Modern Pollen Analysis and Ecological Adaptations an Parts of Jagdalpur Forest Division, Chattisgarh- an Approach Through RS & GIS Techniques

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC Modern Pollen Analysis and Ecological Adaptations an Parts of Jagdalpur Forest Division, Chattisgarh- an Approach through RS & GIS Techniques

Singuluri Sudhakar1, Girish Pujar 2and Anupama2 National Remote Sensing Agency, Balanagar, Hyderabad 1French Research Institute, Pondicherry (now 1North East Space Applications Centre, Shillong) ([email protected]) ______

ABSTRACT : The Remote Sensing and Geographical Information System (RS & GIS) is a powerful tool and it is used for palaeo-environmental studies to assist in identifying the suitable sites of possible areas for collection of surface samples of modern pollens as well as suitable sites for lake sediments. Because of its synoptic and temporal coverage, the satellite remote sensing coupled with GIS tools would be of immense help in narrow downing the study area and identification of suitable sites for surface and coring sites. The role of modern pollen rain studies in reconstruction of past climate has been fairly established through various programs such as Biome 6000 and INDUBIO. These programs through network of observations across the world have established the potential of modern pollen characteristics in deducing past climate scenarios as a reflection of past vegetation. The pollen spectra from different regions of India enable paleontologists to deduce past from the present pollen deposits and to model climate related pollen vegetation relationship through numerical methods. The use of modern pollen spectra as an additional proxy, other than tree ring records, carbon dating of lake sediments and speleothem, has immense value in the reconstruction of past vegetation and hence climate. In the present study, Jagdalpur Forest Division, Chattisgarh has been selected for the study to analyze the modern pollen and ecological aspects to understand the palaeovegetation and reconstruction of vegetation types. Though Remote sensing studies helps in identifying suitable old undisturbed site for pollen collection but palynolgy reveal changes in the temporal dimension at the chosen palaeosites and to use spatially well distributed surface pollen sites to derive both markers and gradients of disturbances. The details of methodology, analysis of various aspects are given in the paper.

Keywords: Ecosystem,Deforestation,Remote Sensing, Geographical Information System.

______I. Introduction: India with a geographical area of 3,287,263 Sq.km has a variety of climate and rich biodiversity. It has been considered as one of the twelve-mega biodiversity regions of the

www.ijirssc.in Page 199

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC world. As per the FSI, 2001 Forest cover assessment, India has got 20.55 % of forest cover to its geographical area. The forest of India is broadly divided into 16 major types and 221 subtypes as per Champion and Seth, 1968. The forests harbours majority of the world’s biodiversity and also represent indispensable, self-maintaining repositories of genetic resources. Further, the forest can directly affect the climate system from local up to continental scale; they influence ground temperature, evapotranspiration, surface roughness, albedo, cloud formation and precipitation. They are highly dependent on climate in their function (growth) and structure (composition). A sustained increases of as little as 1°C in mean annual temperature can be sufficient to cause significant changes in the growth and regeneration capacity of many tree species. These trees are also sensitive to change in water availability during the growing season.

Large-scale deforestation has been reported during 1951 to 1980 due to rapid expansion of agricultural activity and according to Forest Survey of India, 1987 over 26 lakh hectares of forest land was converted into agriculture areas all over India. In recent times due to rapid industrialization and growing consumerism of timber for developmental activities, coupled with urbanization resulted in large scale destruction and degradation of forests. Based on the present derivational trends, there is going to be a tremendous impact on human activity on biodiversity by direct or indirect ways. But biodiversity as such is considered very important because, it ensures continued possibilities for adaptation of species in a changing and uncertain world. The direct mechanisms that effect biodiversity because of human impacts are : exploitation of wild living resources, expansion of forestry, agricultural and aqua cultural activities, species introduction and invasion and their negative effect, pollution of soil, water and atmosphere. where as the indirect mechanism include human social organization, the growth of the human population, the consumption patterns of available natural resources, global trade, economic systems and policies that fail to value the environment and its resources, inequity in the ownership, management and flow of benefits from the both the use and conservation of biological resources.

The habitat destruction is one of the major anthropogenic causes for the loss of biodiversity. Deforestation further affects biodiversity through the destruction of prominent well established habitats over a period of time. And those of isolated fragments of formerly contiguous habitat, edge effects within a boundary zone between forest and deforested areas are also equally contributing factors for the loss of biodiversity. In addition the systematic global environmental changes affecting biodiversity is due to landuse emission of green house gasses, industrial and consumer emissions of ozone depleting gases, land cover changes in albedo. The cumulative types of global environmental changes affecting biodiversity is an impact through world wide distribution of changes in ground water pollution, species

www.ijirssc.in Page 200

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC depletion, genetic alterations, deforestation, desertification, industrial pollutants and reduction of population of certain species.

The overall effect of climate changes has considerable impact on the ecosystems. In fact the distributional patterns of many species and communities are determined to a large extent by climatic parameters. However the responses to these changes and its understanding are not simple task. These climatic changes (temperature, humidity, rainfall, ET etc) may direct affect on species through changes in Phenology, flowering early or late for certain trees and egg laying in birds, lengthening of the growing season and certain changes in their distribution due to migrational alterations. In many cases the observed changes are consistent with well known biological responses to climate. Major changes in global vegetation covers are also expected to occur in response to global climate changes primarily as a result of changing temperature and precipitation. Further, there are certain predictions that, the rising temperature and precipitation will result in the expansion of boreal forests and the over all forest area is expected to contract with grasslands and deserts increasing in extent.

