Cartography of Vegetation and Conservation plans · Forest Map of South India (Pascal et al. 1982,...

Cartography of Vegetation and Conservation plans

B.R. Ramesh & G. Muthu SankarFrench Institute of Pondicherry

Vegetation map of the Peninsular India

Scale: 1 million

12 sheets published during 1959 -1973

In collaboration with ICAR

Our illustrious predecessors:

GausenLegrisMeher-HomjiBlascoTroysViratFontanelGuptaPascal ....

Forest Map of South India

(Pascal et al. 1982, 1984, 1992, Ramesh et al. 1997, 2002)

80,000 km2 forest area150 vegetation classes

Scale 1:250 000

Heterogeneity in vegetation:

Variability in bioclimate, soil and topography

Anthropogenic activities of different intensity

Characterization and classification of vegetation:

Based on dynamics and succession along the natural gradient and the disturbance regime

Vegetation classes

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)

What is an ecosystem?

Odum, 1953

Systems of biotic communities interacting with their physical environment

Ecosystem Structure Varies Geographically

Ecosystem / biodiversity regulators

Human intervention (threats)Logging, grazing,Land conversion, burning,NWFP, exotics…

Effects

ResponsesStructureProcesses / Function

DistributionReproductionDispersalMigrationRegenerationTrophic dynamicsBiogeochemical process

Biodiversity / Ecosystem

Landscape levelVegetation typeFragmentationArea changeNeighborhood….

Habitat levelHabitat diversityInterior to exteriorDegradation….

Species levelSpecies diversityPopulation structureSpecies shiftExtirpation / extinction

Genetic level

Natural ProcessClimate, Soil, Topography…

Components of ecosystem assessment

Western Ghats

Great escarpment running parallel to West Coast of India - 1600 km

Best non-equatorial forests: from WetEvergreen to Dry Evergreen forestsMoist to Dry Deciduous forests andGrasslands

High rate of Endemism (45% of4000 plant species; 29% of 1153vertebrates)

High human population density (341Per km²)

One of the Biodiversity Hotspots of the World

Latitude (°N)910111213141516 8

N

Nilgiris

PalnisAnamalai

Babudangiri

LONGITUDE profile2700 m

600 m

S

LATITUDINAL profile (Latitude 12°20’N)

W0 50 100 150 km

1400 m800 m

E

Latitude (°N)910111213141516 8

N

Nilgiris

PalnisAnamalai

Babudangiri

1400 m

600 m

S

_

°C

+

Temperature decreases with altitude(Source: Pascal 1984)

Medium- (600-1400 m) and low- (< 600 m)elevation forests (tall forests)

High-elevation (> 1400 m)mountain forests (Sholas)

and grasslands

1st JUNE

Western monsoon arm

Easternmonsoon arm

15th JUNE

1st JULY

10th JUNE

5th JUNE

1st JUNE

15th JUNE

1st JULY

10th JUNE

5th JUNE

15th SEPTEMBER

1st SEPTEMBER

1st OCTOBER

15th OCTOBER

W0 50 100 150 km

E

MONSOONWINDS

Rainfall decreases from west to east(Source: Pascal 1982)

Precipitation

5000 mm/an

2000 mm/an

500 mm/an

W0 50 100 150 km

E

MONSOONWINDS

Rainfall(mm/an)

2000-50001500-20001200-1500

> 5000

900-1200600-900< 600

Rainfall decreases from west to east(Source: Pascal 1982, 1984)

Precipitation

5000 mm/an

2000 mm/an

500 mm/anWet evergreen forest

Deciduous

Dry deciduous forestMoist deciduous forest

MONSOON

ONSET

Dry season increases from south to north(Source: Pascal 1982)

MONSOONWITHDRAW

Latitude (°N)910111213141516 8

N

Nilgiris

PalnisAnamalai

Babudangiri

600 m

S

2700 m

Dry season increases from south to north(Source: Pascal 1982)

1-2

3-4

5-6

7-8

9-10Latitude (°N)

910111213141516 8

N

Nilgiris

PalnisAnamalai

Babudangiri

1-2 mo

7-8 mo

S

Number of dry months/yr

Number ofdry months/yr

Potential areas of 22 forest types(Source: Pascal 1984, 1988)

Latitude (°N)910111213141516 8

N

Nilgiris

PalnisAnamalai

Babudangiri

2700 m

600 m

S

D e c i d u o u s

f o r e s t s

Forest types

Rainfall(mm)

Temp ( t:C) DS(months)

DKSDDSDKHDHPDDDPDHDP* DDP*

2000-50002000-50002000-60005000-80003500-70002000-6000

>20001500-1800

>23>20>20>20>20>23

20-2323-24.5

2-32-34 -55-5.55-66-75-66-7

Wet egMediumElevation

(750-1400m)

