Palani Hills Landscape change map

This study examines landscape change in the Palani Hills using LANDSAT imageries. Study was funded by INTACH Kodaikanal and IISER TIRUPATI

Not seeing the grass for the trees: Timber plantations and agriculture shrink tropical montane grassland by two-thirds over four decades in the Palani Hills, a Western Ghats Sky Island

<div><p>Tropical montane habitats, grasslands, in particular, merit urgent conservation attention owing to the disproportionate levels of endemic biodiversity they harbour, the ecosystem services they provide, and the fact that they are among the most threatened habitats globally. The Shola Sky Islands in the Western Ghats host a matrix of native forest-grassland matrix that has been planted over the last century, with exotic timber plantations. The popular discourse on the landscape change is that mainly forests have been lost to the timber plantations and recent court directives are to restore Shola forest trees. In this study, we examine spatiotemporal patterns of landscape change over the last 40 years in the Palani Hills, a significant part of the montane habitat in the Western Ghats. Using satellite imagery and field surveys, we find that 66% of native grasslands and 31% of native forests have been lost over the last 40 years. Grasslands have gone from being the dominant, most contiguous land cover to one of the rarest and most fragmented. They have been replaced by timber plantations and, to a lesser extent, expanding agriculture. We find that the spatial pattern of grassland loss to plantations differs from the loss to agriculture, likely driven by the invasion of plantation species into grasslands. We identify remnant grasslands that should be prioritised for conservation and make specific recommendations for conservation and restoration of grasslands in light of current management policy in the Palani Hills, which favours large-scale removal of plantations and emphasises the restoration of native forests.</p></div

Area (in sq.km.) of each classified land use type across four decades, in the Palani Hills.

<p>Area (in sq.km.) of each classified land use type across four decades, in the Palani Hills.</p

Change in landcover.

<p>(A) as expressed in the percent cover for each decade, and (B) as expressed in the decadal changes in plantation, agriculture and grassland cover as a proportion of the total change between 1973–2014 recorded for that class.</p

Palani Hills with ground data collected across the landscape.

<p>Palani Hills with ground data collected across the landscape.</p

Change in the spatial characteristics of the landscape as assessed by various parameters.

<p>(A) Largest Patch Index (LPI) (B) Edge Density (ED) of the cover type (C) Mean Euclidean Nearest Neighbor Distance (ENN_MN) between patches (D) Perimeter to Area Fractal Dimension (PAFRAC) of patches (E) Aggregation Index (AI) (F) Interspersion and Juxtaposition Index (IJI) for areal extent of grasslands, plantation and agriculture between 1973 and 2014 in the Palani Hills.</p

Sites of PARTAKE survey administration in NCR (National Capital Region: New Delhi and Gurgaon).

<p>Sites of PARTAKE survey administration in NCR (National Capital Region: New Delhi and Gurgaon).</p

Landuse and landcover changes across the Palani Hills over four decades.

<p>GIF of this change at <a href="http://gph.is/2eBvoB2" target="_blank">http://gph.is/2eBvoB2</a>.</p

Differences in perceptions amongst those who ‘Heard’ of clinical research and those who did not.

<p>Differences in perceptions amongst those who ‘Heard’ of clinical research and those who did not.</p

Significant socioeconomic associations.

<p>Significant socioeconomic associations.</p