ASSESSMENT OF ANTHROPOGENIC STRESS ON SURINSAR WETLAND USING GEOSPATIAL TOOLSS. Sharma and G. KumarAbstract Surinsar Wetland, a Ramsar Site is situated in the lower Shiwalik region about 35 kms from Jammu city of India. Various anthropogenic causes have put immense pressure on this wetland. Unplanned growth and environmental degradation has led to the decrease of the spread of clear water. The present study highlights the various threats being faced by this wetland due to human activities. The study aimed to examine the land-use land-covers (LULC) changes and degradation of wetland in order to form a baseline for future conservation actions using geospatial tools. The Landsat data has been used for LULC classification around the buffer of the wetland and then the change detection technique was used to quantify the LULC change in GIS environment. During the present course of investigation, it was observed that Surinsar wetland is under stress of diverse type of anthropogenic pressure. The result shows a drastic change in LULC during 10 years (from 2008 to 2018). Degradation in wetland is primarily due to encroachment, agricultural, forestry and other land use activities in the catchment contributing nutrients to the wetland and leading to cultural eutrophication of the wetland. |