1. Land Cover of Protected Areas and Surrounding Matrices
Protection vs. commercial management: Spatial and temporal analysis of land cover changes in the tropical forests of Central India
Paper by P. Mondal and J. Southworth, Forest Ecology and Management, 259 (5):
Presented by Erin Fink, Environmental Science major, Geog 370, 3/1/2010

2. Differences in Land Cover
Problem: Maintaining ecological integrity of the matrix and interface surrounding protected land areas.
Hypothesis: There are differences in spatiotemporal land coverage trajectories between protected areas of the PTR and the surrounding commercial areas that change over time.

3. Methods Site: PTR Maharashtra in Central India
Use multitemporal and multispectral image datasets
Overlay images and use pixel-based change detection method to show alterations of land cover over time

4. Results
There is a distinct spatiotemporal pattern of forest-cover changes, especially after the first decade surveyed.
There is a correlation between changes seen in protected areas and surrounding commercial areas.
Increase in reforestation with forest areas becoming more stable.
Two-date change trajectories of the park and 10 km buffer for (a) 1977–1989, (b) 1989–2000, and (c) 2000–2007.

5. Conclusions
There has been a regrowth of forest in Central India’s PTR Maharashtra.
The protected park area showed a 15.3% increase in forest cover.
Surrounding buffer zone showed a % increase in forest cover.
Critique
The study could have shown more trends seen between the protected area and the buffer zones.