory populations. Major knowledge gaps persist for reptiles and amphibians and for the role of local wildlife markets in exploitation. We conclude with suggestions on priorities for research on, and conservation of, Nepal's lesser terrestrial vertebrates.
... Similar approaches and knowledge syntheses have been used recently in India to identify agreement among stakeholders to prioritize connectivity conservation efforts (Schoen et al., 2022). Despite the rapid conversion of forest habitats in the lowland in recent decades (Ram et al., 2021;Reddy et al., 2018), the TAL's forest in the Siwalik region is relatively intact and provides a unique opportunity to maintain connectivity among PAs. There are opportunities for optimization of the existing network of corridors in the landscape by extending protection and habitat management interventions to considerable habitats outside established PAs and corridors suitable for improving landscape connectivity. ...
Habitat fragmentation and isolation threaten the survival of several wide-ranging species , such as tigers, through increased risk from diseases, disasters, climate change, and genetic depression. Identification of the habitat most likely to achieve connectiv-ity among protected areas is vital for the long-term persistence of tigers. We aimed to improve the mapping of potential transfrontier protected area corridors for tigers by connecting sites within the Terai Arc Landscape in Nepal and to those in India, highlighting targeted conservation actions needed along these corridors to maintain long-term connectivity. We used least-cost corridor modeling and circuit theory to identify potential corridors and bottlenecks in the study area. The landscape's resistance to tigers' movement was gathered from expert opinions to inform corridor modeling. We identified nine potential tiger corridors in the Terai Arc Landscape-Nepal that aligned strongly with the remaining intact habitats of the Siwalik landscape, which could facilitate tiger movement. Banke-Bardia and Chitwan-Parsa-Valimiki complexes and Lagga-Bhagga and Khata corridors were identified as high-priority conservation cores and corridors. While our model exhibited congruence with most established corridors in the landscape, it has identified the need to enhance existing corridors to improve landscape connectivity. Several pinch points posing an increased risk to connectivity were identified. Most of these were located near the protected area boundaries and along the Nepal-India border. The Siwalik landscape holds the key to long-term connectivity in the study area; however, immediate conservation attention is needed, particularly at pinch points, to secure this connectivity for tigers. Validation of identified corridors through empirical research and their conservation is a priority. K E Y W O R D S connectivity, habitat linkages, landscape conservation, linkage mapper, pinch points, Siwalik
... In addition to the massive deforestation in the past, there has been a continuous increase in forest cover, in which the concept of community forest systems, with the notion of local users as the managers of forests, has played a crucial role [55,84]. In contrast, a different study showed a heavy decline in forest areas and, consequently, increased in fragmentation over a period of 84 years (1930-2014) [85]. The forest-cover analysis was performed by combining different data at various resolutions with topographical maps, which revealed a sharp decline from 76,710 km 2 (52.1%), in 1930, to 39,392 km 2 (26.8%), in 2014. ...
The study of land-use and land-cover change (LULCC) and their impact on ecosystem services (ESs) is vital for Nepal, where the majority of people are dependent on agriculture and services related to the ecosystem. In this context, this paper aims to appraise the empirical studies on land-use and land-cover changes and their impact on ecosystem services in Nepal Himalaya. The study acquired studies from Web of Science and Google Scholar for systematic review. Altogether, 90 scientific studies, including 64 on land use and land cover and 26 on ecosystem services, published between 1986 and 2020 focusing Nepal, were assessed. The results show that there were continual changes in land-cover and land-use types in Nepal, as well as in the pace of development due to natural, anthropogenic, and policy factors. According to the national land-cover scenario, forests tended to increase, whereas agricultural land gradually decreased in recent years, with some of the available agricultural land even being abandoned. The scenario of the agricultural land in the Karnali river basin was different from those of the land in the Koshi and Gandaki basins. In the mid-twentieth century, the expansion of agricultural land and massive deforestation were observed, mainly in the Tarai region. Development works, urbanization, and the rural–urban migration led to the gradual decrease in and abandonment of the available agricultural land in recent decades. Further, this overall scenario has determined in provision of ESs. Forests have the highest value of ES, and community forests have played a vital role in their restoration. The concept of payment for ESs has greatly supported socio-economic development and ecosystem conservation. However, the formulation and implementation of effective landscape planning with suitable policies and enforcement mechanisms is essential to balance the negative impact of LULC on the sustained management of ecosystems and their associated services.
... Forest fragmentation increased in Nepal between 1930 and2014 [20], and the Central Himalayan region of northern India experienced intensive forest fragmentation between 1990 and 2014, shifting from a forest-dominated landscape to a fragmented forest mixed with cropland and urban settlements [21]. Progressive fragmentation may have significant ecological impacts on species dependent on forests [20]. Various methods have been used to analyze and detect the characteristics of land use change. ...