The anticipated climatic changes coupled with anthropogenic activities will have an impact on over all biodiversity conservation and are vulnerable to large extent, for example the recent spurt in habitat fragmentation posses barriers to migration reducing the possibility to adapt new ways of living altogether. Further such fragmentation may likely to lead isolated patches of population with low genetic diversity. They are more vulnerable to extinction. The ecosystem degradation due to unsustainable use of ecosystem components leads to pollution, pest outbreaks or changes in fire regimes decries the resilience of ecosystems to climate changes.

The expected results of these interactions are leading to loss of biodiversity. It has been observed that the inter species competition is reported to be more in high diversity forests. The dominant species have complex pollination and dispersion strategies making them more vulnerable to the effect of change out side the normal range. But they collapse due to poor association when faced with the effect of rapid Global Climate changes. In view of different capacities in adaptation and migration strategies between species, the natural communities may be broken down into certain constituent species at different rates in response to the climatic changes. It is expected to undergo major changes in broad vegetation types in high latitudes and also at different gradients. Hence new assemblage of species leading to new ecosystems may be established and this may have many implications for the role of forests for the sustainable development of ecology and environment. Further the climatic changes respond differently by species in each of the ecosystems and ultimately disrupt important function of ecosystem services such as pest control, pollination, seed dispersal, decomposition and

www.ijirssc.in Page 201

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC nutrient, hydrological cycling. In addition to the effect on natural ecosystem, it has its own impact on the agricultural man made ecosystems.

The ecotones, transition areas between different ecosystems with high species and genetic diversity, are adapted nicely to climatic changes but threatened on long run. The so called biodiversity “Hotspots” areas, those are high in biodiversity but are highly threatened when certain thresholds are crossed. It is recorded that the climate changes may result in extension or changes in the rages suitable to certain invasive species (e.g. increased prevalence of vector borne infectious diseases transmitted by blood feeding mosquitoes and ticks). In addition the environment may favours weed species because of climate changes induced ecosystem disruptions.

The impact of climatic changes on forest is to understand the species extinction, reduced capacity to breed, inability to make some plant economic crops, threat to production of minor forest products which are generally due to consequences of reduced diversity of species and genes. But the possible changes due to rainfall characteristics are the major changes affecting local and regional ecosystems. They are soil degradation changes in water flows from catchments, changes in buffering of water flows by wetland forests, increased sedimentation of rivers, and reservoirs. The climatic changes have an over all impact on the high altitude forest zones where warming is expected to be more. In view of that, there will be gradual shift of broad-leaved species to needle leaf zones leading to the extinction of certain coniferous species. Further the warming increases fire frequency and pest outbreak. Generally, the tropical forests are likely to be more affected by changes in land-use than the climatic changes itself. In addition, the water shortage during growing season decreasing summer precipitation demand would lead to decreases in soil water, which ultimately accelerate forest loss in many areas where water availability is already marginal especially in mid latitude seasons.

The general methods to mitigate the biodiversity loss due to the above expected climatic changes is to reduce the pressure on biodiversity arising from habitat conversion, over harvesting, pollution and alien species invasions. But the major measure is to counter habitat fragmentation through the establishment of biological corridors between protected areas particularly in forests. The conservation of ecotones is also an important adaptation measure and these ecotones serve as repositories of genetic diversity that may be drawn upon to rehabilitate adjacent eco climatic regions.

Keeping the above in view, Jagdalpur Forest Division, Chattisgarh has been selected for the study to analyse the modern pollen and ecological aspects to understand the palaeovegetation and reconstruction of vegetation types.

www.ijirssc.in Page 202

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC II. Study Area: Bastar, the Land of Tribals and Natural Resources, is also enriched with natural beauty and pleasant atmosphere. It is surrounded with dense forests, hilly mountains, streams, waterfalls, natural caves, natural parks etc. The deep forest area, between bushes and bamboos where one always felt the absence of sunlight, wide and thick forests, costly woods such as Sal, Teak, Sheesam, Bija etc., between high mountains cool flowing stream, mountain valleys, caves, high waterfalls, sky-touching valleys and in the valleys the spread of greenery.

The important tourist places in Bastar district are Chitrakot and Tiratgarh (both are water falls), Kotamsar and Kailash caves, Kanger Valley National Park etc.Indravati National Park, known for tigers and wild buffaloes is situated at a distance of 200 Kms, west of Jagdalpur, is another place of worth seeing. The Bastar area comes under Bastar district of the Madhya Pradesh and lies south of Raipur between 19° 0'- 21°0' N and 81°0' - 82° 0' E and the altitude ranges from 400 to 1400m. A major portion of this region forms the so-called Dandakaranya.

The Kanger Valley National Park is Paradise for the nature lovers. The Moist Peninsular valley Sal forests and the South Indian Tropical Moist Deciduous forests are seen in their finest form here. The park is situated in a transition zone (Ecotone) where southern limit of Sal forests and northern limit of teak forests overlap. Hence both Sal and teak are seen together in this valley.

The valley is in fact one of the last pockets of almost virgin forests still left in the peninsular region. To protect this unique eco-system, it has been proposed as a Biosphere Reserve under the MAB Programme. The valley is nearly 34 kms. long, with an average width of about 6 kms. The terrain is hilly mostly.

