An assessment of land use land cover change in Central Highland of Deccan Peninsula and Semi-Arid tracts of India

Human consumption and management of land, i.e., how people transmit to a landscape as a source of livelihood, shelter, recreation, or industry, are powerful forces shaping patterns and dynamics in human-occupied landscapes. Understanding and managing landscape change, therefore, requires a thorough knowledge of the developmental processes the area is undergoing, causing the change in the land use pattern over time. In this study land use/cover dynamics of the Central Highland of Deccan Peninsula and Semi-Arid zone of Gujarat Rajputana bio-geographic regions of India was assessed using a combination of hybrid classification, markov analysis approach within the time frame of 2000-2013. In this time frame, major changes have been identified in dense forest, open forest, cropland, fallow land and in the barren landforms. The landscape has witnessed a substantial increase in built-up areas from 31317 sq. km. in 2000 to 52338 sq. km in 2013. The scrubland has largely declined from 35713.06 sq. km in 2000 to 23003.88 sq.km in 2013; it might have resulted from the transition of scrubland to the fallow land which was predicted as more than 70% in the first phase and more than 30% in the later phase. The area under dense forest constantly decreased in the studied time (84027 sq. km to 71225.37 sq. km). The Markov analysis estimated a probability of changing of open forest types to fallow land (36% in 2000-2006 and 20% in 2006-2013). As the environmental damage is irreversible due to industrialization, therefore a sound strategy needs to be implemented for sustainable use of natural resources that can go hand in hand.