Assessing spatio-temporal health of forest cover using forest canopy density model and forest fragmentation approach in Sundarban reserve forest, India

Abstract

We used forest canopy density model for examining spatial–temporal variation in canopy closure in Sundarban Forest in India and validated the health with fragmentation model. Statistics derived through forest canopy model revealed that most of the changes in forest canopy density occurred in 60–80 % class during 1990–2011. Areas having >80 % and 40–60 % canopy density registered decrease in density while the remained classes 20–40 % and <20 % gained the proportion of decreased density from upper density classes. Forest fragmentation model classified the forested areas into four categories of disturbance-core, perforated, edge and patch based on 200 m edge width. Fragmentation model revealed that the perforated and edge areas have decreased while patch area has increased. Overall core area has increased due to decline in perforated area and consequently experienced decrease in canopy closure. The study demonstrated usefulness of forest canopy density and fragmentation models for assessing the health of the forests.