Land Use and Land Cover Change, Its Impact on Ecological Balance of Wetlands: A Case Study of Urpad Beel in Goalpara District of Assam, India

Abstract

The study about the pattern of land use and land cover change has given due attention in different aspects of scientific and sustainable development in different parts of the globe. It indicates the interchangeability of different landscape attributes in a geographical arena.  Land use refers to how particular land area being utilized by human, while land cover refers to the natural vegetation communities. The land use and land cover mapping describe the landscape of a particular area by assigning each land unit to a specific category or class, such as residential, forest or agricultural, etc. The land use mapping has been enjoying a pride position not only in geography but any other discipline which deals with the issues pertaining to space. From the very old days in different parts of the world, attempt has been made to prepare the land use mapping with different objectives. Today the importance of the study about the land use and how the land cover has been changing is felt in the context of the haphazard and uncontrollable development, destruction of environmental quality, loss of arable land, loss of biodiversity habitat like forest and wetlands etc.

The present paper is a modest attempt to delineate and analyze the land use and land cover change and its impact on ecological balance of an wetland called Urpad beel of Goalpara district in Assam.