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A Multi-Scale Geospatial Study Of Wetlands Distribution And Agricultural Zones, And The Case Of India, N Nagabhatla, Rohan Wickramasuriya, N Prasad, Max Finlayson

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

This paper highlights the global and the regional scale representation of wetlands ecosystems using geospatial tools and multiple data sets. At global scale, the Ramsar database is investigated for representation of the wetlands sites of international importance against the "global agricultural zones" derived from the thematic aggregation of Global Irrigated Area Map databases. The analysis of "Ramsar sites" under cultivation reflects the present trend in wetlands use for agriculture. The scenario is also compared with the historical pattern derived from Vavilov's food zones of 1926. Observed is an aggregate increase in cropped wetlands area from 25% (1926) to 43% (2006). …