The Park fauna consists of tiger, panther wildcat, cheetal, samber, barking deer, wild pig, jackal, langur, rhesus macaque, sloth bear, flying squirrel, python, hyena, rabbit, crocodile, otter and civet. The avian fauna includes birds of prey, scavenging birds, water birds, pheasants etc. The reptiles include snakes, lizards and the insects include butterflies, moths, dragonflies, grasshoppers etc. Lower forms of plants such as fungi, algae, bryophytes and pteridophytes are also quite common. All these put together with the virgin forests make the park a unique ecosystem.

The Park derives its name from the Kanger River, which flows throughout its length. There are many scenic spots along this perennial stream. Rather bigger tourist attractions are the Kotamsar Caves, Kailash Caves, and limestone Caves etc. The gorgeous waterfall Tirthgarh is also here. Kanger Dhara and Bhaimsa Dharha are two good picnic resorts and especially Bhaimsa Dharha is a crocodile park.

www.ijirssc.in Page 203

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC Geology, Rock and soil: The common rocks are granites with granitoid gneiss, sandstones and laterites. Along the slope of the hills in semi-evergreen forest patches the soil is fertile with rich black humus; in and around tanks puddles, it is mainly clayey.

Climate: The amount of rainfall varies from east to west from about 127 to 152 cm; the average daily maximum and minimum temperatures are 40°C in May and 11°C in December.

III. Data Used: IRS-1D LISS III data pertaining to the period of Jan. 2002 was selected for the analysis of the vegetation and other land-use/land-cover classes. Necessary map sheets from Survey of India and working plan maps of the Jagdalpur division were also consulted during ground truth collection.

IV. Methodology: The satellite data of IRS-1D LISS III was geometrically and radiometerically corrected with respect to map sheets of Survey of India. Necessary enhancements such as linear stretching, was carried out to improve the visibility to identify the earth features including the forest cover. Reconnaissance survey of the study area covering two forest ranges and Kangera National park was carried out in the month of June, 2003. Entire list of species and their composition were recorded in the field for ecological analysis and understanding of distributional pattern. The representative samples collected from the ground truth collection were subjected to MXL classification techniques on the image to segregate broad vegetation types and also plantations. In addition to the ground truth collection, four samples of surface pollen samples were collected in degraded to open areas of moist deciduous patches and in the ecotone region in the Kangera National Park.

V. Results and Discussion: All forest types are potentially liable to experience impacts under conditions of climate change, although the degree of the response will change with ecology and location. Despite the variability amongst climate change models, there appears to be a growing consensus that, under the most likely scenarios, around a one third of the world’s forest areas will be significantly affected. The types of changes to be expected vary to a great extent with location. Several trends can be identified :

(a) Climate change will increase the degree of disturbance, through extreme weather events such as storms and as a result of smaller but ultimately more pervasive changes to seasonality, www.ijirssc.in Page 204

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC rainfall and temperature. Climate change will thus add to those other forms of human disturbance, which are currently fragmenting and altering forest ecosystems.

(b) The net effects of problems with tree reproduction and species migration rates in areas experiencing severe climate change will tend to cause problems for slower growing species and instead favour fast growing, short-lived weed and invasive species. The result will be an acceleration of a trend that is already occurring as a result of other forms of human interference that is replacement of species-rich forests by species-poor forests.

(c) The movement is likely both geographical and altitudinal, as growing conditions alter. The ability of trees to migrate fast enough to keep pace with climate change is still largely unknown and will depend upon many other factors. The extent to which ecological conditions change will depend on a complex mixture of factors for example, warmer conditions could encourage trees to move up-slope while accompanying droughts might have the reverse effect.

(d) The disturbance, increased forest fires, changes in pest patterns and the transition of whole communities will encourage an existing trend towards the replacement of old-growth forests with younger stands. This has particularly important implications for biodiversity, as many of today’s threatened species are those confined to older habitats.

(e) Some of the most vulnerable forest habitats, including relict species at the edge of their ecological niche and some particularly threatened systems such as mangroves on low-lying islands which could disappear altogether. Species could also disappear from some forests that appear to be surviving the changes relatively well.

All these changes can themselves form a positive feedback that would further create changes in the forest and/or exacerbate climate change.

Boreal forests contain some of the largest remaining areas of more-or-less primary forest in the world. Under most climate change scenarios, they are also the most seriously affected forest ecosystem, with up to two thirds of the total area likely to be affected. Some estimates suggest that 25-40% of the boreal forests could disappear altogether, being replaced by temperate forests or tundra. Boreal forests are likely to be particularly affected by increase in potential evapotranspiration demands, which could dry soils and increases fire risks. Increased fires and pest attack bring changes in the permafrost. Most models suggest that the boreal forest zone will move to the north. Early models suggested that warmer temperatures and CO2 fertilization could lead to increased rates of growth, but these predictions have been rejected by other studies. A recent overview of scenarios found most predictions suggesting that drought-related dieback could occur fairly shortly after warming occurred, although some models suggest an initial burst of growth followed by later declines. Studies of tree growth rates throughout the boreal region suggest that the initial burst in growth may already be underway

Temperate forests may invade other ecosystems, including evergreen tropical and boreal forests, wet maritime areas and alpine meadows. Impacts will esteem from warmer www.ijirssc.in Page 205

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC temperatures, changes in water availability, increased CO2 levels and changes in pests and diseases. Although net productivity may increase, increased decomposition of soil organic matter in warmer soil conditions may offset any additional carbon storage. Although temperate forests are currently a net carbon sink, as they re-grow following past deforestation, this may change if significant areas start to decline. Conditions may be particularly serious in arid regions at the edge of the Temperate Zone, where overgrazing, desertification and fuel-wood collection have already fragmented and degraded forest communities.

Tropical moist forests are threatened more as a result of direct human degradation and deforestation than by climate change, although the latter is likely to increase the severity of the other impacts. Soil-water changes and the impact of extreme weather events are believed to be the most important factors although changes in cloud cover may also be important. Tropical moist forests are likely to experience on average a slight temperature rise and increased rainfall, although local conditions will vary greatly and models are still crude. Disturbance from storms and cyclones may increase, while reproductive capacity amongst trees and other species may be reduced due to changing climatic conditions. If the dry season is reduced, many trees do not flower and fruit, leading to famine amongst fruit-eating animals. Increased cloud cover in some areas could reduce photosynthesis and thus productivity. Although the greatest threats to tropical forest biodiversity come from direct human intervention, climate change is likely to increase these losses, both by simplifying the forest overall and by reducing the number of local and endemic species. a) POLLEN ANALYSIS: The modern pollen rain is nothing but the pollen released into the atmosphere by the plants in the forest settles down in a general RAIN on the floor of the forest, on moss pollsters and also accumulates in the hollows of trees as the fine dust blown by wind. Each of there surface pollen samples consists of a truly random collection of the soil from the floor of the forest, beneath the roots of trees, rocks or big stones and tree hollows in order to ensure the representation of the pollen rain at a given site covering roughly of half hectare.

The species richness and biodiversity in general of the vegetation understudy and the pollen markers derived from different sites infer the production and dispersal properties of species. In addition these pollen markers of the vegetation could be used at as reference in the interpretation of fossil pollen diagrams. The pollen samples are collected form surface soil, which generally represent a long term of 10-15 years average of the pollen rain in a given site for the corresponding vegetation type. The collection of pollen samples from the hollows of trees, bark and moss pollster on the rocks would reflect shorter average of 1 to 5 years. The other collection of pollen from spider webs represents the seasonal pollen distribution. By analysis of all these samples it could be possible to reconstruct and support the present vegetation type and also to understand the broad changes in the vegetative cover of disturbed regions from that of intact areas. This could be possible only when phytosociological analysis www.ijirssc.in Page 206

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC of the study is carried out through stratified random sampling methods. It is proposed to take up 0.05 ha. (500 sqm) or 10% of sample plot of 5000 sqm is considered for the site wise quantification of the vegetation. The vegetation sampling is carried out using 20 sub-plots measuring 5 X 5 m each for the ecological quantification. Due to several factors the surface pollen sample are not one to one of the existing vegetative cover but over all ecological quantification help in bringing some link to the quantitative pollen percentages and type of pollen. All the surface pollen samples are subjected to standard chemical processes . The micro- debris is removed and the pollen in the residue is concentrated with a 5µm mesh sieve in conjunction with ultrasonic vibration. The pollen counting is carried out using an Olympus light microscope under 50 x magnifications. The final pollen concentration in the sample in any given sample being inevitably a function of pollen preservation and taxonomic diversity, the number of grains counted varies between 200 to over 800 per sample. All the pollen collected would be identified by comparing them with the old herbarium pollen slides collected at the French Institute that are taken as reference. The pollen is identified as arboreal pollen (AP) and Non arboreal pollen (NAP) and also non-classified (NC). The arboreal denotes the taxa of trees; shrubs or woody climbers and non-arboreal denotes pollen for all the herbs and aquatics. If a definite plant habit could not be attributed to taxa are considered as non- classified. Some example of pollen taxa and their association with different vegetation types are given in Table-I.

Table-I General association of pollen taxa in different vegetation types Bischofia, Daphniphyllum, Elaeocarpus, Mallotus type, EVERGREEN Meliosma type, Olea gandulifera type and Syzygium FORESTS Associated taxa are Artemisia, Clausena, Gardonia, Gnetum, (900 – 1800) Ilex, Olea dioicae, Symplocos, Trema, Unident, Meliaceae. Canthium, Melastomatacea/Combretaceae, Chloroxylon, DECIDUOUS FOREST Dodonaea, Hardwickia, Holoptelea and Securinega (700 – 1200)

Glochidion type, Glycosmis, Lamiaceae, Madhuca, Melastomataceae/Combretaceae and Maytenus type DECIDUOUS Associated taxa are Atalantia, Phyllanthus, Schleichera, WOODLANDS Zizypus

Dodonaea, Hardwickia, Holoptelea, Justicia and Securinega and composite echineta

Associated taxa are Acacia, Azadirachta, Buchanania, DECIDUOUS SCRUBS Caryophyllaceae, Cassia, Chenopodiaceae, Amaranthacea, Euphorbia, Evolulus, Poaceae, Tamarindus

www.ijirssc.in Page 207

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC b) Analysis of general vegetation and pollen in Jagdalpur: The role of modern pollen rain studies in reconstruction of past climate has been fairly established through various programmes such as Biome 6000 and INDUBIO. These programmes through network of observations across the world have established the potential of modern pollen characteristics in deducing past climate scenarios as a reflection of past vegetation. The pollen spectra from different regions of India enable paleontologists to deduce past from the present pollen deposits and to model climate related pollen vegetation relationship through numerical methods. The use of modern pollen spectra as an additional proxy, other than tree ring records, carbon dating of lake sediments and speleothem, has immense value in the reconstruction of past vegetation and hence climate.

