Hari Krishna Peddi | National Remote Sensing Centre,ISRO,India. (original) (raw)

Papers by Hari Krishna Peddi

In the present study, habitat, distribution and regeneration of Commiphora wightii (Arn.) Bhandar... more In the present study, habitat, distribution and regeneration of Commiphora wightii (Arn.) Bhandari (Burseraceae) was explored in Rajasthan, India, to support conservation actions. Twenty-six sites were identified for sampling the populations of C. wightii in the desert region and in Aravallis. Commiphora wightii prefers rocky substratum and grows in shallow, gravelly, unfertile soils, hilly terrains and under open canopies. The number of saplings was only 5.68 % as compared to its adult population. Population densities of C. wightii were 25 stems ha -1 in desert and 40 stems ha -1 in Aravallis of Rajasthan, India. Over-exploitation, narrow extent of occurrence, small area of occupancy, severe fragmentation of populations, very low regeneration and invasion of alien species to its habitat revealed that C. wightii is facing severe conservation threat and extinction risk. It should be prioritized for "endangered category" by ensuring the habitat conservation, sustainable util...

Rajasthan, the largest state of India has a geographic area of 342,239 km 2 ; shows great variati... more Rajasthan, the largest state of India has a geographic area of 342,239 km 2 ; shows great variation in climate and vegetation. In the present study, vegetation types and land use of Rajasthan were mapped using multi-season IRS P6 LISS III data. Visual image interpretation technique was adopted in mapping the heterogeneity of land cover classes at 1:50,000 scale. Georeferenced phytosociological information was also used to delineate different vegetation formations. Altogether 26 vegetation type classes were mapped in the study region. The vegetation cover occupies 16.78% of the geographical area of the State. Of the total vegetation cover, forest area is contributing 4.71% of the geographical area. The main forest types of Rajasthan includes Dry Deciduous forest, Thorn forest, Broad leaved hill forest, Dhauk forest, Teak mixed forest and Riverine forest. The vegetation type map prepared provides a key input for biodiversity understanding at landscape level.

Journal of Wetlands Ecology, 2011

Knowledge of changes in wetlands is becoming a very important issue for sustainable management of... more Knowledge of changes in wetlands is becoming a very important issue for sustainable management of natural resources. The present work has been carried out: in Keoladeo Ghana National Park (KNP), a RAMSAR site to study the dynamics of wetlands with reference to long-term and seasonal changes in extent of water spread, vegetation types and to build a spatial database on wetlands. Multi-temporal satellite data of Landsat MSS (1977), Landsat TM data (1989), IRS P6 AWIFS (2005) and IRS P6 LISS III data (2005-2006) was used for mapping and spatial analysis. Comparisons between 1977 and 2005 indicated that changes in overall wetland areas were significant. The total area of wetland in March 1977 was 186 hectares and in March 2005 it was found to be 7.5 ha. There is a drastic reduction in spatial extent of water spread from October to May and results indicated that the total area ranged from 528 ha (October 2005) to 7.5 ha (March-May 2005). The study clearly points that Geoinformatics have ...

ISRN Forestry, 2012

Analyzing the spatial extent and distribution of forest fires is essential for sustainable forest... more Analyzing the spatial extent and distribution of forest fires is essential for sustainable forest management. The present study appraises the distribution of forest fires in one of the largest states in India, Andhra Pradesh, using satellite remote sensing. Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) onboard on Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS P6) was used for mapping and analyzing the spatial extent of burnt areas. Comparative analysis was carried out with respect to different forest types, protected areas and across elevation zones to demarcate and identify the fire-affected areas. The results show that about 19% (8594 km2) of forest area were burnt in the state during 2009. Burnt area statistics for Protected Areas reveal that 24% of forest cover was affected by fire. Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve, the largest tiger reserve of the country, shows an area of 793 km2 (22%) under forest fire. Higher elevation areas which are predominantly dominated by savannah and woodlands exper...

Environmental monitoring and assessment, 2014

Deforestation in the biosphere reserves, which are key Protected Areas has negative impacts on bi... more Deforestation in the biosphere reserves, which are key Protected Areas has negative impacts on biodiversity, climate, carbon fluxes and livelihoods. Comprehensive study of deforestation in biosphere reserves is required to assess the impact of the management effectiveness. This article assesses the changes in forest cover in various zones and protected areas of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, the first declared biosphere reserve in India which forms part of Western Ghats-a global biodiversity hotspot. In this study, we have mapped the forests from earliest available topographical maps and multi-temporal satellite data spanning from 1920's to 2012 period. Mapping of spatial extent of forest cover, vegetation types and land cover was carried out using visual interpretation technique. A grid cell of 1 km × 1 km was generated for time series change analysis to understand the patterns in spatial distribution of forest cover (1920-1973-1989-1999-2006-2012). The total forest area of biosphe...

