M Sc Dissertation(WII)
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Item Responses Shown by Bird Communities to Teak Palatations in Sagar Forest Division, Karnataka(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2009) Barve, Sahas S.; Mohan, D.; Qureshi, QamarThis study was aimed at discerning the responses shown by bird communities to teak plantations of various age classes in Sagar Forest Division, Karnataka within Latitude 13° 36' and 14° 38' North 74° Longitude 38' and 75° 32'East Latitude. Birds were sampled using line transects in three habitat strata, natural plantations, mature teak plantations and young teak plantations. Density, diversity and community similarity were the chief ecological responses that were quantified to bring out differences in the usage of forest plantations by native bird fauna. Habitat (vegetation) correlates, both structural and floristic were quantified to establish the reasons for differences. The sampling period was from December 2008 to April 2009. This period was divided into two seasons, winter and summer. A total of 9 transects were laid, marked and sampled at least 4 times per season. Birds were divided into three feeding guilds and three habitat guilds for analysis. The overall density of birds across the three strata was found to be higher in summer than in winter. However a guild level analysis showed that in winter while insectivorous birds were most abundant in natural forest with decreasing density towards young plantations (F (6.241) , p< 0.05). There was no difference in their density in summer. Phytophagous birds showed the exact reverse trend. Density of this guild was higher in young plantations than natural forests and mature plantations in winter and summer (F(S.689), p< 0.05), (F (14.302), p< 0.01) respectively. Overall diversity of birds showed a trend of decreasing species richness from natural forests to young plantations in both seasons. However this difference was almost non existent in summer at the guild level. The abundance of birds belonging to evergreen and moist deciduous forests shows a consistent· rise in abundance from winter to summer in all the three strata. There is also evidence that there is ingression of individuals of species that were common to both seasons possibly for nesting. The overall community similarity is quite high between the three strata and it increases from winter to summer. Bird diversity was found to be affected by the vertical spread of vegetation and tree height heterogeneity (R=0.871, pItem Resource Tracking by Three Species of Hornbills in Rajaji National Park, Uttarakhand, India(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2009) Warrier, Rekha; Ramesh, K.; Rawat, G.S.Resource tracking is the ability of organisms to adjust to variations in resource availability through numerical or functional responses. Numerical responses may be manifested, by changes in demographic processes or, through changes in movement patterns. Altered space use patterns can result in abundance fluctuations from the local to the landscape levels. An in-depth knowledge, of how resource fluctuations affect patterns of space use and abundance of a species can augment the conservation efforts which are underway for many species. Through this study, responses of three species of hornbills viz, Great Hornbill (Buceros bicornis), Oriental Pied Hornbill (Antharcoceros albirostris) and Indian Grey Hornbill (Ocyceros birostris), to the spatio-temporal variation in fruit abundances were studied in Chilla Range of Rajaj National Park, India. The study was carried out between December 2008 and April 2009, using a grid based occupancy framework and systematic sampling procedure. A total of 28, 1 km grid cells (spatial replicates) were sampled on nine occasions (temporal replicates) for quantifying hornbill responses to fruit abundance patterns. Fluctuations in fruit abundances were assessed by means of phenology transects, which were monitored once every month. Ecological Niche Factor Analysis was done to index the fig fruit availability by modelling fig tree distribution with Eco-geographic variables. Hornbill responses to fruit availability were analysed at two spatial (habitat types and fruit patch level) and temporal scales (winter and summer). Of the three species targeted, data could be consistently obtained only for Oriental pied hornbills. Great hornbills were rarely encountered and Indian grey hornbills were seen commonly only towards the end of the study period. Thus the detailed analysis focused only on Oriental pied hornbills. During the study, non fig fruit availability showed severe variations across areas, and over time. The month of March seemed to be the period of absolute non-fig fruit resource shortage. Figs, especially Ficus rumphii, were the only species that fruited and helped sustain the frugivore community during this period of scarcity. Thus, Ficus rumphii is a potential key stone species for the area. The bias corrected occupancy estimates revealed that Oriental pied hornbills frequented the forest types (Miscellaneous forest) that had high fruit availability in both seasons. At the patch level, intensity of grid use was positively correlated with abundance of non fig fruits in winter (r = 0.5, pItem Winter Ecology of Three Species of Phylloscopus Warblers(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2007) Ghosh, Mousumi; Singh, Pratap; Mohan, D.This study focused on three species of Phylloscopus warblers, P. humei, P. xanthoschistos, and P. chloronofus which overwinter sympatrically in the foothills of western Himalayas. The patterns of habitat occupancy, foraging behaviour, and foraging microhabitat of