The role of RS & GIS is to identifying the suitable sites of possible areas for collection of surface samples of modern pollens as well as suitable sites for lake sediments. Because of its synoptic and temporal coverage, the satellite remote sensing coupled with GIS tools would be of immense help in narrow downing the study area and identification of suitable sites for surface and coring sites.

The use of multi-temporal satellite data over Eastern Ghats of Indian peninsula is at present chosen under the project “Modern Pollen studies” for carrying out of vegetation type mapping for the years 1988-89 and 2003-2004. These two periods representing nearly 15 years of temporal resolution help in correctly identifying the areas of undisturbed and also disturbed sites in Eastern Ghats through change detection studies.

The satellite data of these two periods will be geometrically and radiometrically corrected and co-registered. The data will be subjected to MXL classification techniques to delineate broad phenological based vegetation types with other major land-use/land-cover classes of water, sandy, wastelands etc. These categories provide a contiguous scenario of the vegetation type distribution across the Eastern Ghats for two time periods i.e., 1989 and 2004.

The classified vegetation type maps are further subjected to landscape analysis through patch characterization and forest cover changes in GIS domine, it is possible to generate disturbance maps. The change map would thus give the areas, which have not undergone changes during the last 15 years based on the consistency of a patch. In order to narrow down the site selection, it is suggested that disturbance analysis in the GIS be used with a variance filter or a customized fragmentation model implemented for handling the satellite based vegetation maps. The fragmentation model essentially identifies six fragmentation categories of vegetation as : (1) Interior for which Pf =1.0 (2) Patch Pf < 0.4

www.ijirssc.in Page 208

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC (3) Transitional 0.4 < Pf < 0.6 (4) Edge Pf > 0.6 and Pf – Pff > 0 (4) Perforated Pf > 0.6 and Pf – Pff < 0 and (5) Undetermined Pf > 0.6 and Pf = Pff. Where, Pf = the proportion of forest pixels in a given window size and Pff = the number of forested pixel pairs in the cardinal directions of the selected window.

Based on the above algorithm and modified for operation in the GIS domain from a fixed window size of 3 X 3 to 21 X 21 pixels were implemented to identify the undisturbed patches in the Eastern Ghats. In the present study, by permutation and combinations, it has been decided to use 9 X 9 pixel window to get well representation of fragmentation from the above six categories, in the order of priority, the surface sample points are identified in interior/patch.

During the present study, an area of about 1875 sqkm covering Konger , Jagdalpur, Darba, Koleng Forest Ranges including Konger Naional Park areas have been processed. (Table-V)

The statistical analysis on aerial extent of each of the land-use/land-cover is given in Table-VI. The forests are mainly of Tropical moist deciduous dominated by the Sal and teak indicating a transitional zone or meeting point of two gregarious species association from south and north into the central part of Chattisgarh State, previously in Madhya Pradesh. This type is occupying about 33,912 ha. of area followed by mixed species composition of Tropical moist deciduous forests to the tune of 29,743 ha. The other system, which has been observed, is of mixed gregarious bamboos associated with other tree species. It has also been observed that the fringe areas of these forests have occupied by secondary formation of Tropical moist deciduous due to immense biotic pressure and grazing. Such areas are about 22,390 ha., which is alarming and needs immediate attention to protect the wealth of forest resources. There is an immense social forestry activity in the division, which is reflected by Sal plantations to the tune of 7751 ha. and pine plantations of about 91 ha. Over all the vegetative cover of the division is of good quality with rich biodiversity. The dominant flora has come from the family Rubiaceae representing 12 species followed by Fabaceae with 7 species. The families of Euphorbiaceae and Combretaceae are also well represented by about 5 species. The dominant tree speces are Shorea robust, Tectona grandis, Xylia xylocarpa, Garuga pinnata, Anogeissus latifolia, Terminalia arjuna, T. alta, T chebula and Dillenia pentagyna etc. Slightly disturbed secondary tropical moist deciduous forests are having species of Bridelia retusa, Cleistanthus collinus, Emblica retusa, Dillenia pentagyna, Shorea robusta and Diospyrous melanoxylon. The list of species recorded in four representative areas is given in Table-II. www.ijirssc.in Page 209

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC

The Fragmentation model run on the vegetation type map depicted about 85% as intact or interior, which indicate that the forest is undisturbed and is intact. Where, the other fragmentation characteristics such as, patch, transitional and edge represented about 5% (Table-VIII). In view of association of various settlement areas amidst the forest associations leading to the formation of perforated forests to the tune of 10.5% which is alarming and needs to be considered for action plan to protect the forests adjoining settlement areas through introduction of Joint Forest Management activities.

During the study, the undisturbed and well-protected National Park namely, Kanger has been thoroughly studies to understand the species association and also to collect surface pollen samples and to identify core areas. The forests are of Tropical moist deciduous type, dominated by Sal and Teak with naturally growing areas of transitional zones in the middle of the national park at medium altitudes. They are the dominant forest occupying about 8000 ha. of area out of the total 20,000 ha. area of the park (about 40%), followed by Tropical moist deciduous forest with mixed species composition dominated by other species of Terminalia, Anogeissus, Mallotus species etc. The other areas, mainly the valleys portions are dominated by mixed bamboos associated with other tree species. On hilltops the forests are tree savannah dominated by shunted tree cover of species Anogeissus, Terminalia associated with grass cover. They are represented by about 681 ha. area. The other land-use/land-cover association is of water bodies of 67 ha. and agricultural lands to the tune of 681ha., which is alarming in view of its associated human interventions with the forest ecosystem. Necessary measures may be taken to safeguard the potential areas for genetic resource development. The national park is one of the potential sites for biodiversity assessment and conservation studies.