... In the past hundreds to thousands of years, the dominant land use activity was deforestation for farmland and pasture in South Asia [27]. Limited studies have been conducted on past and present LUCC in Nepal and they have found that Nepal's forests and snow/glacier cover have declined, agricultural land has increased, and rapid urbanization has led to significant changes in Nepal's land use [20,[28][29][30][31][32]. Biophysical drivers (e.g., climate change) are relatively less important, and socioeconomic drivers (e.g., population growth and economic growth) are more important for agricultural land to forest change in South Asia countries, such as Nepal [33]. ...
Because of the influence of climate change and human activities, an in-depth analysis of land use/cover change (LUCC) and its drivers in Nepal is important for local community forestry management and sustainable development. This paper analyzed the direction, magnitude, and rate of LUCCs and their spatial aggregation, as well as landscape fragmentation in Nepal, from 1995 to 2020 using the ESA/CCI (European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative) dataset. A total of 10 factors including population, socioeconomic development, climate factors, and forest management factors were selected to determine the dominant driving factors affecting LUCC in Nepal by Principal component analysis (PCA) and linear regression analysis. Our study showed that climate change, human activities, and forest management (e.g., community forestry) all influenced LUCC. In Nepal, land use/cover shifted among forest, shrub, grassland, and cropland from 1995 to 2020, mainly from forest to cropland. The most significant LUCC in recent decades has been caused by the expansion of cropland and urbanization. The area of coniferous and broadleaf forests decreased from 1995 to 2001 due to deforestation and forest degradation, and recovered gradually after 2001, which was attributed to the successful practice of community forestry in Nepal. Accelerated urbanization was also found in Nepal, and the significant expansion of construction land came mainly came from cropland. Land fragmentation in Nepal was severe and exhibited spatial aggregation characteristics. Human activities played a greater role in LUCC in Nepal than climate factors. The community forestry, GDP growth, and precipitation were positive driving factors for increases in forest area, while the development of the services sector and rising temperature were negative driving factors.
... Among the 28 articles, there are three review articles (Paudel et al., 2016;Rai et al., 2017;Xu et al., 2019), and one is a qualitative estimation (Gadgil, 1985), which does not involve quantitative reconstruction. Subsequently, based on 24 articles related to quantitative reconstructions (Flint and Richards, 1991;Richards and Flint, 1994; Schickhoff, 1995;Jayakumar et al., 2009;Rahman, 2010;Bourgeon et al., 2012;Reddy et al., 2013;Anupama et al., 2014;Krishna et al., 2014;Satish et al., 2014;Tian et al., 2014;Dutta et al., 2016;Reddy et al., 2016a;Reddy et al., 2016b;Reddy et al., 2016c;Reddy et al., 2016d;Reddy et al., 2017;Moulds et al., 2018;Paudel et al., 2018;Prokop, 2018;Ramachandran et al., 2018;Reddy et al., 2018a;Reddy et al., 2018b), we reviewed the regional-scale historical land use reconstructions in South Asia from their data sources, methods, and outcomes. ...
... Two datasets (Flint and Richards, 1991;Richards and Flint, 1994), which are widely used in global datasets (e.g., HYDE), only covered two and three countries in South Asia. There are 11 articles that select a certain country as their study area, of which India has up to five articles (Tian et al., 2014;Reddy et al., 2016b;Reddy et al., 2016d;Reddy et al., 2017;Moulds et al., 2018), and Nepal four articles (Paudel et al., 2016;Paudel et al., 2017;Paudel et al., 2018;Reddy et al., 2018a). The rest focused on a certain region of a country, mainly southern and eastern India. ...
To deal with global warming and biodiversity loss, historical land use in South Asia received wide attention because of its huge population and rich biodiversity. We reviewed representative global and regional historical land use reconstructions for South Asia from their data sources, methods of area estimation and spatial mapping, and outcomes. Then we made some prospects on developing historical land use for South Asia. The land use area of South Asia in global reconstructions was mainly estimated using population. For the spatial pattern, most of them assumed that the historical distribution of land use in South Asia mimics satellite-based land use patterns or that the land use area was pixelized based on land suitability for cultivation and grazing. Large discrepancies exist among these global reconstructions in the land use area and spatial patterns with increasing magnitude with time in the past. The regional reconstructions of historical land use for South Asia used more regional historical records, but most covered only about one hundred years. The closer to the past, the lower the spatial-temporal resolution of these regional reconstructions. Great discrepancies also exist between these regional reconstructions because of the differences in cropland definition. Expansion of archaeological data sources, meta-analysis, and crowdsourcing will bring insights into area estimation of historical land use. Remote sensing and machine learning will facilitate spatial pattern mapping. Reconstruction region-by-region, and then integration, is also a solution for current challenges in reconstructing historical land use for South Asia.
