Landscape Analysis for Biodiversity Conservation

Objectives

Perceived as one of the 25 global hotspots of biodiversity, the Western Ghats support the growth of a wide variety of endemic plants and animals. In compliance with such International Agreements as the Convention of Biological Diversity, the National Forest Policy has emphasized the need for a more integrative approach in forest management. This includes not only the forest ecosystems but also the biotic and abiotic factors that influence them. The overall objective of the project is to promote the conservation of biodiversity as also the sustainable usage of forest resources by forest dependent communities with the development of strategic landscape analysis and planning approaches.

This study is carried out in two phases:

The first phase is to describe the different levels of organization of the Western Ghats, and in particular, the ones that allow the study of forest dynamics at landscape level. This is followed by a prioritization of the landscape units according to the pertinence of biodiversity conservation.

In the second phase, the interactions between the latent drivers of forest change in the selected landscape units are analyzed and simulation models developed and tested for usage as tools of decision support.

Materials and Methods

The landscape approach adopted here is based on the principles developed in Landscape Ecology that incorporates the diverse aspects of spatial heterogeneity, its dynamics and influence on ecological processes. The classification of the Western Ghats into relevant landscape units has been done on the presumption that the structure (patterns, arrangement of patches within a mosaic) of the landscape is determined primarily by biophysical factors (i.e bioclimate, soil, topography, hydrography, ecology, vegetation). It is subsequently modified by human activities as a result of the complex process of environmental changes induced, amongst others, by socio-economic and cultural factors.

In the case of a prioritized landscape, a detailed and comprehensive spatial database would be developed to typify different ecosystems that would form the basis for future strategic planning by the Forest Department. Stakeholders surrounding the landscape would be identified and their influence on the landscape, studied. A combination of variables that characterize the distinct socio-ecological situations in the landscape and its extent would be identified. By studying the dynamics of these situations, a test simulation model designed as decision-making tool would be developed to predict the outcome of management interventions.

Partners

• Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala
• Kerala Forest Department

Funding

• French Institute of Pondicherry
• World Bank under Kerala Forestry Project, Kerala Forest Department

Team

IFP

• Dr. B.R. Ramesh - Project Coordinator
• Dr. P. Couteron - Head of Ecology Department
• Dr. Frédéric Borne - Head of Geomatics and Applied Informatics Lab.
• Dr. A.Giriraj- Landscape ecologist
• Dr. P.V. Karunakaran - Botanist
• S. Aravajy - Botanist
• G. Muthusankar - GIS Engineer
• Lucie Dejouhanet - PhD Student

M.G. University, Kottayam

• Prof. Rajan Gurukkal - Social Scientist
• M. Amruth - Social Scientist

Consultants

• Dr. M. Balasubramanian - Wildlife Ecologist – Periyar Tiger Reserve
• Dr. G. Bourgeon - Soil Scientist - CIRAD
• Dr. J. P. Pascal - Ecologist - CNRS
• Dr. D. Lo Seen - Geomatics - CIRAD

Main Outputs

Books

• Forest landscapes of the Southern Western Ghats, India: biodiversity, human ecology and management strategies.

Edited by B.R. Ramesh, Rajan Gurukkal, Collection Ecologie n° 40, 2007, xvii, 298 p. + CD-ROM
Language: English. 550 Rs (20 €)

The Western Ghats forests are endowed with large species and habitat diversity, which is nowadays under threat by increasing demographic pressure and changing land use. To address these challenges, a novel and comprehensive approach is sought from the principles of landscape ecology. Morpho-pedological features are used to delineate landscape units all over the Western Ghats of Kerala, among which the Western Anamalai region is chosen to elucidate the relative influence of physical factors, bioclimate and anthropogenic pressures on the characteristics of natural vegetation and on the status of the vertebrate fauna. Highlighting patterns of resource utilization by proximal and distant stakeholders, the book goes about identifying value-based management zones, while proposing management strategies for conservation and sustainable development.

Keywords: biodiversity, Western ghats, human ecology, landscape ecology, forest management.

• Ramesh B.R., Gurukkal R., Lo Seen D. et al. 2005. "Forest Landscape Analysis and Management Plan for Kerala. Final Report". Institut Français de Pondichéry - Kerala Forest Department.

• Ramesh B.R., Karnakuran P.V., Balasubramanian M., Lo Seen D. and Kaler O.P., 2002, Biodiversity conservation strategy and action plans for Kerala State. French Institute of Pondicherry and Kerala Forest Department.

Articles

• CANER, L., LO SEEN, D., GUNNELL, Y., RAMESH, B.R. & BOURGEON, G., 2007. Spatial heterogeneity of land cover response to climatic change in the Nilgiri highlands (southern India) since the Last Glacial Maximum, The Holocene, 17(2): 195-205.

• KARUNAKARAN, P.V, 2006. Neelakurinji – is it fire tolerant? Short note published in Malabar Trogon Vol. 4 (2,3,&4) : 9, Journal of Malabar Natural History Society.

• COUTERON P., BARBIER N. & GAUTIER D., 2006. Textural ordination based on Fourier spectral decomposition: a method to analyze and compare landscape patterns. Landscape Ecology, 21, 555-567. Get preprint

Conference poster

At which scales does landscape structure influence the spatial distribution of elephants ?

Detailed covariance analyses in the field of ecological complexity are still very scarce. Yet, they would be fruitful, for instance to investigate influences of landscape properties upon fauna and/or flora species. In addition, such ecological relationships often present multiscale responses, from individual to group, population or community processes. The aims of this work were: to develop a simple mathematical method to quantify landscape-fauna relationships at various spatial scales; to apply the method to study the influence of landscape structure on elephant distribution in the Western Ghats of India. As a result, landscape connectivity (quantified as a contagion index) appears negatively correlated to the probability of presence of elephants. In particular, elephants tend to avoid the anthropized / non-anthropized interface to settle in more homogeneous zones.

Click here for more detailed results

GAUCHEREL C., BALASUBRAMANIAN M., KARUNAKARAN P.V., RAMESH B.R., MUTHUSANKAR G., COUTERON P., At which scales does landscape structure influence the spatial distribution of elephants in the Western Ghats of India? Proceedings of the annual French Internationale Association of Landscape Ecology conference, Toulouse, 20-22 November 2007.