Sustainable Management of Natural Resources Using Geospatial Techniques A Case Study of Churu District Rajasthan India

Abstract

The current study was conducted primarily to assess the sustainability of natural vegetation, newlineparticularly medicinal plants in the Churu district, Rajasthan, India. Medicinal plants in the study newlinearea are an intrinsic part of the livelihood for the locals and are used in preparation of various newlinetraditional medicines. In this regard a sustainability analysis which comprised of evaluating land newlineuse/landcover change, quality of ground water and soil was conducted for the natural vegetation newlinepresent in the study area. newlineIdentification and mapping of natural/medicinal vegetation in the study area was conducted by newlinecollecting a total of forty vegetation samples as well as with the help high resolution satellite data. newlineThe natural vegetation identified in the study area was grouped in three major classes that included newlinetropical thorn forest, mixed forest and tropical dry deciduous forest. The biodiversity in the study newlinearea was assessed using Shannon diversity index which indicated higher biodiversity in tropical newlinethorn forest as compared to mixed and tropical dry forests. newlineThe land use/landcover (LULC) change detection analysis for the period 1998-2019 was newlineconducted for the study area. LULC maps developed from the satellite images acquired in 1998, newline2008 and 2019 were used to understand the overall change in the land use/landcover of the study newlinearea that occurred during the past twenty years. This analysis revealed that built-up area, scrub newlineland and salt affected area increased whereas, agriculture crop land decreased during this period. newlineQuality of water (irrigation) in the study area was assessed using ground-based sampling and newlinegeospatial techniques. The results of physio-chemical analysis of water indicated that most of the newlinewater quality parameters exceeded permissible limits according to BIS standards. The water newlinequality in the study area was also mapped spatially using Water Quality Index (WQI). The WQI newlineresults corroborated with physio-chemical analysis and indicated that for the most part, water in newlinethe study a