12DELINEATION OF POTENTIAL BIODIVERSITY AREA IN OUTSIDE FORESTS OF
AVAILABLE PROTECTED AREAS
Praveena Dev*and Reshmi V.
1
Postgraduate Research Department of Zoology,
Sree Narayana College Cherthala, Affiliated to University of Kerala Thiruvananthapuram*Corresponding Author Email: praveena7507@gmail.com

How to cite this paper:
Praveena Dev and Reshmi
V. (2022) Delineation of
Potential Biodiversity Area in
Outside Forests of Available
Protected Areas, Journal of
Global Resources, Vol. 08
(02)

DOI:
10.46587/JGR.2022.v08i02.012

Received: 21 April 2022
Reviewed: 11 May 2022
Revised: 25 May 2022
Final Accepted: 15 June 2022

Abstract: Effectiveness of biodiversity conservation inprotective areas of forest become fulfill when housed all
biodiversity rich areas. A study conducted in Agasthyarmalai
Biosphere Reserve (ABR), a tropical evergreen forest ofsouthern part of the Western Ghats (Suliman khan, 2016).
Here identified well biodiversity areas outside of existing
protected areas. Initially four forest patches selected in
Achancovil, Kulathupuzha, Palode, and Paruthipally ranges
from the satellite images analysis. Based on population,
abundance, endemic and Rare Endangered Threatened(RET) status of Mammals, Amphibians, Birds, Reptiles andButterflies, prepared the thematic maps in ArcGIS 10.2
platform. Weighted overlay analysis has been performed toget and priorities potential biodiversity areas.
Key words: Biodiversity, Prioritization, Agasthyarmalai, GIS
Biosphere Reserve

Journal of Global Resources, July 2022, Volume 08 (02) Praveena Dev and Reshmi V. P a g e | 9 8

Introduction
Biodiversity comprises variety of all life forms on earth, including micro and macro-organisms
such as plants and animals, etc. Biodiversity in microclimatic regions of earth surface is unique
so its conservation is important. As a result of billions of years of evolution, today's biodiversity
is about 9 to 52 million species ( Baillieet al., 2004). At present, several species are in retreat,losing habitat, and increasingly threatened with extinction by various factors like humaninterruption. The Western Ghats, one of the ‘biodiversity hotspots’ in the world is additionally asequence of mountains cowl a region of regarding 54,000 km2 is exclusive in terms of itsendemic flora and fauna. The Agasthyamalai hills, set at the southernmost tip of the WesternGhats is notable for its terribly flush and varied vegetation, with high concentration of endemics.
The Agasthymailai Biosphere Reserve central location is 8° 39’ north and 77° 13’ east. InAgasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve (ABR) of Kerala half, Shenduruny, Peppara and Neyyar
Wild Life Sanctuaries square measure the only Protected Areas (PAs) consisting of 1828 sq.
km. Agasthyamalai region of southern Western Ghats is embedded throughout humandominated landscape and therefore square measure subject to intense land-use conflicts(Regmiet al., 2016). An important tool for monitoring biodiversity is a geographic information
system (GIS), which accommodates large varieties of spatial and spatial (attribute) data
(Nagendra, 2001 ). The information embedded in a GIS is used to target surveys andmonitoring schemes (Rodrigues et al., 2006). This paper discusses available biodiversity rich
are as to identify the potential areas outside of present protected areas for biodiversity
conservation.
Study Area
The study area is shown in the( Fig. 01) is the Kerala part of Agasthyarmalai Biosphere
Reserve during January 2021 (ABR, area = 3,500.36 sq. km) locating at the southernmost
part of the Western Ghats in India. The region consists of outside the existing protectedareas - Achancovil, Kulathupuzha, Palode, and Paruthipally, which were classified as fourmajor forest ranges it was observed during month of January 2021.
Figure 01: Study Area

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Species RichnessA region with a large number of endangered or uncommon species is usually thought to havehigher conservation value than one with similar species richness, is shown in the (table 1). but
all of the species are common and widespread observed in January 2021.
Table 01: Species RichnessGroupAmphibians

Birds

Butterflies

ReptilesPlace
Achenkovil
Kulathupuzha_
PalodeParuthipally
Achenkovil
Kulathupuzha_
PalodeParuthipally
Achenkovil
Kulathupuzha_
PalodeParuthipally
Achenkovil
Kulathupuzha_
PalodeParuthipally

Total
71120
1296
72
115
79120
88131111
12101916

Species Endemism
Endemism is the condition of being endemic or being restricted to a particular geographicallegion sited in 2021.The check lists for Reptiles, Amphibians, Birds, and Butterflies wereprepared on the basis of observation. 369 known endemic higher vertebrate species have been
identified by WCMC. Species endemism can be measured by dividing the total number ofindividual species (ISIS) by the total number of species population (NSI) and multiplying by one
hundred (100) is shown in the ( table 2).
Table: 02 Species EndemismGroupAmphibiansBirds

Butterflies

ReptilesPlaceAchenkovil
Kulathupuzha_PalodeParuthipally
Achenkovil
Kulathupuzha
PalodeParuthipally
Achenkovil
Kulathupuzha_
PalodeParuthipally
Achenkovil
Kulathupuzha_
PalodeParuthipally

Endemism
71.41
72.72
25
58.33
3.11
4.15
5.11
3.78
05
13.63
13.73
10.81
8.32
20
31.56
25

