PhD Theses (WII)

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    Influence of extractive disturbances on forest bird communities in Shiwalik landscape, India.
    (Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2015) Monica; Rawat, G.S.; Mohan, D.
    Frequent extraction of plant biomass in the form of timber, firewood, fodder, and non-timber forest products (NTFP) by rural populations, is the most widespread disturbances in the tropical forests. These disturbances not only alter habitat characteristics but also affect habitat use, survival and fitness of biotic communities. Birds are highly sensitive to modification in their habitat and therefore amongst the best model taxa to examine and monitor impacts of these cryptic disturbances. In order to understand the dynamics of small-scale extractive disturbances and their effects on floral and faunal community, I undertook a study in Shiwalik landscape of northern India. The objectives of research were to: 1. Identify the major causes of disturbance in three main forest type of this landscape and assess if disturbance depends on degree of protection. 2. Quantify impacts of disturbances on different layers of vegetation (tree and shrub) and examine changes in structure and composition of the habitat, if iii any. Executive Summary 3. Investigate the response of birds community and foraging guild levels to habitat degradation in different forest types during breeding and non-breeding seasons. 4. Identify indicator bird species suitable for future monitoring of small-scale extractive disturbances in this landscape. A contiguous stretch of the Shiwalik landscape between river Yamuna in the west and river Ganga in the east was selected to carry out this study.
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    Assessing the potential role of Coleoptera (Insecta) as bioindicators in Simbalbara Wildlife Sanctuary, Himachal Pradesh
    (Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2009) Bhargav, Vinay; Uniyal, V.P.
    In this study the suitability of select beetle families as bioindicators to monitor human influence on forest ecosystems was undertaken. Beetles have been used in forest ecosystems where their species number and/or abundances change along a habitat disturbance gradient; a common trend being that large, poorly dispersing specialist species decrease with increased disturbance while small generalist species with good dispersal ability increase. The purpose of this research work is to find out the status of beetles in a biogeographically significant area of Simbalbara Wildlife Sanctuary, Himachal Pradesh in Shivalik Himalaya in north western India; and to assess their potential role to assess the human influence on forest ecosystem on a more local scale. Further, patterns of species biodiversity, taxonomy, and their suitability as bioindicator were explored using a set of standard methods and ecological indexes. The set of methods and indexes used in this work is similar in many ways to the measures used or proposed elsewhere; but the objective is to determine the suitability and application of bioindicators for monitoring and inventorying study at a local scale