Study of changes in habitat type distribution and habitat structure of Nech Sar National Park, Ethiopia

Habitat loss and habitat fragmentation are major threats of protected areas in developing countries. The primary aim of this study was to analyze the spatial and temporal changes of wildlife habitats of Nech Sar National Park (NSNP) and to determine the most threatened habitat types as input for conservation planning. Authors examined the extent and magnitude of habitat change in NSNP between 1985 and 2013 using remote sensing, GIS and patch analyst tool. The NSNP consists of five major habitat types (forest, shrubland, wooded grassland, woodland and grassland. Six categories of landscape metrics (class area, patch size, edge, shape, diversity and interspersion and core area metrics), were computed for each habitat type and year (1985 and 2013) using spatial and temporal analysis. The study results showed that the landscape in NSNP underwent major changes between 1985 and 2013 with the forest and grassland are the most threatened habitats with the mean patch size of forest has decreased from 46.33 ha in 1985 to 13.88 ha in 2013 and the mean patch size of grassland has decreased from 76.52 to 9.81 ha in the same periods, respectively. These values indicate that the mean patch size of forest and grassland have decreased by 32.45 and 66.71 ha and their number of patches increased by 76 and 22, respectively between 1985 and 2013. Increases in habitat fragmentation negatively affect the home ranges of large mammals in the landscape and led to species loss. Therefore, designing management strategies for integrating mosaic habitats will ensure effective protection of wildlife species