three species of warblers were examined to determine the nature of ecological complementarity facilitating their co-existence in the non-breeding season. Moreover, investigating the morphology-ecology associations among congeners also becomes critical since recent divergence may hinder our understanding of the mechanisms of their ecological segregation, as is the case with these species. Hence, morphology-ecology associations were also examined. A total of 91 points were sampled for bird detections five times each between December 2006 and March 2007. Prey abundances across habitat types were quantified. Behavioural data was also collected. The three species were found to differ in the occupancy of the sampled area. However, the bird occupancy did not correlate with differences in prey abundances across habitat types. The warbler species showed clear segregation in the use of foraging behaviour, foraging microhabitat, and proportion of large prey intake. The movement pattern was also found to vary across the three species. Morphology-ecology associations revealed the close interaction of morphology and ecology in shaping the ecological segregation of the three species in the non-breeding season. One major finding was that P. xanthoschistos is able to meet its demand for large arthropods in this northern site (31.5 % large prey intake) previously believed to be low in large arthropod abundance. Finally, the study demonstrated that the ecology of P. xanthoschistos (previously Seicercus) is very similar to other members of the genus Phylloscopus.Item Habitat Selection by Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus linn) in Gir forest, India(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 1993) Trivedi, Pranav; Johnsingh, A.J.T.A study on habitat selection by Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus) was carried out in Gir National Park and Sanctuary over a period of five months. Open width line transects were laid at three study sites in West, Central and East Gir respectively to obtained information on availabili ty and use of habitats. Three hundred and thirty sightings were obtained in 90 transect walks (totalling to ca 113 km), of which two hundred and fifty occurred in West, and forty each in Central and East Gir. As sampling intensity was the highest in Sasan (West Gir), much of the analyses is based on the data collected here. Peafowl distribution was found to be clumped, with the degree and site of clumping being affected by water and food availabilityItem Avian Communities in the Riparian Areas of Bori Wildlife Sanctuary, India(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 1993) Pai, Ashwini; Johnsingh, A.J.T.Riparian areas are important as special habitats and corridors for wildlife. However, in India, riparian areas have not been studied to any detail. Also, not much is known about the avifauna of riparian habitats. The vegetation near a riparian area tends to be dense and hence distinct owing to constant availability of water. Riparian areas come under heavy use, both by livestock as well as wild animals because of the presence of water and forage. The avifauna of riparian areas is rich due to its floral complexity and structure and resources like fish and insects. This study quantified bird species diversity, avian guilds and avian community structure found in four riparian areas ( a flood plain, a riparian scrub, a disturbed nulla and an undisturbed nulla) of Bori sanctuary in Central India. The riparian areas were compared with the adjoining deciduous forest for avifaunal differences. Vegetation was studies along the riparian areas and the deciduous forests, using circular plots. Tree and shrub densities, vertical stratification of foliage and species richness were quantified. Line transects were used to estimate bird ,species richness and abundance. Bird species richness was correlated to negative variables for the two seasons. In summer the BSR was highly correlated with CC and in winters with CC. Stepwise multiple regression was used to create a habitat model for BSR in summer and in winter. Community patterns show seasonal change and also respond to structural changes of habitat.Item Seasonal Change in Social Structure, Behaviour and Habitat Use by Sarus Crane in the Semi Arid Region of North-Western India(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2001) Latt, Tin Nwe; Choudhury, B.C.The seasonal change in social structure and habitat use by sarus cranes was examined in the semi arid region of North- western India. The study was conducted in Keoladeo Ghana National Park and in the surrounding areas in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan. The methods involved censusing of cranes in the park and in surrounding areas by moving on motorcycle in preidentified routes. The detailed methodology included quantification of habitat availability and focal and scan sampling for studying the behaviour of sarus crane. Eight sarus groups were intensively monitored to examine parent and juvenile relationships and juvenile weaning process. The mean encounter rate of sarus crane outside the park was greater than that of inside. Though the data was not tested for the lack of uniform effort in these two areas, the difference is likely to be statistically significant. The overall group composition during the study period differed inside and outside of the park. The agricultural areas outside had greater number of social family group sighted during the study period than within the park. The mean encounter rates had greater standard errors associated with them outside the park than inside the park. During the present study most of the social family, pair, congregation, and solitary crane were seen outside of the park except that of pair with juvenile. The seasons (winter and summer) had an influence on the sarus crane group composition apart from the fact that the groups were either seen within the protected area or outside. With the data from the present study it is not possible to test the effects of these two variables on the sarus group composition. However, in winter sarus cranes were seen in social family and pair with juvenile more often inside the park than outside the park. The other forms of groups of sarus such as social group, pair and solitary members were not very different inside and outside the park. In winter season, juveniles were not able to fly more than 0.61 m height and 45m distances restricting their movements within the park. During summer the juveniles could fly outside of the park in the 1st week of February onwards and were seen frequently outside of the park. Sarus cranes spent more time outside the park than inside, except pairs with juveniles. Inside the park the safety, food and space supported small groups and pairs all through the year. The group composition showed a dramatic change in summer where greater number of social family and pair with juveniles were observed outside the park than inside, while other forms of groups did not vary much in the two areas. During the study period a maximum of 67 sarus cranes were recorded inside the park in roosting areas. During the study period, wetlands were the most used habitat by sarus cranes than any other habitat types. Grasslands and dry wetlands were used distinctly by sarus next to the wetlands, and the agricultural fields have the least utilization. The later could be because of bias in sampling more inside the park than in the agricultural fields outside the park. During summer, the sarus cranes occurred more often in wetland and grasslands than in dry wetland or agricultural fields. During winter and summer sarus cranes mostly used wetland habitat (winter 20.5 % & summer 35%). In late summer, as all agriculture field were harvested and there was no water patches outside the park. The Forest Department pumped in water throughout the late winter and summer in the areas where group no (Block L), group no.4 (Block D) and group no.5 (Block E) spent more of their time. During summer, sarus cranes used this shallow water. The area where group no.3 (Block K) sarus stayed much of the time had very large grasslands. Within this area the wetland was closer to road and sarus crane appeared to be stressed while foraging in this wetland. The large expanse of grasslands used by group no. 3 (Block K) area, it prevented people to approach closer to the cranes and hence they used this grassland extensively during summer. Among the pair, the female was more the wary and cautious while using these water patches. Solitary sarus cranes preferred foraging in grasslands. In summer, water spread became small and narrow and sarus cranes spent more time in grasslands (winter 5% & summer 12%). Sarus crane did not use dry wetlands in summer due to lack of moisture in this area which, hinders growth of grasses and other aquatic flora and also insects in such dry wetlands were less. Generally, sarus crane used agriculture land more for foraging at the time of sowing and harvesting of cereal and pulses. The encounter rates (sightings/ hour) of sarus crane correlated with water level. During large water spread times, more cranes were encountered. Water depth was correlated with mean encounter rates (r= 0.77, N= 1 Z) , similarly water spread also had a significant positive correlation (r=0.64, N= 12). As expected water depth and water spread had a strong positive correlation (r=0.95, N= 12). At the beginning of the study in November the juveniles were estimated to be three months old, and when the study was concluded in May, the juveniles were nine months old and they continued to remain in the vicinity of the parents. Although the distance increased with time it is speculated that the quantum of time spent by the adults parenting the juvenile would diminish with time and also the distance between parents and juveniles. The major interaction between parent and juvenile during the observation period was "nursing" behaviour, where the parent fed the juvenile directly into its mouth. Subsequently, the parent "induced the juvenile to forage" by leading the juvenile to some areas in the wetland where food was abundant and the disturbance from tourists was low. From the last week of February juvenile started to move farther away from the parents and maintained an average distance of about 65 m. During this time the parents started courtship behaviour and paid less attention to the juveniles, even though the juveniles showed interest on their parents. In reciprocation of the lack of attention from the parents the juveniles continued to forage away from the parents. Till the end of the study period in May the juvenile still continued to tag along with the parents. To summarize, seasonal shift in sarus crane social structure was observed in the study area. Following factors appear to affect the sarus crane group structure and behaviour: (a) Availability and limitation of food.(b) Changes and availability of water in wetland. (c) Age of juveniles appears to be a factor for their attachment to parents.