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Above ground biomass and carbon stock estimation from Prosopis Juliflora in Banni grassland using satellite and ancillary data
Abstract
Banni grassland (latitude-23°19′N to 23°52′N and longitude-68°56′E to 70°32′E) lies in the arid region located in Gujarat, India. It was once Asia's 2nd largest tropical grassland with an approximate area of 2610 Km2. Prosopis Juliflora was introduced in Banni in select areas in 1960s to control salinity ingress and maintain green cover in the area. The ability of Prosopis Juliflora to withstand adverse arid and semi-arid conditions and produce woods of high calorific values (4200 kcal/kg) brought in proposals for biomass energy generation. This papers aims to estimate the biomass productivity from Prosopis Juliflora and assess the carbon stock in its wood. Land cover analysis with an accuracy of 94.4% was done using Landsat 5 TM 2011 satellite data to map the spatial distribution of Prosopis Juliflora and grassland. Analysis shows that Prosopis has invaded around 50% of the total area while the grassland area is found to be around 25-30%. Field studies were undertaken for tree sampling in 4 plots of size 50m×50m. Harvesting method was followed and vegetation parameters; DBH, Girth, no. of stem and tree height were measured along with sun dried weight of woody biomass. Allometric relationship was established between field data using regression analysis. Results show that biomass is linearly related (R2= 0.92-0.97) to vegetation parameters. Biomass productivity per hectare was found and total biomass productivity in Banni was deduced using area estimates from land cover map of 2011. Biomass estimate was converted into carbon stock was estimated by using a conversion coefficient of 0.47 as suggested by Wangda in the year 2012.
... In Banni, Prosopis invasion has a directional impact on small mammal composition, favouring generalist rodents and canids over specialist species (Jayadevan et al. 2018;Devarajan & Vanak 2020;Misher & Vanak 2021). Prosopis in Banni has increased aboveground carbon stocks (Vaibhav et al. 2012). It also appears to lower the ground-water table, potentially increasing salinity (Hiremath et al. 2018). ...
... In the case of Banni, this means carefully considering the consequences of Prosopisinvaded grasslands for biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and local livelihoods. For example, while Prosopis reduces native plant biodiversity and promotes generalist canids and rodents at the cost of grassland specialists, it also increases above-ground carbon stocks, and supports charcoal-based livelihoods (Vaibhav et al. 2012;Jayadevan et al. 2018;Devarajan & Vanak 2020). ...
Woody plant encroachment is a pervasive global driver impacting grassland structure and functioning, and we know very little about efficacies of management techniques for restoring woody plant-encroached tropical grasslands. In the Banni grasslands of India, which are extensively encroached by an invasive woody legume, Prosopis juliflora, we test the efficacies of two Prosopis management methods—mechanical removal and lopping—to restore native grasslands. Across eight sites in the Banni, using a randomized block design, we monitored herbaceous plant recovery in the two Prosopis management treatments, and an unmanipulated control for 4 years. We also sampled four reference grasslands. We found native herbaceous plant richness and cover to be three-fold (mean = 6 species) and six-fold (mean = 18% cover) higher, respectively, in the mechanical-removal treatment compared to the control (mean richness = 2 species, cover =3%), but found no significant differences between the lopping treatment (mean richness = 5 species, cover =11%) and the control. While mechanical-removal increased plant diversity, neither management treatment changed the species composition, and both of these treatments were still missing perennial grasses that dominate the reference grasslands. Our data highlight the efficacy of mechanical removal over lopping in restoring native grasslands. However, mechanically removing Prosopis is costly, especially at larger scales. Apart from its detrimental impact on grasslands, Prosopis also has benefits varying with stakeholder groups, and its removal involves complex trade-offs. Until we fully understand the trade-offs involved, it may therefore be better to manage this social-ecological landscape as a mosaic of restored grassland and Prosopis-invaded patches.
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... To gather basic ecological information about this unique but poorly studied sub-species, we investigated landscapescale occupancy, den site selection and dietary habits in a xeric and saline ecosystem, the Banni grasslands of Kutch district in Gujarat. The Banni grasslands have undergone a massive change in vegetation structure, as the woody invasive species, Prosopis juliflora has turned parts of this landscape into a dense woodland from an open grassland habitat (Vaibhav et al. 2012). As the Indian desert fox is described as an open habitat species, we hypothesized that these changes could negatively affect the site occupancy (presence or absence) of the Indian desert fox (Table 1). ...
