1. Endangered Ecosystems of Eastern Ghats: Need for Conserving Kondapalli Forests, Andhra Pradesh, India.
- Author
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Prasad, P. Rama Chandra, Rajan, K. S., and Kumari, J. Asha
- Subjects
ENDANGERED ecosystems ,BIOTIC communities ,FOREST conservation ,ANTHROPOGENIC soils - Abstract
Forests are the renewable resources, which are under continuous threat due to various anthropogenic interferences. The present paper discusses the risk caused due to the residual forest patches of eastern ghats of Andhra Pradesh, India, and the actions to be taken to protect them before they go into the phase of extinction. The paper focuses mainly on the significance of Kondapalli reserved forest of eastern ghats and on the role of anthropogenic factors in modifying the structure of these forests and on the possible causative and underlying factors that drive such changes. Though Kondapalli forest was declared as reserve forest, it is subjected to human disturbances, threatening the biodiversity and its population. The establishment of industries near to this forest and easy movement of people into the forest have caused a lot of damage to the vegetation. Encroachment, indiscriminate cutting of trees and haphazard grazing in forest areas have resulted in vast stretches of useless degraded scrub, eroded soils and bare hills. In this context, there is a need to analyze the current status of these forests and suggest measures to retain the remnant forests and recover wherever possible, thus providing various types of resources and for becoming a repository for biodiversity of the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2011