Journal of Earth System Science, 2013

The conservation of biodiversity is essential for human survival and quality of the environment. ... more The conservation of biodiversity is essential for human survival and quality of the environment. Lakshadweep islands are vulnerable to global change and the representing remnant natural vegetation. Landscape fragmentation, disturbance regimes and biological richness have been studied using geo-spatial techniques. Littoral vegetation is the only natural vegetation type of Lakshadweep islands. Altogether 59 patches of the littoral vegetation occupying an area of 137.2 ha were identified. 58.06% of the littoral vegetation patches belongs to the patch-size class of <5 ha. The remnant natural vegetation surviving with patches of less than 20 ha size indicates severe anthropogenic pressure. The fragmentation of littoral vegetation habitat into smaller isolated patches poses one of the key threats to biodiversity and coastal environment. Phytosociological observations revealed distinct plant communities and presence of invasive species in littoral vegetation. The high disturbance areas accounted for 59.11% area of the total vegetation. The overall spatial distribution of biological richness (BR) in Lakshadweep shows maximum BR at low level (78%), followed by medium (19%), high (2%) and very high (1%). The study emphasises the importance of conserving the remnant natural vegetation, which is critically endangered.

Analysis of life forms of the vegetation in arid, semiarid and subhumid regions of Rajasthan, a n... more Analysis of life forms of the vegetation in arid, semiarid and subhumid regions of Rajasthan, a northwest state of India, was carried out based on the data collected from the field. The floristic and vegetation biological spectra of four study sites (Jaisalmer , Ajmer, Sariska and Mt. Abu) were compared. Analysis of life form spectra revealed the most striking feature of higher differentiation in proportions of therophytes along climatic gradient using vegetation spectrum. The proportion of therophytes and phanerophytes are highly variable across the sites indicate influence of climate. Biological spectrum of the four study sites has been compared with Raunkiaer's normal spectrum to know the phytoclimate of that region. Jaisalmer, Ajmer and Sariska represents tropical arid climate, while Mt. Abu of tropical moist climate. The present study recommended to use vegetation biological spectrum because of proper representation of life forms of a given area. The disadvantage of floristic biological spectrum is underestimation of dominant vegetation expression and identical value to the rare species.

Journal of Earth System Science, 2014

There is an urgent need to identify the human influence on landscape as disturbance regimes was r... more There is an urgent need to identify the human influence on landscape as disturbance regimes was realized for prioritization of the protected areas. The present study has attempted to describe the landscape level assessment of fragmentation and disturbance index in protected areas of Rajasthan using remote sensing and GIS techniques. Geospatial analysis of disturbance regimes indicates 61.75% of the total PAs are under moderate disturbance index followed by 28.64% and 9.61% under low and high, respectively. Among the 28 protected areas-National Chambal WLS, Jaisamand WLS, Kumbhalgarh WLS, Sawai Man Singh WLS, Kailadevi WLS and Bandh Baratha WLS are representing high level of disturbance. The present study has emphasized the moderate to low disturbance regimes in protected areas, which infer low biotic pressure and conservation effectiveness of PA network in Rajasthan. The spatial information generated on PAs is of valuable use for forest management and developing conservation strategies.

The present paper deals with the genus Spigelia L., belonging to family Loganiaceae. It is report... more The present paper deals with the genus Spigelia L., belonging to family Loganiaceae. It is reported here as an addition to the Flora of Gujarat State. The paper also envisages brief citation, description, phenological data and illustrations of the species.

National Academy Science Letters, 2015

Achyranthes coynei Santapau (Amaranthaceae) is an endemic and red listed species of India. It was... more Achyranthes coynei Santapau (Amaranthaceae) is an endemic and red listed species of India. It was recorded for the first time from Kachchh biosphere reserve and forms new distributional record for the Indian Desert region and Gujarat state. It is being described along with field photographs to facilitate easy identification of the taxon.

International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 2015

A seamless vegetation type map of India (scale 1: 50,000) prepared using medium-resolution IRS LI... more A seamless vegetation type map of India (scale 1: 50,000) prepared using medium-resolution IRS LISS-III images is presented. The map was created using an on-screen visual interpretation technique and has an accuracy of 90%, as assessed using 15,565 ground control points. India has hitherto been using potential vegetation/forest type map prepared by Champion and Seth in 1968. We characterized and mapped further the vegetation type distribution in the country in terms of occurrence and distribution, area occupancy, percentage of protected area (PA) covered by each vegetation type, range of elevation, mean annual temperature and precipitation over the past 100 years. A remote sensing-amenable hierarchical classification scheme that accommodates natural and semi-natural systems was conceptualized, and the natural vegetation was classified into forests, scrub/shrub lands and grasslands on the basis of extent of vegetation cover. We discuss the distribution and potential utility of the vegetation type map in a broad range of ecological, climatic and conservation applications from global, national and local perspectives. We used 15,565 ground control points to assess the accuracy of products available globally (i.e., GlobCover, Holdridge's life zone map and potential natural vegetation (PNV) maps). Hence we recommend that the map prepared herein be used widely. This vegetation type map is the most comprehensive one developed for India so far. It was prepared using 23.5 m seasonal satellite remote sensing data, field samples and information relating to the biogeography, climate and soil. The digital map is now available through a web portal (http://bis.iirs.gov.in).