... Acacia nilotica is the major tree species in the area along with other shrubs such as Capparis decidua, Ziziphus sp., Salvadora persica and Salvadora oleoides. Since the extensive introduction of Prosopis juliflora in the 1960s, more than 50% of the Banni has been transformed into stable woody vegetation dominated landscape (Vaibhav et al. 2012). The density of woody cover of Prosopis juliflora can vary between years due to the regular harvest of its wood for charcoal production. ...
Encroachment by woody invasive plants has been recognized as a major driver of structural change in grasslands ecosystems. The impact of invasive plant-mediated changes on mammalian species from higher trophic levels is relatively less understood. This study aims to understand the impact of woody encroachment on the ecology of a relatively understudied mesopredator, the Indian desert fox Vulpes v. pusilla in a semi-arid saline grassland ecosystem in Western India. We examined the site occupancy of the Indian desert fox at the landscape level, and den site selection at the micro-habitat scale. We also examined the diet of desert foxes during winter and summer season. We found that at the landscape level the desert fox selects more open Suaeda saline habitats over dense invasive Prosopis juliflora dominated habitats. At the scale of the den, proximity to water and vegetation cover were the main drivers of den site selection. Similar to other arid zone foxes, insects, plant materials and small mammals were the main components of the diet of Indian desert fox. Given its selection of open habitats, invasive shrub encroachment is likely to result in a loss of habitat as well as resources for this species, potentially impacting on the conservation status of this already range-restricted species in India.
... To gather basic ecological information about this unique but poorly studied sub-species, we investigated landscapescale occupancy, den site selection and dietary habits in a xeric and saline ecosystem, the Banni grasslands of Kutch district in Gujarat. The Banni grasslands have undergone a massive change in vegetation structure, as the woody invasive species, Prosopis juliflora has turned parts of this landscape into a dense woodland from an open grassland habitat (Vaibhav et al. 2012). As the Indian desert fox is described as an open habitat species, we hypothesized that these changes could negatively affect the site occupancy (presence or absence) of the Indian desert fox (Table 1). ...
... Acacia nilotica is the major tree species in the area along with other shrubs such as Capparis decidua, Ziziphus sp., Salvadora persica and Salvadora oleoides. Since the extensive introduction of Prosopis juliflora in the 1960s, more than 50% of the Banni has been transformed into stable woody vegetation dominated landscape (Vaibhav et al. 2012). The density of woody cover of Prosopis juliflora can vary between years due to the regular harvest of its wood for charcoal production. ...
Site occupancy, diet and den habitat selection of Desert Fox were determined in Banni grassland ecosystem of Kuchchh. Occupancy and habitat affecting occupancy of Desert fox were assessed by grid (size: 4x4 km) survey. The analysis was done using software PRESENCE ver. 6.4. Models were selected as on AIC values and model averaging was done for top models having low ∆AICc values. Estimated occupancy parameter ψ was 0.44 ± 0.12 and p was 0.52. Availability of water (β 0.51) and the area occupied by sueda saline land (β 1.09) positively affect Desert fox occupancy. While Prosopis dominant (β -0.56) and prosopis mixed (β -0.72) habitat were showed a negative impact on Desert fox occupancy. Sampling for den site selection was designed according to Punjabi et al (2013). Conditional logistic regression was done for matched pair data of den presence and absence plot using software R statistical and model were selected based on AICc values. High grass cover (β 0.92) and proximity to water (t= -4.10, p=0.001) showed selection for den site for Desert fox while site having a more bare ground (β -1.27) was significantly avoided by the fox. Seasonal diets of Desert fox were also determined by analyzing scat collected from different dens. Prey diversity in scat of summer and winter were assessed H’=2.5 and H’=2.4 respectively using Shannon-Weaver index of diversity. Pianka index for niche overlap show almost complete overlap (Ofd 0.93) between diets of both seasons. Invertebrates (52.83%), vegetation/fruit (34.50%) and birds (8.45%) were the main constitutes of diet in winter season on the base of relative occurrence. While in summer invertebrates had high relative occurrence (54.01%) which followed by vegetation (29.67%) and small mammals (6.23). Our work provides first systematical data and information about Habitat selection and diet of pusilla sub-species of Red fox. Home range and territory, interaction with sympatric Indian fox (Vulpes bengalensis), breeding ecology are some questions still need to be investigated about Vulpes vulpes pusilla.
