Assessment of land use and land cover and forest fragmentation in traditional landscape in Manipur, Northeast India

Land use and land cover (LULC) change has serious impacts on the environment health. The knowledge and regular monitoring of LULC change has become a key facet for the sustainable management of natural resources. Forest fragmentation is considered one of the most pertinent conservation issues as it associates with the deterioration of ecosystem integrity. Using geospatial technology, we assessed the spatio-temporal changes in LULC, the net rate of deforestation, and forest fragmentation in the traditional landscape of Manipur, Northeast India, from 1999 to 2019. Multi-temporal satellite data Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager were used to classify different LULC classes. The Landscape fragmentation tool LFT v2.0 was used for the classification of different categories of forest fragmentation. During the study period, it was found that forest class dominated the study area, followed by cropland and shifting cultivation area. It was observed that area under dense forest has declined by 11.05% during 1999-2009 but slightly improved during 2009-2019 by 4.33%. The analysis of forest fragmentation found that a large area under the core forest has declined throughout the study period (1999-2019). The net rate of deforestation during 2009-2019 was 0.39% higher than the periods 1999-2009 (0.14%). Landscape indices at class level metrics were calculated using spatial analysis software called Fragstats. The results suggested an anthropogenic and natural activities are the major causes of LULC changes, deforestation, and forest fragmentation. The study provided the spatial database on LULC and forest fragmentation in the data-scare region of traditional landscape in Northeast India, which will help understand the impact of LULC and forest fragmentation on biodiversity-ecosystem processes and support the policymakers in ensuring sustainable land use planning.