Assessment of forest fragmentation in the conservation priority Dudhwa landscape,India using FRAGSTATS computed class level metrics

The Dudhwa landscape, a priority conservation area representing Terai ecosystem (woodland-grassland-wetland complex) has witnessed a sea change in past 150 years or so on account of long history of forest management, changes in land use, and rapid economic development. We assessed fragmentation in two constituent protected areas (Dudhwa National Park-DNP and Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary-KAT) of the landscape due to forest management activities (clear cutting, development of rail and road network, and plantations) and compared the magnitude among them using select metrics at the forest class level. We applied FRAGSTATS spatial pattern analysis software (ver.3.3) on different forest classes deciphered by land use/ cover maps generated using IRS P6 LISS IV digital data. Study amply revealed that the forests in DNP are less fragmented and of better habitat quality than forests of KAT. The set of seven metrics (patch density, mean patch size, edge density, mean shape index, mean core area, mean nearest neighbour, and interspersion and juxtaposition index) at the class level quantified in the present study are simple and proved useful for quantifying complex spatial processes and can be used as an effective means of monitoring in Dudhwa landscape.