Abstract
The paper presents a geospatial modeling approach for the assessment of biological richness in Kuldiha wildlife sanctuary in Orissa located in the northern tip of the Eastern Ghats in India. Indian Remote Sensing satellite data of Resourcesat-1 LISS III and field sampling were used to model biological richness at 1:50,000 scale. It was found that the sanctuary is dominated by Sal mixed dry deciduous forest. The vegetation map prepared through visual interpretation of satellite imagery was subjected to landscape analysis and assessment of biotic disturbance using SPLAM software. The disturbance index together with species richness, ecosystem uniqueness, terrain complexity and total importance value was modeled to access the biological richness in the sanctuary. A total of 3.9 per cent area was found to posses very high plant richness followed by high (21.2%), medium (42.1%) and low (32.8%) in the sanctuary. The study demonstrated the geospatial technology in conjunction with landscape analysis, ground inventory and geospatial modeling seizes good potential for rapid assessment of biological richness. The fringe areas of the sanctuary having disturbance more because most of the small villages which are relocated from sanctuary, settled in those areas.
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