(d) The diurnal weather appears to be relative to sarus crane behaviour and social structure,which change on cloudy, sunny and rainy days .Item Winter Habitat Use by Monal Pheasant (Lophophorus impejanus)in Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Himalaya(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 1997) Kumar, R. Suresh; Rawat, G.S.; Sathyakumar, S.I studied the winter habitat use by Monal "pheasant (Lophophorus impejanus), in Kedanath Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Himalaya, from November 1996 to April 1997. The study period included three seasons: autumn (November-December), winter (January-February-March), and spring (April). The objectives of the study were to quantify availability and utilization of the different habitats, which were named after prominent vegetation types in the three seasons, identify habitat variables influencing monal habitat use, and determine the sex ratio, group size and group composition of mona!. Existing trails and transects (eight in number) were used to quantify the above mentioned parameters. Eight different vegetation types were identified in the study area. They are : Oak-Rhododendron Forest (ORF), Oak-Rhododendron Degraded forest (ORD), Oak-Rhododendron-Lyonia (ORL), Maple-Oak- Rhododendron forest (MOR), Fir forest (FIR), Scattered Tree and Scrub (STS), Alpine Scrub (AS), Alpine Meadows and Rocks (AMR), and a separate category 'cliffs'. During the entire study period monal Showed preference for ORF. Within this vegetation type, they were seen mostly close to the streams. Most of the monal sightings (66.7%) during autumn were between 2900 m and 3200 m altitudes. Monal showed movement to slightly lower altitudes (to 2800 m) during peak winter. During late March, the snow had started to melt and a gradual movement of monal to higher altitudes was noticed. Monal showed strong preference for dense ORF with high litter cover during autumn and winter. At the onset of spring, there was a shift in the habitat use and they showed preference for cliffs. The males used such areas for displaying to the females. Other habitat variables such as bamboo cover, canopy cover, and presence of snow played an important role in the choice of habitat by monal. The mean group size did not vary significantly across the seasons. During autumn, male and female monal were in loose groups i.e., females had tendency to form small groups, whereas males remained more or less solitary. After the fust snow, distinct group formations were seen. The groups were categorised into an all-male group of seven or eight individuals, all-female groups of 10 to 12 individuals, mixed groups, and solitary males. The females remained in groups throughout the study period, while the males remained in groups only for a short span and only during peak winter. Monal started to move to the higher reaches during late March, and from then on, solitary males were quite often encountered.Item A Study on Bird Communities-Habitat Structure Relationships in Pench National Park, M.P.(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 1997) Jayapal, R.; Qureshi, QamarThere has been a number of studies on bird communities and their relationships with habitat features of floristics and physiognomy. In particular, the spatial distribution of bird communities along the axis of structural variables of a habitat has received a wider attention in the light of recent findings on landscape behaviour. Most of these works relate to either temperate or neotropical forests and our knowledge of community dynamics of tropical deciduous forests is very limited, for there has been hardly any comprehensive study in the tropics. The present study was done in the deciduous forests of the Pench National Park, Central India (M.P) between "November, 1996 and April, 1997 covering winter (November,1996-1anuary,1997) and summer (March, 1997-April, 1997). Seven distinct habitat types were identified for the study based on floristic and structural diversity. Seasonal data on 27 habitat structural variables were collected from bird-centered sampling plots. Point count census technique was employed to study the bird population. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was used to determine the patterns of inter-relationships among the habitat structural variables. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) was done to understand the relationships of habitat components to the distribution of bird communities. For guild analysis, two different sets criteria were used to identify the guilds among the bird populations viz., food type and foraging behaviour. Twelve guilds were recognized based on the food type and, six among the insectivores with respect to foraging behaviour. The results of the PCA showed that habitat structural variables of tropical deciduous forests have a marked pattern of inter-relationships on two axes of landscape behaviour, viz., heterogeneity and complexity. But they failed to reveal any such segregation vis-a-vis bird community structure, as the scale of measurement did not address all the members of the community. The spatial distribution pattern of bird communities in relation to habitat architecture was shown by CCA to be not very tenacious; the interactions of other extraneous factors like floristics, habitat dynamics, phenophases of vegetation, disturbance, or interactions within the community may influence the habitat selection process. There was no linear correlation observed between Foliage Height Diversity and Bird Species Diversity; possible explanations and alternative views have been discussed briefly. The response of bird communities to floristics was found to be inconsistent across habitat types as positive linear relationship was detected only for Teak-dominant forests in winter, and for Anogeiss Boswellia forests and Cleistanthus collinus woodland in summer. Guild compositions of various habitat types were not found to be significanty different from each other though the seasonal change