The pollen samples collected from four sites namely Chokawad, Raniro, Barba and Kanger, out of which only first three samples have represented with more than 200 pollens covering different families. They are dominated by Melastomaceae/Combretaceae family pollen followed by Haldina in Site-I and II. The Site-I is dominated of Madhuca and also association of Xylia pollen. The field studies indicated that the site is disturbed forest cover at present but the presence of pollen of these two species indicated that the forests are prevailed of good forest cover dominated by semi evergreen association in fringe areas of the villages. Probably the human impact induced certain degradation leading to the present system associated with sparse tree cover representing secondary tropical moist deciduous systems. The representation of Hopea/Vateria pollen in Site-I is quiet interesting and needs critical observation about finding such species in this disturbed zone. Probably it may be Shorea robusta of Diptericarpace member.

www.ijirssc.in Page 210

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC It is quiet interesting to observe pollen of Pinus in the collection, as the area near to the site-II there is a huge experimental Pinus roxbughii plantation, probably the pollen of it might have been collected in the sample. The site is highly dominated by Haldina and Melastomace/Combretace association with no representation of Madhuca or Xylia.

The Site-III is associated with Kongera nation park which dominated by Melostoace/Combretatce members with Haldia, Hopea, Xylia, Bredelia, Glochidion a representation of all taxa in proportion indicates high biodiversity and good association of number of species.

V. Conclusions: The earth's surface is undergoing continuous changes due to its natural process and also influence of human being through urbanisation, industrialization, combustion of fossile fuel and intensive agricultural practices etc. In view of this, global warming , sea level changes, ozone depletion etc are noticed. In view of this, various prediction models have been attempted to understand the climatic changes. Furtunately through different earth surface processes, climate is imprinted in a proxy form in several palaeo-archives such as sediment deposits, corals, ice deposits, cave deposits, tree rings and pllen spectra. Several proxies of these archived materials may be studied to understand palaeoclimatic parameters like rainfall, temperature, humidity and sea surface temperature etc. The present study is an attempt towards achieve this objective on long term basis.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks are due to State Forest Department, Chattisgarh for their timely help in providing field assistance and guidance during the course of field work. We are also thankful to the Scientists of FED, NRSA and FIP for their assistance during the course of this study.

www.ijirssc.in Page 211

Plot 1 Plot 2 Plot 3 Plot 4 Sl. Family Species Habit No. Chokawada Ranirao Kanger1 Darba

