Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
Development Team
Principal Investigator Prof. R.K. Kohli
& Prof. V.K. Garg & Prof. Ashok Dhawan
Co- Principal Investigator Central University of Punjab, Bathinda
Dr. Puneeta Pandey
Assistant Professor
Paper Coordinator Centre for Environmental Sciences and Technology
Central University of Punjab, Bathinda
Dr. Puneeta Pandey
Content Writer Central University of Punjab, Bathinda
Content Reviewer Dr. Dhanya M.S.
Central University of Punjab, Bathinda
Module Id EVS/RSGIS-EVS/36
Objectives To understand the basic principle of remote sensing for mapping and monitoring of wildlife
CONTENTS
2. Introduction
Wildlife resources constitute a vital link in the survival of the human species and have been a subject
of much interest and research all over the world. Presently, wildlife habitats are under severe pressure
and a large number of species of wild fauna have become endangered. Wildlife is treated as an
inexhaustible genetic resource; the conservation of which becomes essential. Human induced
undesirable changes such as land encroachments leading to wildlife habitat loss, pollution and
introduction of invasive species pose serious threat to wildlife health and richness. Hence in order to
restore wildlife habitat, fragmentation and to prevent further local and global extinction of any species,
it is imperative to understand and carry out comprehensive study of the wildlife population and pattern.
But most of the wildlife habitats are located in those areas where accessibility is not easy because of
difficult terrain. Also the study of wildlife conservation and management with the help of conventional
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Today, India contains 172 species (2.9% of the world’s total number) of animals that are considered to
be globally threatened by the IUCN. These include 53 species of mammals, 69 species of birds, 23
species of reptiles, and 3 species of amphibians. Extinction is somehow classified as ‘biological
reality’ because no species has, as yet, existed for more than a few million years without evolving into
something different or dying out completely. Extinction is threatening all species, but most of the time
smaller animals, like bats and rodents, face this threat more than other animals. We, however, tend to
focus on the charismatic flagship species, which we like to see and which fascinate us. Success in
evolution is measured in terms of survival: failure, by extinction. Most recent extinctions can be
attributed, either directly or indirectly, to human demographic and technological expansion,
commercialized exploitation of species, and human-caused environmental change. These factors, in
turn, have affected the reproductive rate of endangered species and their adaptability to changing
environmental conditions. Concern for wildlife is, in fact, a concern for ourselves.
At the beginning of the project, 9 tiger reserves were created. Currently, there are 50 tiger reserves
covering a total area of 71027.10 km2. Also, international trade in tiger products has been banned
under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra), or Indian antelope, is exclusive to the Indian subcontinent. The
blackbuck was listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and Punjab and Haryana
honored it as their state animal. Presently, there are five wildlife sanctuaries in Punjab. The Bishnoi
community does not allow felling of trees as well as killing of all wild animals, including birds. The
strict policy of local cooperation and noninterference towards the local wildlife has provided
protection to peafowl, partridges, hares, jungle cats, nilgai, and other wild animals.
The great Indian bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) is the state bird of Rajasthan and an indicator of the
health of the grassland ecosystem of the Indian plains. In the early 1980s, five states undertook
conservation measures for the great Indian bustard, and eight protected areas were declared; however,
the state of the bustard has deteriorated sharply during the last 10 years. The major problems that face
the survival of the great Indian bustard include:
Habitat destruction and deterioration - Too many domestic animals are causing
disturbances during the breeding season, and habitat has been lost due to the conversion of
grasslands and wastelands to crop fields.
Poaching
Mismanagement of bustard sanctuaries
Human induced undesirable changes such as land encroachments leading to wildlife habitat loss,
pollution and introduction of invasive species pose serious threat to wildlife health and richness. Hence
in order to restore wildlife habitat, fragmentation and to prevent further local and global extinction of
any species, it is imperative to understand and carry out comprehensive study of the wildlife
population and pattern. But most of the wildlife habitats are located in those areas where accessibility
is not easy because of difficult terrain. Also the study of wildlife conservation and management
including wildlife densities, living pattern, population and habitat with the help of conventional
methods happens to be tough, time taking, risky and requires lot of resources. Also expressing and
measuring biodiversity including study of organisms and their biotic and abiotic components happens
to be intricate because of the versatile nature of biodiversity. Remote sensing can answer these
problems as the number of strategies for wildlife studies including investigation of biodiversity,
wildlife habitation mapping and animal movement modeling can be executed with the help of remote
sensing and inventory database.
Remote sensing is a computer based software application which obtains and processes geographic
information from satellite or air born sensors. Remote sensing measures the reflected and emitted
electromagnetic radiations from the objects. The spatial coverage provided by the remote sensing
occurs across wide range of electromagnetic wavelength.
