DOES FOREST TYPE CLASSIFICATION REFLECT SPATIAL DYNAMICS OF VEGETATION - AN ANALYSIS USING GIS TECHNIQUES

The existing methods of classification of forest vegetation rely more on the structure and composition of tree vegetation with little inform ation derived from other layers. We suggest that any classificatory pr ocess of forest vegetation should consider the spatial dynamics of all the three layers namely, tree, shrub and herb. In this paper we have attempted to offer an objective method of classifying the vegetation a t all the three layers utilizing GIS and multivariate statistical tool s. Unlike the existing techniques, our method views the forest as a co ntinuously changing mosaic of vegetation and not as an assemblage of d iscrete patches. Our study suggests that understanding the spatial dyn amics of vegetation at one layer may not reflect that at others. Furth er, as an alternate to the existing methods, we also develop a continu um map of biodiversity of the forest that offers the conservation valu e of each patch, an element that is not conveyed in the existing class ificatory processes.