... Given how rapidly patches of Prosopis change (due to harvesting), we were unable determine patch size for these habitats. Previous studies have, however, shown that close to 50% of the landscape is now occupied by either dense or sparse cover of Prosopis (Vaibhav et al., 2012). We found similar rodent richness and abundance in plots with high Prosopis cover as we did in the grassland habitats. ...
Encroachment by woody invasive plants is a major threat to grasslands and savannah ecosystems worldwide. Rodents, being primary consumers, are likely to be the first to respond to changes in the structure and composition of native vegetation. We examined the effect of an invasive shrub Prosopis juliflora (hereafter Prosopis) on the native rodent community of an arid grassland system of Western India. Our sampling plots were divided into five categories representing different stages of Prosopis invasion and other land cover types. These consisted of restored native grassland, agriculture fallow, open brushland, sparse-Prosopis plots, and Prosopis-dominated plots. We also examined the impact of woody invasion on the response of native rodents toward moonlight and temperature. As hypothesized, we found a significantly higher abundance of rodent species in the native grassland habitat compared to sparse-Prosopis habitats. However, there was no significant difference in rodent abundance and diversity between the grassland and Prosopis-dominated habitats. Thus, species richness and abundance of rodents were the highest in the restored grasslands and dense Prosopis thickets, and the lowest in the sparse Prosopis, potentially showing a “U” shaped response to Prosopis invasion. We observed a species-specific effect of Prosopis on the activity of Tatera indica, Bandicota bengalensis, and Millardia meltada. Habitat type mediated the effect of different environmental factors (moonlight and temperature) on the activity of the most commonly ocurring species T. indica while activity of M. meltada showed a weak association with environmental factors. B. bengalensis was the most generalist species showing similar activity across all habitat types. Thus, the impact of Prosopis invasion on the rodent community was uneven, and depended on species as well as on local environmental characteristics.
... ar was once known as Asia's finest grassland and was also considered for the reintroduction of Cheetahs in India by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) Dehradun (Jhala, 2010). Lot of work has been carried out in terms of flora, fauna, natural calamities, anthropogenic activities and the impact of invasive species on this grassland (Joshi et.a.,. 2009, Vaibhava et. al., 2012. Recent years have seen random changes in the inherent characteristics of the grassland with land use land cover changes, increasing livestock population, rapidly propagating invasive species such as Prosopis juliflora locally known as ganda bavar over the grassland, diverse developmental pressures etc. ...
Grasslands can be found in all eco-regions of earth and is one of the important drivers of biological diversity. It plays a pivotal role in maintenance of ecological balance with its biodiversity in reference to the varying climatic conditions. Banni 2 Grasslands spans up to 2617 km on northern borders of Bhuj taluka of Kachchh district at 23° 19' to 23° 52' N latitudes and 68° 56' to 70° 32' E longitudes (Joshi et al., 2009). Banni is Asia's second largest and India's finest grassland that represents a unique biodiversity. Recent years have seen random changes in the inherent characteristics of the grassland with land use land cover changes, increasing livestock population, rapidly propagating invasive species such as Prosopis juliflora locally known as ganda bavar over the grassland, diverse developmental pressures etc. Rapidly developing frontiers such as geospatial technology would help decision makers to infer how this landscape is changing over the years with different parameters happening around this particular landscape. In current scenario, Geographic Information System (GIS) is an important technological tool used by scientists in the field of ecology and environmental science. It is very easy to map a particular object than to conduct an ancient and cumbersome survey method. It is very essential to identify and assess Banni grassland with its changing land-cover pattern to see temporal change using geo-informatics and other tools of geospatial technology. It is also true that this technology would open up a new vista in Kachchh landscape as there are very less researches and reviews in the past utilising Geoinformatics approach. The current paper while utilising Geoinformatics approach tries to evaluate and analyse the land use land cover changes of Banni grassland in current scenario. The important revelations of such approach would definitely help the researchers to understand the rapidly changing ecological scenario with varying climatic conditions over temporal scale.
... Curiously, this study is not on the spatial spread of mesquite, but on biomass regeneration under coppicing. Vaibhav et al (2012) uses single satellite imagery of 2011 -a period when the Banni region was invaded by mesquite and livestock presence was high. The estimated rate of spatial spread of mesquite in Banni reported in a recent study was 2.1% per year (Pasha et al 2014), arrived at after examining satellite imagery datasets of 1977, 1990, 1999, 2005 and 2011. ...
