More Related Content
Similar to Plan for tiger habitat suitability using gis (20)
More from Soumik Chakraborty (19)
Plan for tiger habitat suitability using gis
- 1. Lab Assignment “Report” On Account of GIS - 562 – GIS for Monitoring Natural Resource & Environmental Impacts for “Plan for Tiger Habitat Suitability using GIS” by Soumik Chakraborty M.Tech GIS Sem III (MT19GGS260) NIIT University NH 8, Delhi - Jaipur Exp, Sotanala, Neemrana, Rajasthan 301705
- 2. 1. INTRODUCTION The conservation and management of biodiversity is closely linked to the need of habitat quality estimation and prognosis of wildlife spatial distribution. International and national agreements have supported the conservation strategies of tiger by enhancing their natural habitat conservation. Habitat suitability mapping for wildlife is currently gaining interest in wildlife conservation and ecosystem management to tackle the problem of habitat competition between human activities and wildlife. To define habitat suitability of large areas, multivariate models are applied in combination with remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS). RS is an invaluable source of information and GIS is an excellent tool for creating land-cover and habitat factor maps required for habitat modeling. 1.1 Tiger Ecology The tiger, Panthera tigris is a member of Felidae family, one of the largest of the 'big cats' in the genus Panthera. There are nine different subspecies of the tiger. The remaining sub-species are the Siberian (P. t. altaica), South China (P. t. amoyensis), Sumatran (P. t. sumatrae), Indochinese (P. t. corbetti), Malayan (P. t. jacksoni)and Bengal tigers (P. t. tigris). Out of which the Bengal tigers are most abundant in the country highly specific to the marshy deltaic regions of West Bengal and dry scrubs of West Rajasthan.
- 3. 2. Tiger Habitat Suitability Modeling 2.1. Variables encountered for Tiger Habitat Modeling Aspect: Steep Mountain slopes to evade direct sunlight Solar Radiation: Too much of direct exposure to sunlight is not preferable for Tigers especially in summer months. High Vegetation Cover: Dense vegetation with tall grass provides best ambush for the tiger to hunt and prey. Availability of Prey: Adult males require 40-50 large prey animals per year whereas Females require 60-70 to raise cubs (boar, gaur, Sambar deer, barking deer and Buffaloes). Availability of Forest: Tropical Evergreen and Deciduous forest serves excellent with especially trees like Sal forest and dry- thorn provide best habitat for Tiger hinting grounds. Swampy land like Sundarbans also play an important role. Availability of Large Area: The most threat to a tiger habitat is the reduction of area of its praying grounds. A minimum of 200- 400 sq. km is required for a tiger population to grow and multiply. Elevation: Tiger habitat extends from 2000 m a.s.l to 4000 m a.s.l (Siberia). Temperature: Temperature range varies from 48 °C to -35°C. Precipitation: In dry deciduous forest (24 inches) ppt to Wet tropical evergreen (395 inches) per year. Proximity to Water Source: Distance from small ponds or a fresh water reserve source serves efficient Tiger habitat.
- 4. 2.2 Thematic Layers for Tiger Habitat Modeling D.E.M (Digital Elevation Model) – High resolution ASTER DEM Slope – derivative of DEM Aspect– derivative of DEM Precipitation – Worldclim data Toposheet of the region Animal citing information interpolated NDVI Classified Forest classes Solar Radiation Map 2.3 Habitat Model Flow chart Habitat Modeling for Tiger Habitat is prepared after consideration of all the Thematic layers as an implication of the variables obtained. Although the Thematic Model layers are not all the exact representations of the variables required for the Tiger Habitat formation. To create a replica for a best Tiger Habitat A BINARY model or Multiplicative is followed and explained wherein a pixel is classified as “POSSIBLE TIGER HABITAT” pixel only if all the conditions holds true as +1. Other models involve Additive model which turns a pixel as POSSIBLE even if one condition comes true or +1. However the range lies somewhere between but the best possible would be that of where all conditions come true being more precise in nature.
- 5. DEM DEM (4000<>2000) SLOPE SLOPE (60<>30) ASPECT ASPECT (NW- SE) 0 WORLD CLIM PRECIPITATION (>24-395<) TOPOSHEET Continuous area (>200-400<) NDVI NDVI (>0.75) SOLAR RADIATION Solar Rad (>3.56 Kwh/m2 /yr) ANIMAL CITINGS Buffer of 50 k.m POSSIBLE Habitat for Tiger Species 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1