Conclusion

Either natural or induced by humans drive landscape dynamics with changes occurring in the physical space. LULC transitions leading to deforestation, which have altered the Western Ghats landscape structure. The anthropogenic activities have led to the loss of primeval forest cover due to monoculture plantations of exotic species. The comprehensive knowledge of CIR / ESR and prioritization is quintessential for evolving strategies of conservation. The study showed a loss in Udupi district forest cover during 1990-2020, increasing urban and open surfaces. Horticulture plantations increased from 36.82% (1990) to 42.39% (2020). Conversion of agricultural land to commercial uses, all along the major highways, has increased the built-up area from 0.22% to 9.22%. Fragmentation analysis shows a decline in interior forests and an increase of non-forest areas. Temporal LST analysis across LU categories shows an increase in LST. It has been observed that urban areas show an increase in maximum temperature. Bio-Geo climatic, ecological, and social attributes were used for prioritizing and identification of CIR regions at disaggregated levels (grids). The study showed the variation in soil, lithology etc., across the districts and change in climate pattern with respect to chosen variables (Bio-geo climatic, ecological, hydrologic, and social). CIR analysis highlights that Udupi, a coastal districts shows, spatially 15% of the area represents CIR 1, while 31% of the area represents CIR 2. 42% of the area represents CIR 3 and about 12% of the area is in CIR 4. CIR 2 regions have sensitivity similar to CIR 1 and have the potential to become CIR 1 with appropriate eco-restoration strategies. CIR 1 & CIR 2 are the no-go area regarding developments, and CIR 4 is referred to to as the least possible eco-sensitive region. The Community-based Conservation (CBC) of CIR 2 & 3 is proposed for the conservation of biological diversity (or wildlife) involving local communities in decision-making. The level of eco-sensitiveness directly impacts temperature with a correlation of 0.80 across eco-sensitive regions in Udupi.

Acknowledgment

We are grateful to the ENVIS division, The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), the Government of India, and the Indian Institute of Science for financial and infrastructure support. We thank Madhumita Dey for her assistance in data analyses.