Assessing Wetland ecosystem health in Sundarban Biosphere Reserve using pressure-state-response model and geospatial techniques

Coastal wetlands as the potential ecosystems, provide a wide range of benefits counting from ecosystem services to livelihood opportunities. Wetlands are continuously being degraded throughout the world especially in coastal ecosystems due to intensifying pressure on these resources and changing global climatic patterns. The wetlands in Sundarban Biosphere Reserve (SBR) are unique in character as these are surrounded by numerous rivers, creaks and mangrove forest. The present work is a concerted attempt to assess the health conditions of coastal wetland ecosystem in the SBR, India. Coastal wetlands of SBR were delineated during 1989-2017. Geospatial layers of site-specific indicators were prepared and were applied to the PSR model to examine the health of the wetland ecosystem. The model was also utilized to examine the impact of anthropogenic activities on wetland ecosystem and to ascertain the relationship among ecological pressure-state-response of ecosystem. The findings revealed that area under agriculture has been transformed into aquaculture. The shortage of fresh water supply for agriculture and increased salinity transformed many croplands to seasonal wetlands throughout the SBR. The overall ecosystem health of Sundarban has been decreased during the last two decades due to anthropogenic pressure and climate change issues. The result also indicated that the ecosystem fragmentation and human interference rate are two main dominating factors for declining wetland health in SBR. The findings of the study may help in formulating policy for the management of coastal wetland ecosystem.