Quantitative data on patterns of distribution and diversity of grasslands is necessary for conser... more Quantitative data on patterns of distribution and diversity of grasslands is necessary for conservation planning and sustainable utilization. This is the first study to document and analyse the phytosociological data of grasslands of entire Rajasthan state, India. The data was collected through stratified random sampling method by laying 515 sample plots. The study found 375 species belonging to 188 genera and 46 families. Species diversity (Shannon-Weiner diversity) in seven grassland community types ranged between 2.59 and 3.18. The highest Shannon-Weiner diversity index (H'= 3.18) was found in Aristida-Dichanthium grassland followed by Sehima-Apluda grassland (H' = 3.17). The Simpson diversity index and Similarity index are quite different from each other reveals the uniqueness of these grasslands types. Based on our analysis we are concluding that, saline grasslands and swampy grasslands are narrow-niched and ecologically unique. Analysis showed grasslands of Rajasthan as highly species diverse communities and requires prioritization in the long term conservation planning.

, A. E., Gross primary production and light response parameters of four Southern Plains ecosystem... more , A. E., Gross primary production and light response parameters of four Southern Plains ecosystems estimated using long-term CO2-flux tower measurements.

Ecological Engineering, 2014

ABSTRACT tUp-scaling the evaluation of threat status of biodiversity from species to ecosystem le... more ABSTRACT tUp-scaling the evaluation of threat status of biodiversity from species to ecosystem level has remained for long a research challenge in global conservation science. To meet this challenge, the present study makes an attempt toward actionable conservation prescription and assigning a threat category scheme for forest ecosystems. The scheme sets the quantitative criteria for evaluation of cumulative anthropogenic threats in grid cells, such as deforestation, degradation, fragmentation, forest fires and biological invasions.Adopting the convention of IUCN, five conservation status categories (i.e. Critically Endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Near Threatened, Least Concern) have been similarly adopted for the forest ecosystems facing these threats. The operational success of this scheme of threat categories at ecosystem level has been strengthened by remote sensing and field data generated for the forest ecosystems of Odisha, India.The threat category status of the forest ecosystems were identified by creating grids (5 km × 5 km) in GIS and assigned the degree of the threats for each grid. The database on deforestation was generated using topographical maps of 1935 and remote sensing data of 1975 and 2010. The degradation in forest ecosystems have been assessed based on the change in forest canopy closure, fragmentation pattern, forest fire distribution and impact of biological invasions. The analysis for conservation priority hotspots complements an assessment of the threatened ecosystems undergoing remarkable level of multiple threats. Areas under the danger of cumulative anthropogenic threats would have a higher priority. 5.8% grids of existing forest had included under the category of conservation priority hotspot-I, followed by 12.4% in conservation priority hotspot-II, and 12.5% in conservation priority hotspot-III. An integrated approach involving the cumulative anthropogenic threat indicators have been found to be the most appropriate tool to empirically evaluate the threat status of the forest ecosystems. Finally, identification of ecosystems specially those facing increasing extinction risks, as attempted in the present study, can help in devising an appropriate policy and management agenda for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India Section B: Biological Sciences, 2014

Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by The National Academ... more Your article is protected by copyright and all rights are held exclusively by The National Academy of Sciences, India. This e-offprint is for personal use only and shall not be selfarchived in electronic repositories. If you wish to self-archive your article, please use the accepted manuscript version for posting on your own website. You may further deposit the accepted manuscript version in any repository, provided it is only made publicly available 12 months after official publication or later and provided acknowledgement is given to the original source of publication and a link is inserted to the published article on Springer's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The final publication is available at link.springer.com".

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Sep 3, 2012

Tropical ecosystems undergo changes caused by season, climate or multiple anthropogenic impacts. ... more Tropical ecosystems undergo changes caused by season, climate or multiple anthropogenic impacts. Such changes may cause gradual or rapid shifts from one state to another. There has been a focus on functional classifications of plants to find tools for monitoring and assessing species status in changing environments. It has been recognised that plant biological characteristics can be related to their response to predominant environmental factors and interactions between other organisms. These findings have resulted in a search for plant functional types (PFTs) that are user-defined groups of species with similar response to environmental resources and disturbance associated to common biological traits. Now, identification of plant functional types is priority area in the climate change research. Satellite Earth observation data is an important tool in providing considerable information on extracting PFT information at global and regional levels. From the modelling perspective, some of the current needs are the refinement of processes that govern community assembly, such as natural and anthropogenic disturbances. PFTs used in large-scale models are insufficient to represent the diversity of responses in natural plant communities. The currently available MODIS PFT map was generated by re-labeling the IGBP land cover type classes. However, the error magnitudes of the MODIS PFT product and their spatial and temporal distributions have not been fully characterized. Remotely sensed derived information of the phenology, community composition and vegetation structure are the key inputs to integrate with the variability in precipitation and temperature to map the spatial distribution of Plant functional types. PFTs allows accurate representation of the land surface by separately specifying the composition and structure of PFTs within a grid cell. Very little research efforts are discernible in India that explicitly address the PFTs.