MAPPING AND MONITORING OF NETTOOR MANGROVES Project Report submitted as a requirement for the partial fulfilment of the Degree of Master of Science in Environmental Science By SNEHA TERESA GEORGE 18PEVS7871 Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services Hyderabad Submitted To CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES DEPT. OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE SACRED HEART COLLEGE (AUTONOMOUS), THEVARA, KOCHI –13 KERALA, INDIA May 2020 1 DECLARATION I, SNEHA TERESA GEORGE, hereby declare that the Project work entitled as “MAPPING AND MONITORING OF NETTOOR MANGROVES”, submitted to Centre for Environmental Studies, Sacred Heart College (Autonomous), Thevara, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Master of Science in Environmental Science, is an authentic record of the work done by me to the best of my ability on the basis of available literature under the guidance of Dr. Prakash Chandra Mohanty, Project Scientist B, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad and no part of this work has formed the basis for the award of any other degree in any university or published anywhere. Hyderabad SNEHA TERESA GEORGE 20-05-2020 2 3 Centre for Environmental Studies Department of Environmental Science oofEnvironmental tal Science Thevara, Kochi 682013, Kerala, India Tel: +91-484 870504, 9447178494, Fax: +91-484 2663813 Email: [email protected], [email protected], www.shcollege.ac.in CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the project work entitled, “MAPPING AND MONITORING OF NETTOOR MANGROVES” is an authentic record of the work carried out by Sansu Elsa Sunny of M.Sc Environmental Science, Centre for Environmental Science, Sacred Heart College (Autonomous), Thevara, Kochi, Kerala, India, under the guidance of Dr. Prakash Chandra Mohanty, Project Scientist B, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Science in Environmental Science. Thevara Dr. T. J. James 20-05-2020 Co-ordinator Centre for Environmental Studies Sacred Heart College (Autonomous) Thevara, Kochi - 13 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, I would like to thank God Almighty for giving me the strength, knowledge and ability and opportunity to undertake this research study. I am thankful to Dr. Satheesh.C.Shenoi, Director, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad, for providing me the necessary facilities to out this work. I am deeply indebted to my guide, Dr. Prakash Chandra Mohanty, Project Scientist B, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad, for his eminent guidance, authentic knowledge, valuable suggestions and providing necessary facilities in the study. I owe an everlasting gratitude to Dr. T. J. James, Coordinator of the Centre for Environmental Studies, Sacred Heart College, Thevara and Dr. Anjana N.S, Assistant Professor, Centre for Environmental Studies, Sacred Heart College, Thevara for their constant support, suggestions and encouragement. I am really thankful to Dr. Remya. R and Dr. Anju S.G, Assistant Professors, Centre for Environmental Studies, Sacred Heart College, Thevara for supporting me. My sincere thanks to Dr. P. A. Francis, Scientist E, Student Coordinator, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad, for providing me an opportunity to carry out the project work at INCOIS. I express my gratitude to Mr.Siddhartha Sahoo and Mr.Jithendra for their help during the completion of this work. I avail this opportunity to thank all INCOIS staff who helped me in all respect. I wish to place on record my sincere gratitude to all my classmates who had helped me in completion of this study. Sneha Teresa George 5 CONTENTS SL. NO. TITLE PAGE NO. 1. ABSTRACT 9 2. INTRODUCTION 10 3. REVIEW OF LITERATURE 15 4. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 17 5. METHODOLOGY 18 6. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 31 7. CONCLUSION 43 8. REFERENCE 44 6 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Nettoor Mangroves in Kerala Figure 2: Layerstacked Image Figure 3: Digitization of Study Area Figure 4: KML File to Layer Figure 5: Creation of Shape File Figure 6: NDVI of Landsat Image Figure 7: NDVI Difference between Two Years Figure 8: Conversion of Raster to Point Figure 9: Classification Figure 10: Kriging Figure 11: Conversion to Integer Figure 12: Conversion of Raster to Polygon Figure 13: Extraction of Study Region Figure 14: Variation of Nettoor Mangroves during 1992-1997 Figure 15: Pie chart showing the variation of each class during 1992-1997 Figure 16: Variation of Nettoor Mangroves during 1997-2001 Figure 17: Pie chart showing the variation of each class during 1997-2001 Figure 18: Variation of Nettoor Mangroves during 2001-2008 Figure 19: Pie chart showing the variation of each class during 2001-2008 Figure 