Land use alteration strategy to improve forest landscape structural quality in Radhanagar forest range under Bankura district

Authors : Mrinmay MANDAL, Nilanjana DAS CHATTARJEE

Pages : 1-10

Doi:10.31195/ejejfs.580431

View : 19 | Download : 4

Publication Date : 2020-03-06

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Such kind of human necessities restructured the existing landscape pattern which brings imbalance in regional biodiversity. Radhanagar Forest Range insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(RFR); in Bankura district has been faced same kind of activates since 1960. As a result, forest patch becomes isolated and structurally complex in nature which is an important cause for extinction of wild animal. To control this damage forest department increased forest area through several plantation schemes in vacant or barren land.  But plantation areas were not appropriate in the question of structural forest quality in this region. The present study seems that forest structural quality is a vital consideration for balancing biodiversity, in concern of several ecological processes like species movement, connectivity, colonization and edge contrast. Suitable forest patch structure may possible when appropriate areas i.e. forest encroached areas will be select for plantation. To prove this statement, study considers two types of landuse alteration into forest land i); all barren land altered into forest and ii); selected encroached areas altered into forest land  in RFR. ArcGIS 10.3 version software is used for technical map editing and preparing these spatial alteration maps. After that several landscape ecological indexes like Total Core Area Index insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(TCAI);, Mean Core Area insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(MCA); at 300 m specified edge depth, Total Edge insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(TE);, Edge Density insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(ED);, Area Weighted Mean Shape Index insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(AWMSI);, Area Weighted Mean Patch Fractal Dimension insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(AWMPFD); and Mean Patch Size insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(MPS); are calculated using FragStat 4.2 version software to compare both spatial alteration forest qualities. Comparison analysis explains that encroached areas alteration into forest land is qualitative to improve forest structural quality. It is interesting to know that less area will be planted in encroached area to get utmost forest structural qualities. 
Keywords : Biodiversity, Extinction, Plantation, Spatial alteration, Land use pattern