1 ALANGIACEAE Alangium salvifolium T x

2 AMARYLLIDACEAE Curculigo orchioides H x

3 ANACARDIACEAE Buchanania lanzan T x x x

4 ANACARDIACEAE Lannea coromandelica T x x

5 ANACARDIACEAE Mangifera indica T x x

6 ANNONACEAE Miliusa tomentosa T x

7 ANNONACEAE Polyalthia cerasoides T x

Holarrhena 8 APOCYNACEAE antidysenterica T x x

9 APOCYNACEAE Wrightia tomentosa T x

10 APOCYNACEAE Cryptolepis buchanani C x

11 APOCYNACEAE Hemidesmus indicus C x x

12 ARACEAE Amarphophalus H x

13 ARALIACEAE Schefflera venulosa E x

14 ARECACEAE Phoenix sp. T x x

15 ASTERACEAE Eupatorium glandulosum H x

16 BIGNONIACEAE Oroxylum indicum T x

17 BOMBACACEAE Bombax ceiba T x x x x

18 BURSERACEAE Boswellia serrata T x

19 BURSERACEAE Garuga pinnata T x x x

20 CELASTRACEAE Cassine glauca T x

21 COMBRETACEAE Anogeissus latifolia T x x x

22 COMBRETACEAE Terminalia arjuna T x x x

www.ijirssc.in Page 212

24 COMBRETACEAE Terminalia chebula T x

25 COMBRETACEAE Terminalia tomentosa T x x x x

26 CYPERACEAE Cyperus sp. G x

27 DILLENIACEAE Dillenia pentagyna T x

28 DIPTEROCARPACEAE Shorea robusta T x x x x

29 EBENACEAE Diospyros melanoxylon T x x

30 EUPHORBIACEAE Bridelia retusa T x x x

31 EUPHORBIACEAE Cleistanthus collinus T x x

32 EUPHORBIACEAE Emblica officinalis T x x

33 EUPHORBIACEAE Mallotus philippensis T x x

34 EUPHORBIACEAE Brynia rhamnoides S x

35 FAB-Caesalpinioideae Bauhinia racemosa T x x

36 FAB-Caesalpinioideae Cassia fistula T x x

37 FAB-Caesalpinioideae Caesalpinia crista S x

38 FAB-Caesalpinioideae Bauhinia vahlii C x x

39 FAB-Caesalpinioideae Butea parviflora C x

40 FAB-Faboideae Dalbergia latifolia T x

41 FAB-Faboideae Dalbergia paniculata T x x

42 FAB-Faboideae Erythrina suberosa T x

43 FAB-Faboideae Ougeinia oojeinensis T x x

44 FAB-Faboideae Pongamia pinnata T x

45 FAB-Faboideae Pterocarpus marsupium T x x

46 FAB-Faboideae Desmodium pulchellum H x

47 FAB-Mimosoideae Albizia chinensis T x x

48 FAB-Mimosoideae Albizia procera T x

49 FAB-Mimosoideae Xylia xylocarpa T x x www.ijirssc.in Page 213

51 FLACOURTIACEAE Casearia sp. T x x x

52 LECITHYDACEAE Careya arborea T x x

53 LEEACEAE Lea asiatica S x x

54 LILIACEAE Gloriosa superba C x

55 LOGANIACEAE Fagraea zeylancia E x

56 LYTHRACEAE Lagerstroemia parviflora T x x

57 LYTHRACEAE Woodfordia fruticosa S x

58 MALVACEAE Kydia calycina T x x

59 MELIACEAE Walsura trifoliata T x

60 MELIACEAE Cipadessa bassifera S x x

61 MENISPERMACEAE Cylea sp. C x

62 MORACEAE Ficus hispida T x

63 MORACEAE Streblus asper T x

64 MYRSINACEAE Embelia ribes C x

65 MYRTACEAE Syzygium cumini T x x

66 MYRTACEAE Syzygium heyneaum T x

67 ORCHIDACEAE Venda sp. E x

68 PINACEAE Pinus sp. T Plantation

69 POACEAE Dendrocalamus strictus G x x

70 RHAMNACEAE Ziziphus xylopyrus T x

71 RHAMNACEAE Ventilago maderaspatana C x

72 RHAMNACEAE Ziziphus oenoplia C x

73 RUBIACEAE Adina cordifolia T x x x

74 RUBIACEAE Gardenia latifolia T x

75 RUBIACEAE Hymenodictyon excelsum T x x x

76 RUBIACEAE Ixora arborea T x www.ijirssc.in Page 214

78 RUBIACEAE Mitragyna parvifolia T x x

79 RUBIACEAE Nyctanthes arbor-tristis T x

80 RUBIACEAE Pavetta tomentosa T x

81 RUBIACEAE Randia spinosa T x

82 RUBIACEAE Randia uliginosa T x

83 RUBIACEAE Deccania pubescens S x

84 RUBIACEAE Tarenna asiatica S x

85 RUTACEAE Aegle marmelos T x

86 RUTACEAE Chloroxylon swietenia T x

87 RUTACEAE Murraya paniculata T x

88 RUTACEAE Naringi crenulata T x

89 SANTALACEAE Santalum album T x

90 SAPINDACEAE Schleichera oleosa T x x

91 SAPOTACEAE Madhuca latifolia T x

92 SELAGINALLACEAE Selaginella sp. H x

93 SMILACACEAE Smilax sp. C x

Pterospermum 94 STERCULIACEAE heyneanum T x

95 STERCULIACEAE Sterculia urens T x x

96 TILIACEAE Grewia tiliaefolia T x

97 VERBENACEAE Gmelina arborea T x

98 VERBENACEAE Tectona grandis T x

99 VERBENACEAE Stachytarpita sp. H x x x x

100 ZINGIBERACEAE Curcuma longa H x x x x

Table-III Surface pollen sample collection location and its GPS readings

www.ijirssc.in Page 215

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC

Coordinates Sample Prep. Date Area Site Alt (m) No. No. N E

23/7/03 Jagdalpur E03-1 S 161/4 Chokawada 560 19 03 08.5 82 11 41.2

Ranirao (near 23/7/03 Jagdalpur E03-2 S 161/5 Ganeshbahar) 19 01 23.6 82 10 12.7

24/7/03 Jagdalpur E03-3 S 161/6 Kanger 590 18 55 06 81 53 45

25/7/03 Jagdalpur E03-4 S 161/7 Darba 680 18 50 46.7 81 52 05.3

Table-IV Pollen sample analysis and distribution pollen in different locations

E03-01 E03-02 E03-03 E03-04 Family Species S161/4 S161/5 S161/6 S161/7

Acanthaceae Justicia 12 2

Anacardiaceae Lannea 1

Bombacaceae Bombax 2

Chenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceae Cheno/Amar 1 2

Compositae Compositae echinate 5 1 8

Compositae Compositae fenestrate 1

Cyperaceae Cyperaceae 9 1 3

Dipterocarpaceae Hopea/Vateria 8 3 13

Euphorbiaceae Bridelia 5

Euphorbiaceae Glochidion 3 2 3

Euphorbiaceae Phyllanthus 1

Lamiaceae Lamiaceae 3 4 5

Lythraceae Lagerstroemia 5 1

Melastomataceae/Combretaceae MelastCombr 63 66 80

Meliaceae Cipadessa 1 www.ijirssc.in Page 216

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC Mimosaceae Acacia 1 3

Mimosaceae Mimosa 1

Mimosaceae Xylia 2 4

Myrtaceae Syzygium 1 5

Pinaceae Pinus 7

Poaceae Poaceae 15 4 24

Rubiaceae Haldina 21 89 24

Rubiaceae Ixora 4 4

Rutaceae Naringi 2

Sapindaceae Schleichera 1 2 2

Sapotaceae Madhuca 28 1

Unidentified 16 13 12

Total 201 199 200

Trilete spores 11 15 3

Monolete spores 8 2

Algal cysts 4 4

Table-IV Pollen sample analysis and distribution pollen in different locations

Table-V Study area covering different Forest Ranges and their areas in Sq.km in Bastar Division

