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Quantifying the landscape changes within and outside the Dachigam National Park, Kashmir Himalaya, India using observations and models

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Abstract

Protected areas are the cornerstone of biodiversity and serve as a haven for biodiversity conservation. However, due to immense anthropic pressures and ongoing changes in climate, the protected reserves are under immense threat. Human interference through land system changes is a major precusor of fragmentation of landscapes resulting in the decline of Himalayan biodiversity. In this context, this research assessed land use land cover changes (LULCCs) and fragmentation within and outside the Dachigam National Park (DNP) using remote sensing data, GIS-based models and ground truth over the past 55 years (1965–2020). Landscape Fragmentation Tool (LFT) helped to compute edge effect, patchiness, perforation and core areas. The Land Change Modeller (LCM) of IDRISI TerrSet was used for simulating the future LULC for the years 2030, 2050, 2700 and 2100. The analysis of LULCCs showed that built-up and aquatic vegetation expanded by 326% and 174%, respectively in the vicinity of the DNP. The area under agriculture, scrub and pasture decreased primarily due to intensified land use activities. Within the DNP, the area under forest cover declined by 7%. A substantial decrease was observed in the core zone both within (39%) and outside (30%) the DNP indicative of fragmentation of natural habitats. LCM analysis projected 10% increase in the built-up extents besides forests, shrublands and pastures. This knowledge generated in this study shall form an important baseline for understanding and characterising the human-wildlife relationship, initiating long-term ecological research (LTER) on naturally vegetated and aquatic ecosystems (primarily Dal Lake) of the region.

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Data availability

The datasets generated in this study are available from the corresponding author on a reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are gratfeful to USGS for hosting the earth observation data used in this research.

Funding

The authors express their gratitude for the financial assistance received from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MOEF&CC), Government of India under its National Mission for Himalayan Studies sponsored research project on Hyperspectral Imaging for sharper definitions of Himalayan Ecosystems and its high value plant species under climate uncertainties [Grant no. GBPNI/NMHS-2017-18/MG-18/554/466/126/309/354]. Sheikh Aneaus expresses her gratitude for the financial assistance received from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India under the WISE KIRAN fellowship scheme [Grant no: DST/WOS-A/EA-10/2021 (C)] for pursuing Ph.D.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geoinformatics, University of Kashmir, Hazratbal, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, 190006, India

    Sheikh Aneaus & Irfan Rashid

  2. Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, 221005, India

    Prashant K. Srivastava

  3. Department of Wildlife Protection, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, Near Hotel Lalit Grand, Boulevard Road, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, 190001, India

    Samina Amin Charoo

Authors
  1. Sheikh Aneaus
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  2. Irfan Rashid
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  3. Prashant K. Srivastava
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  4. Samina Amin Charoo
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Contributions

Sheikh Aneaus performed formal analysis, curated data and maps in consultation with Irfan Rashid. Irfan Rashid conceptualized and supervised the research work. Sheikh Aneaus and Irfan Rashid wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Prashant K. Srivastava and Samina Charoo edited the first draft of the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Irfan Rashid.

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Highlights

•LULCCs over six decades linked with fragmentation in the western Himalaya.

•Aquatic vegetation, built-up, forest and shrubland are projected to decrease in the vicinity of conservation reserve.

•Alpine pasture and exposed rock are projected to decrease within the conservation reserve.

•Fragmentation has implications on biodiversity richness, human-wildlife conflicts and earth surface processes.

•This baseline knowledge is useful for habitat modelling, human-wildlife relationships and climate impact studies.

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Aneaus, S., Rashid, I., Srivastava, P.K. et al. Quantifying the landscape changes within and outside the Dachigam National Park, Kashmir Himalaya, India using observations and models. Environ Monit Assess 195, 1139 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11676-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11676-x

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