Floodplains are simultaneously the most productive and threatened ecosystems in the world, with land cover integrity compromised even in “protected” floodplains. Due to their rich biodiversity, monitoring of land cover and understanding the causative drivers becomes imperative in the protected floodplains. This work performs spatio‐temporal assessment of land cover changes and discovers the underlying processes in the largest protected floodplain of the Brahmaputra River (BR)—Kaziranga National Park (KNP). Remotely sensed images of 1988, 1998, 2008, and 2018 were analyzed using visual interpretation techniques coupled with class description keys in GIS platform along with ground‐based surveys. Results show a substantial area decline under Dense Forest (7.7%), Open Forest (10%), Waterlogged wetland (31.3%), and Marsh/Swamp (70.4%) land cover classes between 1988 and 2018. The considerable reduction in forests and wetlands is likely to impact the life support system of the park as they form the key habitats and food resources. Concurrently, dramatic area increase under riverine classes has led to huge landmass loss along the northern and eastern stretch. Though the BR and the local flood pulse are essential source of nutrient replenishment in the park, they also act as primary drivers of land cover alteration. Hydro‐geomorphic processes like bank erosion, high‐flood events, and siltation in association with vegetation succession and invasive species control the inter‐conversion of land cover classes in the KNP. The findings of this work provide an insight into the natural factors that instigate the land cover modification on large floodplains in general, and particularly in KNP.

中文翻译：

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受保护的洪泛区生态系统中的土地覆盖动态及其驱动因素

洪泛区同时也是世界上生产力最高和威胁最大的生态系统，即使在“受保护”的洪泛区中，土地覆被完整性也受到损害。由于它们具有丰富的生物多样性，因此在受保护的洪泛区中，必须监控土地覆盖并了解引起破坏的因素。这项工作进行了土地覆盖变化的时空评估，并发现了布拉马普特拉河（BR）-卡齐兰加国家公园（KNP）最大的受保护洪泛区的潜在过程。使用视觉解释技术结合GIS平台中的类别描述键以及基于地面的调查，对1988年，1998年，2008年和2018年的遥感图像进行了分析。结果显示，在茂密森林（7.7％），开放森林（10％），涝渍湿地（31.3％）和沼泽/沼泽（70。在1988年至2018年之间，土地覆盖率达到了4％。森林和湿地的大量减少很可能会影响公园的生命支持系统，因为它们构成了重要的栖息地和食物资源。同时，沿河流域的面积急剧增加，导致北部和东部河段的土地大量流失。尽管BR和当地的洪水脉冲是公园中养分补充的重要来源，但它们还是土地覆盖变化的主要驱动力。水力地貌过程，如河岸侵蚀，高洪灾事件以及与植被演替和入侵物种相关的淤积，控制了KNP土地覆被类别的相互转换。这项工作的发现有助于深入了解自然因素，这些自然因素通常会促使大型洪泛区的土地覆被发生变化，