... Curiously, this study is not on the spatial spread of mesquite, but on biomass regeneration under coppicing. Vaibhav et al (2012) uses single satellite imagery of 2011 -a period when the Banni region was invaded by mesquite and livestock presence was high. The estimated rate of spatial spread of mesquite in Banni reported in a recent study was 2.1% per year (Pasha et al 2014), arrived at after examining satellite imagery datasets of 1977, 1990, 1999, 2005 and 2011. ...
Discussion on: "Modelling the Economics of Grassland Degradation in
Banni, India, using System Dynamics‖ - by Mihir Mathur and Kabir Sharma,
(EES, July 2018). Ecology, Economy and Society–the INSEE Journal 2 (1): 127– 130, 2019
... Later, with the invasion of Prosopis juliflora, this area gradually expressed several prospects for human settlement and livelihood. Lot of work has been carried out in terms of flora, fauna, natural calamities, anthropogenic activities and the impact of invasive species on this grassland (Joshi et al., 2010, Shah and Somasundaram, 2010, Vaibhava et al., 2012. The land use and land cover changes in any ecosystem generally occur by natural causes or by anthropogenic activities. ...
Banni grassland is a seasonal wetland in Kachchh, Gujarat covering an area of 2617 km 2 with its rich biodiversity. This area harbors a good shelter for several wild species of animals and avifauna. Landcover of Banni grassland has changed significantly due to an-thropogenic pressure. The present study was carried out by using Remote sensing and GIS techniques and it was assessed that in Banni grassland, barren land has significantly increased covering up to 43% in 1989, 58% in 1999 and 68% of the total area. Supervised classification and accuracy assessment makes this study very informative and important with the details of change classes and accurate classified areas. There has been increase in the rate of loss of vegetation of this region which may be a matter of concern in near future as it will affect the biodiversity of the area and the ecological balance.
... International Journal of Applied Forest Ecological Research et.a.,. 2009. , Vaibhava et. al., 2012). ...
Grasslands can be found in all eco-regions of earth and is one of the important drivers of biological diversity. It plays a pivotal role in maintenance of ecological balance with its biodiversity in reference to the varying climatic conditions. Banni 2 Grasslands spans up to 2617 km on northern borders of Bhuj taluka of Kachchh district at 23° 19' to 23° 52' N latitudes and 68° 56' to 70° 32' E longitudes (Joshi et al., 2009). Banni is Asia's second largest and India's finest grassland that represents a unique biodiversity. Recent years have seen random changes in the inherent characteristics of the grassland with land use and cover changes, increasing livestock population, rapidly propagating invasive species such as Prosopis juliflora locally known as gando bavad over the grassland, diverse developmental pressures etc. Rapidly developing frontiers such as geospatial technology would help decision makers to infer how this landscape is changing over the years with different parameters happening around this particular landscape. In current scenario, Geographic Information System (GIS) is an important technological tool used by scientists in the field of ecology and environmental science. It is very easy to map a particular object than to conduct an ancient and cumbersome survey method. It is very essential to identify and assess Banni grassland with its changing land-cover pattern to see temporal change using geo-informatics and other tools of geospatial technology. It is also true that this technology would open up a new vista in Kachchh landscape as there are very less researches and reviews in the past utilising Geoinformatics approach. The current paper while utilising Geoinformatics approach tries to evaluate and analyse the land use land cover changes of Banni grassland in current scenario. The important revelations of such approach would definitely help the researchers to understand the rapidly changing ecological scenario with varying climatic conditions over temporal scale.
This is a study of the interactions between the ecology and economy of the Banni grassland, located in the district of Kutch, Gujarat, India. The study focuses on modelling the economic impact of grassland degradation in the Banni from 1992-2015 and simulates future scenarios up to 2030 using system dynamics. The specific sectors being modelled are the area spread of the invasive species Prosopis juliflora, palatable grass, the populations of livestock as well as the livestock and charcoal incomes of Banni. An economic valuation is done by discounting the future earnings of the pastoral (milk, livestock sale, dung manure) and charcoal economy under two scenarios 1) Base case (Business as Usual), i.e. keeping current policies constant and 2) P. juliflora removal policy (PRP) i.e. where a decision is implemented to remove P. juliflora from Banni. Under the BAU scenario, modelling results indicate that the Banni grassland is headed for severe fodder scarcity due to the shrinking area under grassland. Under the PRP scenario, Banni is able to revive its grasslands and increase the present value of future earnings (up till 2030) by 62 per cent. A delay of five years in the decision to remove P. juliflora results in a 28 per cent reduction in earnings indicating the policy's time sensitivity. The model serves as a test bed for generating what-if scenarios of the Banni grassland.
