M Sc Dissertation(WII)

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    Civet-izens of Balpakram: Seed fare, pattern of foraging and frugivory of civets in Subtropical and semi-evergreen forests
    (Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2026) Touhid, Sumedha; Lyngdoh, Salvador; Adhikari, B.S.
    Civets belong to the family Viverridae and are nocturnal and omnivorous mesopredators that also practice frugivory. Their ecological importance is exploited in the production of civet coffee, where coffee cherries ingested and defecated by the civets are collected and sold for an exorbitant amount. Their diet as frugivores enables them to play a crucial role in the seed dispersal within forest ecosystems. Endozoochory is a key seed dispersal mechanism in tropical forests, with civets (Viverridae) playing an important role by consuming fruits and dispersing intact seeds. Despite their ecological significance, little is known about how resource availability influences their foraging behaviour or how they coexist with sympatric carnivores. This study investigated the effects of fruit abundance on civet feeding behaviour, assessed seed dispersal effectiveness through seed viability, and examined coexistence mechanisms in Balpakram National Park, Meghalaya India. Fieldwork was conducted from December 2025 to March 2026 across a 25 km² area in the Mahadeo Range of Balpakram National Park, South Garo Hills. Camera trapping recorded 216 independent wildlife detections, including 50 civet captures representing the Large Indian Civet, Common Palm Civet, and Small Indian Civet. Fruit abundance was quantified around camera stations, while 33 civet scats were collected for tetrazolium-based seed viability analysis. Temporal and spatial overlap with sympatric species were analysed using kernel density estimation, the Dhat1 coefficient, and Pianka's Index. Ground fruit availability significantly increased Large Indian Civet detections, indicating opportunistic foraging on fallen fruits. Civets coexisted with sympatric species through multidimensional niche partitioning. Moderate overlap with Common Palm Civets was likely facilitated by vertical habitat segregation, high overlap with Leopard Cats was permitted by dietary differences, low overlap with Clouded Leopards suggested predator avoidance, and low spatial overlap with Wild Boars reflected differing microhabitat preferences despite dietary similarity. Microcos paniculata occurred in most scats, and seeds recovered from scats showed significantly higher viability than control seeds, highlighting the positive influence of civet dispersal on seed survival.
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    Effect of Grazing on the Community Structure and Functional Diversity of Grazing Lawns in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve
    (Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2021) Malagi, Aaroha; Adhikari, B.S.; Page, Navendu V.; Ramesh, K.
    Understanding the effects of grazing (by both livestock and wild ungulates) on grasslands is paramount to come up with more robust managerial actions to conserve, and increase the ecosystem function of these valuable ecosystems. In the current study, we investigate the effects of grazing on a highly productive, mesic grassland ecosystem, viz. grazing lawn in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, India. We examined how species richness and composition of a grassland patch change across a grazing gradient by carrying out plot-based vegetation sampling in the grazing lawns of Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve. We also looked at how trait composition and functional diversity changed across the grazing gradient, to better understand the plant functional response and resilience of the grazing lawn complex. We used a Linear Mixed Effect Model (LMM) to investigate the impact of grazing intensity on species richness, and a Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) to look at the differences in species composition between different grazing treatments. Functional composition and diversity were measured using Lavorel and Villeger’s index in the ‘FD’ package of R (4.0.2). We found that grazing lawns were minimally affected by grazing intensity in terms of species richness and trait composition, but showed a significant change in species composition and functional diversity across the grazing gradient.
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    Patterns of Ant Species Richness and Composition in Deccan Inselberg-Matrix systems of Karnataka
    (Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2025) Sujay G; Adhikari, B.S.
    My study looked into patterns of ant species richness and composition of Deccan inselbergs and surrounding human altered matrix (natural habitat, mango plantation) in Ramanagara taluk, Karnataka, in a bid to recognize their ecological and conservation potential. Ants were chosen as the model taxa, due to their micro-habitat specificity, to better understand environmental gradients and related faunal associations at different scales. Pitfall traps were used as the sampling methodology for ants, and habitat variables were collected at each trap; ants were identified until morphospecies level within respective genera. Data analysis included understanding habitat differences, patterns of species richness and composition, and relating these aspects. The results showed that inselbergs were distinct in terms of habitat structure as compared to the matrix, with the latter showing less vegetation complexity (lesser in mango plantation). While matrix and inselberg showed comparable levels of ant richness, delving deeper it was seen that natural habitat within matrix showed significantly higher richness as compared to the species poor, uneven mango plantation ant assemblage. Similarly, inselbergs and matrix showed similar average composition of their respective ant communities. However closer inspection showed that natural habitat and plantation, when compared separately with inselbergs, showed compositional dissimilarity to greater magnitude. Habitat variables, while statistically significant in their relationship with patterns of ant composition and richness at finer scales, explained a minimal amount of total variation seen in both. Inselbergs, as understood through this study, are not “barren wastelands”, but on the contrary are important reservoirs of regional diversity. In light of rapid human alteration of the surrounding matrix and threats like quarrying, invasive species, inselbergs and the low lying natural habitat need to be given greater conservation importance. This study is hopefully just one of many that are required to further assess the conservation and ecological potential of these amazing ecosystems.