20: Variation of Nettoor Mangroves during 2008-2014 Figure 21: Pie chart showing the variation of each class during 2008-2014 Figure 22: Variation of Nettoor Mangroves during 2014-2019 Figure 23: Pie chart showing the variation of each class during 2014-2019 7 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Classification of Mangroves based on grid_ code Table 2: Percentage of the extent of Nettoor Mangroves of each class Table 3: Area of extent of Nettoor Mangroves of each class in km2 8 ABSTRACT Mangroves are the most productive and diverse wetlands in the planet and are found in tropical and subtropical wetlands. These are among the most threatened and vulnerable ecosystems worldwide. Mutations in the extent of mangroves will have many consequences to nature. The present study was aimed to analyse the vegetation change of Nettoor mangrove located in Kochi, Kerala by calculating the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). The changes in Nettoor Mangroves over the years 1992 to 2019 was examined using the application of GIS in this study. As these forests are sensitive and fragile to atmospheric behaviour, expansion of industrial and agricultural activities will bounce to many environmental and ecological disorders. Assessment of mangrove ecosystem is the most important factor in analysing the impact of human interventions on Coastal Ecosystem. Reliable and timely information is required in order to monitor and manage the Mangrove ecosystem. Landsat images of Nettoor mangroves were downloaded using USGS (United States Geological Survey) Earth Explorer and then analysed using ArcGIS to calculate NDVI. The formula to calculate NDVI is (IR-R) / (IR+R). NDVI was calculated using Raster Calculator in Arc Toolbox. The study area was then classified into five classes based on the variation of NDVI. Vegetation change over the years was observed and then graphs were plotted. Nettoor Mangroves are severely suffering from a reduction in their extent due to various social, environmental and economic factors. 9 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Mangroves are those trees, shrubs or palms that grow at the riparian zone. They thrive in conditions of high salinity, extreme tides, strong winds, high temperatures and muddy, anaerobic soils. There could even be no other group of plants with such highly developed morphological and physiological adaptations to extreme conditions (Miththapala, 2008). Majority have root systems that enable the plants to breathe despite being anchored in saturated, non-porous soils depleted of oxygen. Mangroves are the most productive and diverse wetlands in the planet and are found in tropical and subtropical wetlands. These are among the most threatened and vulnerable ecosystems worldwide. Alongi (2002) analysed a number of ecosystem properties of mangroves. He observed that: 1) Rates of mangrove primary productivity rivals those of other tropical forests 2) Mangrove forests are architecturally simple, but they possess a complex system of factors regulating their structure, recruitment and growth 3) Mangrove growth is not constant but related to climatic patterns 4) Tree diversity is low, but faunal and microbial diversity can be high 5) Plant –microbe soil relations are highly advanced and efficient 6) Crabs are keystone species influencing mangrove function and structure. 7) Important players in animal-plant relations are arboreal community. 8) Algae and not just detritus are a significant food resource. 9) Mangroves are an important link to fisheries. 10) Mangroves are chemically diverse and a good source of natural products. 10 1.1.IMPORTANCE OF MANGROVES Mangroves are necessarily tolerant of high salt levels and have mechanisms to require up water despite strong osmotic potentials thanks to their environment. Some mangroves also take up salts, but excrete them through specialized glands in the leaves. Others transfer salts into senescent leaves or store them within the bark or the wood. Mangroves create unique ecological environments that harbour rich assemblages of species. The marshy sediments of the mangroves are habitat to a large number of epibenthic, infaunal, and meiofaunal invertebrates. Channels within the mangals support the habitat of phytoplankton, zooplankton and fish. The mangroves play a special role as nursery habitat for juveniles of fish whose adults occupy other habitats (e.g. coral reefs and seagrass beds). The submerged mangroves roots, trunks and branches are islands of habitat having capability to draw in rich epifaunal communities including bacteria, fungi, macroalgae and invertebrates since they're surrounded by loose sediments. The aerial roots, trunks, leaves and branches anchor other groups of organisms. A number of crab species live among the roots, on the trunks