This is a study on the interactions between the grassland, livestock, the invasive species Prosopis juliflora and the economy of the Banni grasslands, located in the district of Kachchh, Gujarat, India. The study focuses on modeling grassland degradation of Banni from 1992-2015 and simulates future scenarios up to 2030 using system dynamics modeling. An economic valuation of Banni's economy is done by discounting the future earnings of the pastoral economy (milk, livestock sale, dung manure) and charcoal economy under two scenarios 1) Base case (Business as Usual), i.e. keeping things as they stand today and 2) Prosopis Removal Policy (PRP) i.e. where a decision is implemented to remove Prosopis from Banni. Under the BAU scenario, modeling results indicate that the Banni grassland is headed for severe fodder scarcity due to shrinking area under grassland. If PRP is implemented then Banni would be able to revive its grasslands and more than double the Present Value of future earnings, up to 2030. If the policy decision to remove Prosopis is delayed by 5 years then it results into a 30% reduction in earnings indicating the policy's time sensitivity. The model serves as a test bed to evaluate management policies of Banni grasslands.
This study was conducted in the Banni region of the Gujarat State, India, which is located in the western-most end of the
country. The main objective was to investigate the local perceptions of grassland change, regeneration potentiality, socio-economic
status and factors that cause degradation of the vegetation resources in Banni. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) was employed
to generate the socio-economic profile of interviewed villages or hamlets. Information on vegetation deterioration and changes
in species composition significant for sustainable management of grassland was obtained through interviews with 51 elderly
maldharies (pastoralists) and local inhabitants living in 31 villages in Banni. Local people had observed a change in the
local surrounding habitats from grassland to woodland (dominated by Prosopis juliflora, locally called Gando Bavar) during their lifetime and considered it primarily a result of frequent intensive drought, constructed dams on flooding rivers
in Banni, and declining rainfall. The socio-economic survey showed that the Banni communities are highly dependent on the
natural grassland for various purposes. In particular, nine woody species were useful for construction of the traditional
house called Bhunga, four for medicine and 22 for livestock fodder. Highly preferred and declining species were characteristically large wild
thorny trees with edible fruits, viz. Acacia nilotica subsp. indica (Bavar), Prosopis cineraria (Kandho), and Salvadora persica (Kharijar). Some of the locally highly preferred grass species were also considered to be declining in the local environs;
they included Dichanthium annulatum (Jinjvo), Cenchrus ciliaris (Dhaman), Sporobolus fertilis (Khevai) and Chloris barbata (Siyarpuchha). The study furthermore identified a close coincidence between the interest in conserving tree species diversity
nearby the natural water resources and priorities of local inhabitants, which included protection of plenty of large trees
(including many fruit tress, viz. Mangifera indicia (Ambo), Cordia dichotoma (Gunda)and Pithecellobium dulce (Gorasamli)), improvement of woody fodder tree and grass species regeneration, and reduction of overgrazing pressure on grasslands.
Focusing management strategies on increasing the populations of such declining and highly preferred tree and grass species,
by active restoration and grazing policies, would enhance the natural resource value and biodiversity wealth considerably
and thereby the quality of life for the local inhabitants. The implications of the results are discussed and recommendations
are suggested for conservation, management, and sustainable utilization of the fragile grassland ecosystem of the Banni region.
Rural population of India constitutes about 70% of the total population and traditional fuels account for 75% of the rural energy needs. Depletion of woodlands coupled with the persistent dependency on fuel wood has posed a serious problem for household energy provision in many parts. This study highlights that the traditional fuels still meet 85–95% of fuel needs in rural areas of Kolar district; people prefer fuel wood for cooking and agriculture residues for water heating and other purposes. However, rapid changes in land cover and land use in recent times have affected these traditional fuels availability necessitating inventorying, mapping and monitoring of bioresources for sustainable management of bioresources. Remote sensing data (Multispectal and Panchromatic), Geographic Information System (GIS), field surveys and non-destructive sampling were used to assess spatially the availability and demand of energy. Field surveys indicate that rural household depends on species such as Prosopis juliflora, Acacia nilotica, Acacia auriculiformis to meet fuel wood requirement for domestic activities. Hence, to take stock of fuel wood availability, mapping was done at species level (with 88% accuracy) considering villages as sampling units using fused multispectral and panchromatic data.