Quantifying the Fragmentation of the Wildlife Habitat Using Landscape Ecology Approach (Case Study: Lar National Park and Varjin Protected Area)

Document Type : Animal environment

Authors

1 Department of Environment, Faculty of Environment, Karaj, Iran

2 Department of Natural Environment and Biodiversity, Faculty of Environment, Karaj, Iran

3 Department of Environmental Planning and Management, Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

4 Department of Environment and Biodiversity, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

Abstract

The management of areas with landscape ecological approach helps us to have more integrated of considering completely management and also keep the area’s values.Integrity and connectivity of habitats in protected areas is important for the survival of plants and animals populations.Investigating on the integrity of these areas could help to interconnect islanded patches and preventing the negative impacts of fragmentations .This study aimed to quantify the fragmentations of the wildlife habitat in Lar national park and Varjin protected area to compare the status of the integrity of the habitat of leopard, wild sheep and wild goat species. To achieve this goal, land use maps of the areas were prepared using RS and GIS techniques and Wildlife habitat maps were also provided from Department of enviroment. In order to identify human factors influencing wildlife dispersion, the geometry of the fragmentation method was used. The results of this study indicated that by analyzing landscape metrics and geometries of fragmentation, we can identify the most important factors affecting the integrity of different species habitats, in order to protect them and preserve biodiversity. Results showed In Lar national park, soil paths, agriculture and dam factors, respectively, were identified in the creation of the fragmentation of the leopard, wild goat, wild sheep habitat. In the protected area of Varjin, agricultural use was identified as the most important factor affecting the habitat of wildlife.

Keywords

References

  1. Ahern, j. and Andre, L., 2003. Applying Landscape Ecological Concepts and Metrics in Sustainable Landscape Planning. Landscape and Urban Planning. Vol. 59, No. 2, pp: 65-93.
  2. Anderson, J.R.; Hardy, E.E.; Roach, J.T and Witmer, R.E., 1976. Lands Cover Classification System for Use with Remote Sensor Data. United States Government Printing Office. Washington, USA. pp: 80-85.
  3. Forman, R.T.T., 1995. Land mosaics: The ecology of landscapes and regions. Cambridge University press, USA. 607-656.
  4. Girvetz, E.H.;Thorne, J.H.; Berry, A.M. and Jeager, J.A.G., 2008. Integration of Landscape Fragmentation Analysis into Regional Planning: A Statewide Multi-Scale Case Study from California, USA. Vol. 86, No. 3-4, pp: 205-218.
  5. Jaeger, J., 2002. Landscape Fragmentation: A Transdisciplinary Study According to the Concept of Environmental Threat Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart, Germany. 447pp.
  6. Jaeger, J.A.G.; Bertiller, R.; Schwick, C.; Muller, K.; Steinmeier, C.; Ewald, K.C. and Ghazoul, J., 2008. Implementing Landscape Fragmentation as an Indicator in the Swiss Monitoring System of Sustainable Development (MONET). Environmental Management. Vol. 88, No. 4, pp: 737-751.
  7. Leitao, A.B. and Ahren, J., 2002. Applying Landscape Ecological Concepts and Metrics in Sustainable Landscape Planning. Landscape and Urban Planning, Vol. 59, No.2, pp: 65-93.
  8. McGarigal, K. and Marks, B.J., 1995.FRAGSTATS: Spatial Pattern Analysis Program for Quantifying Landscape Structure. Forest Science Department. Oregon State University, Corvallis.
  9. Mairota, P.; Cafarelli, B.; Boccaccio, L.; Leronni, V.; Labadessa, R.; Kosmidou, V. and Nagendra, H., 2013. Using Landscape Structure to Develop Quantitative Baselines for Protected Area Monitoring. Ecological Indicators. Vol. 33, pp: 82-95.
  10. Quintana, S.; M., Ramos,B. M., Martinez,M. A. C. & Pastor,I. O. 2010. A model for assessing habitat fragmentation caused by new infrastructures in extensive Territories-Evaluation of the impact of the Spanish strategic infrastructure and transport plan. Journal of Environmental Management. (91): 1087–1096
  11. Turner, M.G.; Gardner, R. H. and O'neill, R.V. 2001. Landscape Ecology in Theory and Practice Pattern and Process, New York, Springer
Journal of Animal Environment
Volume 10, Issue 4
December 2018
Pages 23-34

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics