Impact of Climate Change-induced Flood on Fragile Riparian Vegetation of Braid Bars: -A Case Study from Chalakkudy River, Southwest Coast of India Saritha V.K., Gopikrishna V.G., Rameshan M., Mohan Mahesh* School of Environmental Sciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam-686560, Kerala, India *Corresponding author email id: maheshmohan@mgu.ac.in
Online published on 17 February, 2020. Abstract The occurrence of odd unpredictable natural events has increased during the last few decades and is the evidence of the climate change. Most of them create a devastating effect on the environmental process especially fragile and pristine environmental systems. This study aims to assess the intensity of the impact of 2018 megaflood of Kerala on the riparian vegetation associated with braid bars in the Chalakkudy River, south west coast of India. The braid bars were identified and area of each braid bar before the flood was calculated. Field work data, mainly GPS waypoints, are used in the same manner in order to get the area of braid bars after the megaflood. The results shown that most of the area of braid bars and associated riparian system disturbed and reduced after the megaflood. Considering the ecological, geological, meteorological and hydrological significance of these stable and diversified systems, these changes will have a significant impact on the entire river system in near future. Top Keywords Disaster, Forest, Western ghats, Stream. Top |