期刊名称：ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences
印刷版ISSN：2194-9042
电子版ISSN：2194-9050
出版年度：2006
卷号：XXXVI Part 4
出版社：Copernicus Publications
摘要：Forest ecosystem is a complex system having interactions with biotic and abiotic components. It includes not only plant and animal communities but also microorganisms, climate, sunlight, water and soil. Any slight difference in soil, slope, climate etc. makes for subtle difference in each habitat within an ecosystem. Therefore each parcel of landscape has characteristic soil, exposure, moisture and temperature/rainfall regimes, which meet the requirement of a given assemblage of plants. Some of such unique parcels of vegetation are being affected due to constant anthropogenic influences leading to severe fragmentation hence there is an urgent need to identify the priority areas for conservation and restoration of affected areas including rehabilitation of certain RET species associations in ecologically similar and environmentally suitable locations. Keeping in view of this, an attempt has been made to prioritize areas of conservation, locate areas to be restored, identify species composition to be rehabilitated in R.V.Nagar Range, Gudem-Saparla hilly tract covering an area of 312 sq.km in Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh (India), through satellite RS and GIS techniques. Satellite data of Landsat MSS 1973 and IRS-1D LISS III of 2003 were independently classified after geometric and radiometric normalization corrections and assessed the forest cover changes in 1 sq.km grid and generated as Sensitive Index (SI) map. Further the road and settlement buffer of 1000m was generated to represent Threat Index (TI) map. The phytosociological data collected at different elevation, slope and aspects in the study area were assessed based on species richness and Shannon & Weiner index for stand density, basal area per hectare and biodiversity index. The areas of higher values of these three parameters, considered to be the best suitable conditions for prioritizing the conservation area representing as Conservation Measure Index (CMI), were delineated with the aid of arc GIS tools. Besides, the distribution of RET species over the study areas aided in finding out the areas to be restored and type of species to be rehabilitated. By integrating SI, TI and RET Index with CMI, the study area was prioritized into Conservation Zones, also identified areas to be restored and finally the type of species to be rehabilitated in similar environmental and ecological areas. The study highlighted the usefulness of satellite remote sensing and GIS for decision making and implementation of conservation of high biodiversity areas embedded with RET species and also, restoration and rehabilitation programmes of such critical areas in forests of Andhra Pradesh, India thereby to achieve sustainable development of forest resources