CMPGCMPMPPPHMSA

2000-50002000-50002000-50005000-70005000-6500

16-2316-2317-2218-20

17-22.5

2-32-44-54-55-7

Wet egHigh

Elevation(>1400m)

BGLLSMSMG

3000-5000900-6000

>2000

13.5-16<13.5

13.5-17

2-30-43-6

Dryevergreen

DMMKDMMDMO

1200-15001200-15001200-1500

>23>23

16-23

4-54-64-6

Wet eg

Low

Elevation

(<800m)

Evergreen forest types (19)

+ cutting of trees

degradation

exploitation

Deciduous climax forest Evergreen climax forest

Scrub woodland

Thickets

Discontinuous thickets

Savanna woodland

Tree savanna

Shrub savanna

Dense evergreen or semi-evergreen forest, potentially linked to climax type

Evergreen or semi-evergreenforest with disturbed structureand without characteristic species of the climax forest

Secondary deciduous forest

Dense evergreen forestwith a structure close to the climax forest but with different floristiccomposition

Secondary semi-evergreen forest

heavy anthrpogenic pressure + soil degradation

exploitation Fire

Exploitation + grazing

furtherdegradation

heavybiotic pressure

moderate exploitation

heavy exploitation

over exploitation protection

protection

protection

Stages of successions derived from climax forest

Groundtruthing

Satellite dataBioclimate

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.

Floristic types:

Floristic types are determined by-

• species abundance

• Species with bioclimatic indicator value

• both

Dipterocarpus indicus(<800 m elevation)

Cullenia exarillata(700 to 1400 m elevation)

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

…………….

Forest map of south IndiaSources: Pascal et al. 1982a,b, 1984, 1992, Ramesh et al. 1997, 2002)

Scale 1:250 000

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)

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.

Latitude (°N)910111213141516 8

N

Nilgiris

PalnisAnamalai

Babudangiri

1400 m

600 m

S

_

°C

+

Temperature decreases with altitude(Source: Pascal 1984)

Medium- (600-1400 m) and low- (< 600 m)elevation forests (tall forests)

High-elevation (> 1400 m)mountain forests (Sholas)

and grasslands

Tea plantations

T T T

CC

Coffee plantations Hevea, Teak and Eucalyptusplantations

HTE

… … GEOGRAPHICAL GEOGRAPHICAL DATABASEDATABASE

Coastal limits

Hydrology

Physiognomic types

Floristic types

Plantations

Vegetation

Road and rail network

Habitation

Administrative boundaries

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%)

1540

1922

374

149

194

216275 Low elevation evergreen

climax forest

Medium elevationevergreen climax forest

High elevation evergreenclimax forest

Montane evergreenforest

High elevation grassland

Primary moist decidousforest (PMD)

Primary dry deciduousforest (PDD)

(16.31%)

(20.37%)

(3.97%)

(1.57%)

(2.05%)

(2.29%)

(2.92%)

Percentage out of 9437 Km2

Disturbed / secondary / degraded

forests (4768 km² - 51%)

452

2442

1626

55

193

Secondary / disturbedevergreen forest of low,medium and high elevations

Secondary moist deciduousforest

Degraded formations oflow, medium, high elevations

Degraded formations of PMD

Degraded formations of PDD


Current status of Forests in Kerala State:• 24 % (9437 km²) of total geographical area• Nearly 1000 km² loss between 1961 and 1988

(Prasad, 1998)

Loss of forest areas in Western Ghatsof Karnataka between 1977 and 1997

(Source: Ramesh & Swaminath 1999)

Total

- 11.9%

InsideReserveForests

- 4.4%

OutsideReserveForests

- 19.0%

Kodagu loss

Proliferation of coffee plantations in Kodagu district (Source: Ramesh & Swaminath 1999)

Evergreen forests

Deciduous forestsCoffee plantations

Teak and Eucalyptus plantations

1977 1997

20 km

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

Prediction model of richness in endemic tree speciesand actual forest cover

• 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

Rationalization of protected area network


• 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)


PTR

Shendurni

Peppara

Neyyar


9794Total

515009High (high + high medium)

302908Medium

191877Low(low + low medium)

%Area (km2)Conservation value

Conservation value areas

Gaps in conservation

3889

(78%)

1119

(22%)

High

2303605Medium

1520357Low

Non PA(km2)

PA(km2)

Conservation value

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)


Rationalization of PA network

Sanctuaries• Existing Protected Areas (WLS & NP)• Extension (WLS & NP)• New (WLS & NP)• Corridors

Conservation Reserves

Community Reserves

Cartography of Vegetation and Conservation plans · Forest Map of South India (Pascal et al. 1982,...

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