BASTAR DIVISION RANGES AREA in sqkm

Kanger Range 474.12

Jagdalpur Range 450.10

Darba Range 518.51

National Park 200.00

Koleng Range 231.47

Total 1874.19

www.ijirssc.in Page 217

STATISTICS - BASTAR DIVISION CLASS NAMES AREA (Ha.) Water body 1693.26 Settlements 1255.10 Agriculture Fallow Land 19954.13 Agriculture Moist Fallow Land 62011.81 Wasteland 3034.30 Semi-moist Deciduous 22390.21 Pine Plantation 91.87 Moist Deciduous - Mixed Sal/Teak 33912.22 Moist Deciduous – Bamboo 5581.61 Moist Deciduous – Mixed 29743.37 Sal Plantation 7751.34 Total 187419.21

Table-VII Area statistics of different land-use/land-cover categories in entire Kongera National Park, Bastar division

STATISTICS - NATIONAL PARK

CLASS NAMES AREA (Ha.)

Water body 67.51

Agriculture Fallow Land 681.28

Savannah 2415.96

Moist Deciduous - Mixed Sal/Teak 8007.71

Moist Deciduous – Bamboo 1011.85

Moist Deciduous – Mixed 7815.68

Total 20000.00

www.ijirssc.in Page 218

FRAGMENTATION - STATISTICS

Fragmentation Classes Area in sqkm % of fragmented classes

INTERIOR 771.54 84

PATCH 10.13 1

TRANSITIONAL 22.17 2

EDGE 15.18 2

PERFORATED 94.95 10

UNDETERMINED 0.02 0

Total 914.00 100

Photo graph 1 : Open Mixed forests in the fringe and dense mixed forests (below)

www.ijirssc.in Page 219

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC

Photo graph 2 :

www.ijirssc.in Page 220

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC

www.ijirssc.in Page 221

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC

www.ijirssc.in Page 222

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC

References

[1] Anupama, K., Ramesh, B.R & Bonnefille, R., 2000. The Modern Pollen rain from the Biligirirangan - Melagiri Hills of Southern Eastern Ghats, India. Rev.Paleobot. Palynol. 108(3- 4): 175-196. [2] Anupama, K., 2001. Representation of Dipterocarpaceae pollen grains in a low elevation wet evergreen forest in Karnataka, India. In: Proceedings of the 6th Round Table Conference on Dipterocarps, Bangalore, India. 8-12, Febrruary 1999. Eds: M. C. Cox and C.Elouard, Curtin University of Technology. pp. 17-29. [3] Bera, S.K., Gupta, H.P., 1992. Correlation between pollen spectra and modern vegetation of Anamalai Hills, Tamilnadu. Geophytology 22, 239-245. [4] Bishayee, G.C., Bhattacharya, K., 1992. Comparative sub-surface pollen spectra from Birbhum district West Bengal. J.Palynol. 28, 41-56. [5] Bonnefille, R., Anupama, K., Barboni, D., Pascal, J.P., Prasad, S. & Sutra, J.P., 1999. Modern pollen spectra and vegetation from tropical South India and Sri Lank. J.Biogeog. 26 (1255- 1280). [6] Bush, M.B., 1991. Modern pollen rain data from South and Central America. The Holocene 1, 162-167. [7] Chauhan, M.S., 1994. Modern pollen/vegetation relationship in the tropical deciduous SAL (Shorea robusta) forests in District Sidhi Madhya Pradesh. J. Palynol. 30, 165-175. [8] (8) Davis, M.B., & Goodlett, J.C., 1960. Comparison of the present vegetation with pollen spectra in surface samples from Brownington Pond, Vermont. Ecology 41: 346-357. [9] Ganesh, T., Ganesan, R., Soubadra, D., Davidra, P., Bawa, K.S., 1996. Assessment of plant biodiversity at a mid-elevation evergreen forest of Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Western Ghats, India. Curr. Sci. 71 (5), 379-392. [10] Ghate, U., Bhagwat, S., Gokhale, Y., Gour-Boome, V., Barwe, V., 1977. Assessing the tropical plant diversity: a case study from the Western Ghats, India. Int. J. Ecol. Environ. Sci. 23, 419- 444. [11] Gupta, H.P., Bera, S.K., 1996. Silent Valley: a correlation between pollen spectra and vegetation. Palaeobotanist 43 (2), 139-144. [12] Meher-Homji, V.M., 1984. On the origin of the tropical dry evergreen forest of South India. Int. J. Ecol. Environ. Sci. 1, 19-39. [13] Meher-Homji, V.M., 1984. A new classification of the phytogeographic zones of India. Indian J. Bot. 7 (2), 224-233. [14] Ramesh, B.R., Menon, S., Bawa, K.S., 1977. A vegetation based approach to biodiversity gap analysis in the Agastyamalai region, Western Ghats, India. Ambio 26 (8), 529-546. www.ijirssc.in Page 223

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research in Science Society and Culture(IJIRSSC) Vol: 1, Issue:2, (December Issue), 2015 ISSN: (P) 2395-4345, (O) 2455-2909 © IJIRSSC [15] Rao, R.S., 1998. Vegetation and valuable plant resources of the Eastern Ghats in: Proceedings of the National Seminar on the Conservation of the Eastern Ghats, 87-91. [16] Srivastav, A.K., 1997. Alternate land uses for shifting cultivation in the Eastern Ghats. Indian Forester. 123 (3), 218-232. [17] Vaidyanathan, R., 1997. Recent advances in geomorphic studies of peninsular India: a review. Indian J. Earth Sci. (S. Ray Volume), 13-35.