Authors
Rajat Nayak, Krithi K Karanth, Trishna Dutta, Ruth Defries, K Ullas Karanth, Srinivas Vaidyanathan
Publication date
2020/12/1
Journal
Land Use Policy
Volume
99
Pages
104619
Publisher
Pergamon
Description
Linear infrastructure development is an important driver of forest fragmentation leading to habitat and biodiversity loss as well as disruption of critical ecosystem processes. The tropical forests of India are increasingly impacted by infrastructure development. Little quantitative information is available on the extent of fragmentation due to linear infrastructure on these habitats. Here, we quantified fragmentation due to linear infrastructure by studying forest structural connectivity. We compared the existing forest patch characteristics with a scenario that excluded all linear infrastructure. We classified forest patches into three different fragmentation categories that combined information on patch size, inter patch distance and percentage perforations. Results show that power-transmission lines and roads were the most common infrastructure features within forests. We found a 6% increase in the number of forest patches due …
Total citations
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Scholar articles
R Nayak, KK Karanth, T Dutta, R Defries, KU Karanth… - Land Use Policy, 2020