In practice, the management of reserves in the tropics is inadequately funded, unplanned and often threatened by illegal extraction of forest products or commercial activities nevertheless [10]. Conservation management of naturally occurring undisturbed areas Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries should Perifosine order ensure that their natural values are retained in the face of internal natural dynamics, disturbances from outside, and varied anthropogenic pressures.The Western Ghats Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries are one among the 34 biodiversity hotspots of the world [11]. Considering KMTR’s importance for the conservation of the wider region’s unique biodiversity, an assessment of forest cover and forest cover change is needed. No systematic assessment has been conducted to determine KMTR’s remaining forest cover, Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries its fragmentation patterns, or the rate at which forest cover is changing.

It is therefore necessary to determine accurately Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries the Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries rate and spatial patterns of these processes to formulate sustainable strategies for conservation and monitoring of relatively undisturbed landscapes. Such kind of assessments can only be produced via analysis of satellite imagery and ancillary information, because on-the-ground records of impacts from agricultural conversions and logging are either inaccessible or non-existent. Satellite remote sensing offers consistent observation of tropical forests cover dynamics at a fine scale [12] with more precision and in a cost-effective manner.

Thus detection of land cover change both Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries at a spatial and temporal scale using satellite images such as Landsat, IRS, SPOT is one of the most valuable Inhibitors,Modulators,Libraries contributions to natural resource management and biodiversity assessment [13-15].

AV-951 Analysis of multi-temporal satellite data offers accurate estimation of forest cover and deforestation rates [12, 14-15].The objective of this study is to characterize spatial and temporal patterns of forest cover change, its rate of deforestation, and to develop future Carfilzomib scenarios using remotely sensed data in a case study area of Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, South Western Ghats, India. The research also focuses in identifying remnant intact patches of evergreen forest using multi-temporal satellite data (1973 �C 2004) for its future scenario.

These inputs are useful to delineate potential conservation areas and monitoring parameters selleck chemical in one of the ecologically most sensitive biodiversity hotspots of the earth.2.

?Study selleckchem areaThe Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) is located in the southern end of the Western Ghats (hereafter ��WG��), Tamil Nadu (India) (Figure 1) and lies between 8��21�� – 8��52�� N latitude and 77��10�� – 77��33�� E longitude in the biogeographic provinces [16] 4.1.1 (Malabar rainforest) and 4.14.4 (Deccan thorn forest). The area falls in two districts, namely Tirunelveli and Kanya Kumari of Tamil Nadu and is bound on the west by Kerala State. KMTR covers an area of 907 km2, with hills towering to majestic heights ranging from 100 to 1,880 m (Agasthiar peak).