Indian Journal of Ecology

Goa being a coastal state supports rich diversity of mangrove vegetation. Documentation of this vegetation can be done by ground truthing or using remotely sensed data. Remote sensing is useful in monitoring changes in land use land cover. Vegetation Indices (VI) have been used in mangrove mapping and change detection worldwide. NDVI is calculated from the Red and Near Infrared spectral bands. Present study aimed to document mangrove species; to detect changes in the mangrove vegetation using LULC maps and to calculate NDVI in the upstream region of Zuari estuary. For LULC map, Primary data was collected by ground truthing while secondary data by LAND SAT MODIS and was analyzed using ERDAS 14 Software. Layer stacking was done to get false colour composite (FCC). All satellite images were culminated to get Mosaic image. For NDVI data was taken from LISS III. Mangroves like Avicinia, Sonneratia, Acanthus, Kandelia, Rhiziphora along with two associates Clerodendron and Acrosticum were recorded LULC map indicated decline in mangrove vegetation and NDVI with. increase in grassland, cropland, woody savannas and total eradication of evergreen needle leaf vegetation. Remotely sensed data plays pivotal role in detecting changes and beneficial in restoration of mangrove vegetation in affected areas.