Rare Endangered Threatened (RET) Status
Biodiversity restoration will only be more effective if RET animals are given the respect they
merit. The research focused on rare, endangered, and threatened species in addition to total
biodiversity, since this subset is the most vulnerable and in need of conservation action(Karunakaranetal., 2011). The IUCN and Red Data Book have described these categories as
the most widely published prioritization of species for conservation action. The IUCN Red List
Journal of Global Resources, July 2022, Volume 08 (02) Praveena Dev and Reshmi V. P a g e | 1 0 0

is widely regarded as the most reliable reference to the status of biological diversity, thanks toits solid science foundation. RET status as shown in table 3 can be measured by dividing thetotal number of individual species (ISI) by the total number of species population (NSI) andmultiplying by one hundred(100) is shown in the( table 3).
Table: 3 RET Status
Group
Amphibians

Birds

Butterflies

ReptilesPlace
Achenkovil
Kulathupuzha_
PalodeParuthipally
Achenkovil
Kulathupuzha_
PalodeParuthipally
Achenkovil
Kulathupuzha_
PalodeParuthipally
Achenkovil
Kulathupuzha_
PalodeParuthipally

LC0
18.18
30
8.33
94.79
86.11
86.08
88.6
00
0.76
0
16.66
20
15.78
37.5

NT
14.28
18.18
05
16.66
1.04
1.38
1.73
00.83
1.38
0.76
025
30
26.31
12.5

VU
14.28
27.27
0
16.66
01.38
1.73
00000
16.66
0
10.52
0EN
14.289.090500000000.76
0.9020025

Analysis of data and Prioritization of Patches using Spatial Format
In order to prioritize the short- l i s t e d patches of forests, Weighted Sum Overlays analysis(ArcGIS 9.3.1 v) were carried out. The thematic layers were species richness, endemism and
RET species of amphibians, birds, butterflies and reptiles, The maximum weightage for eachthe matic layer is 25 and the details of weightage assessment as per composition ofparameters is given in the (table 4 )whereas for null values zero was given manually. Eachtheme has been overlaid for analysis.
Table 04: Weighted Sum Overlay Analysis

LAYERS##123412341234123412341234

SPECIESRICHNESS
Amphibians
Birds

Butterflies
ReptilesENDEMISM
Amphibians
Birds
Butterflies
ReptilesLEASTCONCERN
Amphibians
Birds
Butterflies
ReptilesNEARTHREATENED
Amphibians
Birds
Butterflies
Reptiles
VULNERABLE
Amphibians
Birds
Butterflies
ReptilesENDANGERED
Amphibians
Birds
Butterflies
Reptiles

RANK
0.1
0.025
0.025
0.025
0.025
0.20.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.1
0.025
0.025
0.025
0.025
0.15
0.03750.03750.03750.0375
0.2
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.05
0.25
0.06250.06250.06250.0625

Journal of Global Resources, July 2022, Volume 08 (02) Praveena Dev and Reshmi V. P a g e | 1 0 1

Conclusion
The prefer ring elements of biodiversity and endemism are variable due to specialization ofenvironmental influences in one field relative to another. This paper discusses issues related
to identification of potential areas outside of present protected areas for biodiversity
conservation. Prepare the matic maps (Fig. 02) of Abundance RET status and Endemism ofmammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds and butterfly. b) Identify the potential areas ofbiodiversity. c) Priorities of identified potential areas. In this analysis, possible areas outside ofexisting protected areas in ABR were identified. Achancovil, Kulathupuzha, Palode, andParuthipally were classified as four major forest ranges through the analysis of satellite images.
Based on population abundance, endemic and RET species status of Mammals, Amphibians,Birds, Reptiles and Butterflies, thematic maps were prepared at ArcGIS 10.2 platform. To get
potential area for conservation, weighted overlay analysis has been performed and resultant
potential areas were prioritized.
It is concluded that the species richness (Fig. 02) in number of amphibian species ofthe four patches ranges from 7 to 20, the bird species diversity ranges from 72 to 115 in four
short-listed patches while butterfly species richness varies from 88 to 131 and that of reptiles
ranges from10 to 19. The endemic umber of butterflies ranges from 5.83 to 16.03 in shortlisted patches. Amphibians, like most groups of animals, have a varying percentage
endemism, ranging from 25 to 72 (72, which is a greater percentage than most other groups).
The percentage of endangered bird species in the four short-listed patches ranges from 3.125
to 5.217. The percentage of reptile endemism in the short-listed patches ranges from 5 to 13.73
percent.
The study focused on Rare, Endangered, and Threatened species is shown in the . In
the shortlisted four patches, percentage of LC category of Butterflies varies from 0 to. 75 whilethat of amphibians of least concern category varies from 0 to 30. The percentage of LC
category birds ranges from 0 to 1.73 and of LC category reptiles ranges from 15.77 to 37.5.
The percentage of NT category Butterflies varies from 0 to 1.37 and that of NT categoryamphibians ranges from 5 to 18.18. NT category birds percentage is from 0 to 1.73 while NTcategory reptiles ranges from 12.5 to 30. The percentage of VU category butterflies are 0 andthe percentage of VU category amphibians ranges from 0 to 27. The percentage of VU
category birds varies from 0 to 1.73 and VU category reptiles are varying from 0 to16.65. The
percentage of EN category butterflies ranges from 0 to 0.89 and that of EN categoryamphibians are from 0 to 14.27. The percentage of EN category birds are varying from 0 while
EN category reptiles ranges from 0 to 25. Prioritization of short-list patches was carried out as
explained in the methods. The weighted sum analysis showed that Kulathupuzha patch showshigh priority and Achancovil shows least priority with biological values. Paruthipally exhibited
moderate potential while Paloderange shows low potential.
Figure 02: Species Richness

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Figure 03: Species Endemism

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Figure 04: RET Status

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Figure 05: Prioritized Potential Area

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