ABSTRACT

A landscape refers to an ecological space with a mosaic of heterogeneous elements, and structure (composition and configuration) determines ecosystem functions and resource availability. Alteration in the forest landscape structure with fragmentation would lead to loss of habitat and biodiversity. Understanding landscape dynamics are crucial for prudent management of natural resources (land, water, etc.) and conservation. Rapid, unsustainable development during the post-industrialization and globalization era has led to the reduction of natural spaces with an exponential increase in paved surfaces and burgeoning population, leading to changes in local climate and the formation of urban heat islands. The current study prioritizes regions of conservation importance at the disaggregated level in the Udupi district, Central Western Ghats, based on ecological fragility based on ecological, geo-climatic, land, and social aspects. Conservation importance regions (CIR) or Ecological Sensitive Regions (ESR) are the distinct ecological units with exceptional biotic and abiotic elements which need at most care and sustainable development. CIR prioritization at grid levels (5’x 5’ grids or 9 x 9 km) acts as a spatial decision support system to better understand the forest landscape dynamics and planning. The analyses of forest landscape dynamics using the temporal remote sensing data in Udupi district, Karnataka State reveal an increase in built-up areas by 8.8% with a decline in forest cover, resulting in the rise in maximum temperature by 4˚C in Udupi district during 1990-2018. Multivariate statistical analysis is done to understand the role of landscape dynamics on the land surface temperature (LST). The correlation analysis shows an increasing trend of LST across the CIR region with r= 0.8 where CIR 1 indicates the lowest temperature and CIR 4 has the maximum temperature.

Keywords: Biodiversity; ecosystems; ecologically fragile regions; Udupi district