Remote sensing is capable of providing uniform consistent spatial observation data at wide scale
domain. The images and photographs obtained from the remote sensing helps greatly in the
investigation of physical conditions. It can be further enhanced for better accuracy using remotely
sensed data and field study (multi stage approach). Remote sensing can be classified based on either
direct approach or indirect approach (Chambers et al., 2009). The direct approach suggests direct
observation of spatial features, objects or communities using satellites or air born sensors using high
resolution spatial sensors and hyperspectral sensors (Turner et al., 2003). The indirect parameters are
Satellite Remote Sensing offers information on vegetation type, forest cover, and their changes at
global, regional, national, or micro level studies (Roy et al. 1987, Unni at al. 1985, Porwal and Pant,
1986). Remote Sensing plays an important role in forest management with reference to wildlife
management, fire control, grazing land management, soil and water conservation, mapping of sites
suitable for social forestry and afforestation programmes.
Some of the areas where remote sensing can be useful for wildlife studies are:
Coral reef mapping of 9 reef classes was done with 37% accuracy with LANDSAT TM, 67% with
aerial photography and 81% with an airborn CASI hyperspectral scanner by Mumby and his co
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Figure 1: Statistical Model to Predict Animal Location and Movement for Merriam’s Turkey
(Source: https://nau.edu/LCI/LLECB/Wildlife-Habitat-Modeling/ )
In the figure 1, GPS satellites and radio tags provide key data on animal location and movement of
Merriam’s Turkey. This data would be useful to derive statistical models of space and resource
use.
Integrated Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) or 'greenness index' was reported to
be associated with biome averages of net primary productivity (Goward et al., 1985). It has also
been demonstrated that there exist sharp linear relationship between vegetation indices observed
from the satellite and seasonal primary production (Prince, 1991). Similarly several studies have
GIS is computer based system designed for capturing, managing, manipulating, analyzing,
modeling and displaying spatially geo-referenced data and for solving complex management
problems. GIS helps in easy management of natural and man- made resources at wider scales
extending from local to global scale. GIS is capable of overlaying information from different
thematic maps depending on user specific logic and derived map outputs. Because of the wide
array of GIS application, task defined systems have been created which include engineering
specific, land based information, generic thematic, statistical and property lot mapping,
environmental planning systems and image processing systems related with remotely sensed data
and landsat.
In GIS, the attribute data are stored in relational database and geospatial data are saved in map
layers, map themes and map coverages. These layers geographically referenced to one another
happen to be the foundation of GIS. The gist of map layers refers to spatial as well as attributes
data. GIS database sourced map coverages and GIS analysis based results can be displayed and
printed in maps, tables and figures and shared various GIS software packages.
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Figure 2: A Digital Elevation Model showing continuous coverage of slope, aspect, and
elevation in a raster grid across an entire area. This area is the east side of the Cascade
Mountains in west-central Washington State. Each regular grid cell is 1 km on a side. Figure
developed and provided by Steve Brown at the University of Montana
GIS easily helps in creating maps that cannot be created by using traditional cartographic method.
Moreover GIS software packages offering modeling tools can easily create measurements and
analyze attribute data. The information in GIS is stored digitally hence it is easily accessible for
evaluation and analysis making it easy to be shared among wildlife managers and public. GIS
particularly offer potential to enhance the accuracy and precision and long term inexpensive basic
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GIS sometimes faces basic issues such as in case of determining if GIS is suitable for given situation,
finding which data layer is essential and adequate to achieve the planned task. These basic problems
need to be resolved before taking any action. constrictions and limitations of GIS applicability consist
of the simplification of data for mixed areas due to inadequate scale resolution, data incoherence from
integrating data from different sources without due regard to reliability of each source, and lack of
quality data.
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In Bale Mountains National Park (BMNP) in south central Ethiopia, most wolves were split into three
linked subpopulations, Sanetti Plateau, Morebawa, and the Web Valley. In late August 2008,
researchers in the Web Valley found dead Ethiopian wolves and the laboratory tests confirmed rabies
cases. It was then added to a rapidly rising GIS layer of the area, in order to understand the likely
origin of the outbreak and the direction of its dispersal through the population.
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Figure 6: Map showing the future impact of White nose syndrome (WNS) on gray bat and
Indiana bat hibernation sites
Bat Conservation International (BCI) created a geodatabase of critical hibernation sites and mapped
the likely spread of the disease using GIS. A few past projects had focused on developing geospatial
datasets, but no long-term plan was in place for setting GIS as part of customary operations. Now, GIS
technology is helping biologists to improve understanding the threats prevailing in the wildlife
communities. Spatial analysis of the affected areas and possible future spread is essential for focusing
efforts to increase awareness and endorse vigilance.
6. Conclusions
Wildlife habitat and species around the world are facing a crisis. It is estimated that global warming
may cause the extinction of 15–37% of species by 2050. India has launched an extensive protected
area network of research institutions in which legislation, socio-economic factors, and wildlife
research are playing a great role. Planned research activities include studies on disease diagnosis, site
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