was consistent across all the habitats.Item The Grey tit (Parus major caschmerensis) in Northern India: Behaviour and Ecology in the non-breeding season(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 1995) Quader, Suhel; Johnsingh, A.J.T.; Qureshi, QamarStudied the grey tit (Parus major caschmerensis) in Naina Devi Sanctuary. in the Shivalik hills of the Himachal Pradesh Himalaya. This is a subspecies of the well-studied great tit which ranges over a large part of Eurasia. The study had two main components: a. to investigate the non-breeding behaviour and ecology of this bird in India, and to interpret the findings with respect to what is known about the species from more northern areas (a comparative approach). b. to study the behaviour of individuals in the context of short· and long-tenn processes (in the winter, examples of these might be survival and reproduction. respectively), I collected data on colour-banded grey tits by following individuals, and recording behaviour using the point-sampling technique with one-minute intervals. Field work was carried out between December 1994 and April 1995. Throughout this study, I refer to the subspecies in India as grey tits, those studied in Europe and Japan as the great tit, and to the species as a whole as Parus major. In a comparison with what is known about great tits, the following points emerge: .Grey tits do not spend the winter in flocks of conspecifics; instead. they are either solitary or in pairs. This is associated with comparatively high winter temperatures, and may be the result of a low seasonality in resource abundance allowing for greater territorial site-fidelity. Sexual dimorphism in bill shape mirrors that found in a previous study on great tits in England, where males have deeper and shorter beaks than females, tend to forage more on beech seeds, and are more efficient at doing so than females. Grey tits show a sexual dimorphism in beak shape paralleling this, and males exhibit a strong tendency to forage more on Acacia catechu (from which largely pods are taken) than females, implying that similar ecomorphological processes can operate in populations widely separated in space. Grey tits use a wider variety of foraging substrates than their more northern counterparts, and correspondingly spend less time foraging on the ground. This is' associated with the absence of any congeners, although whether it is a case of competitive release is open to dispute. The Indian birds seem to spend more time feeding than what has been reported for English great tits. The greater time spent feeding is perhaps unexpected given the comparatively higher winter temperatures, and longer day-lengths in Naina Devi than in northern Europe. While a strict comparison of different studies may not be entirely valid, the solitary/pair living habit of grey tits may result in lower levels of aggression, and this may allow for more feeding time. The date of laying is related to the duration for which the male and female have been together (i.e pairing date). Birds which paired early bred early, though this is based on a limited sample of four pairs. If this relationship is causal, and if reproductive success decreases through the breeding season (as has been shown for many temperate species), it would imply a strong selection pressure for early pairing in the great tit. As breeding approached, males spent less time feeding than in the winter, and were involved in greater territorial activity such as singing. Female time budgets showed a similar, though nonsignificant trend over the season. Pooling sexes, the proportion of time spent tended towards a decrease as summer drew near. This decrease approached statistical significance.Item Shifting Cultivation and Conservation of Tropical Forest Bird Communities in Mizoram, North-East India(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 1995) Raman, T.R. Shankar; Johnsingh, A.J.T.The impact of the traditional practice of shifting cultivation or jhum on evergreen and semievergreen forest bird communities was studied in Dampa Tiger Reserve in western Mizoram, north-east India. Bird community changes through vegetation succession was studied by comparing sites that were jhum 1,5, 10,25, and 100 years ago with primary forest that has never been cleared. Systematic line transect sampling showed that bird species richness, abundance, and diversity, increased from very low levels in the I-year old fallow to maximum levels in undisturbed and 100-year old forest, with intermediate values in the 5-25 year fallows (bamboo forests). The trend of increase was not linear but hyperbolic, with a rapid increase up to 25 years approaching an asymptote at 100 years . Similarity in bird community composition between two sites was inversely related to the difference in the logarithm of their ages. Trends in bird communities were closely related to changes during vegetation succession. Vegetation variables measured were summarised by Principal Components Analysis, which yielded two components (PCI and PC2), accounting for 91.9% percent of the variance in the data-set. PCI was correlated positively with tree density, woody plant species richness, vertical stratification, depth of leaf litter, and canopy cover, and negatively with horizontal heterogeneity in the vegetation. PC 1 thus represents the changes occurring during woody plant succession. PC2 was correlated strongly with bamboo density, which shows an increase from 1 to at least 25 years after jhuming and declines in mature forest, and this axis was taken to represent bamboo succession . Bird species richness and abundance were positively correlated with PCI (woody plant succession). When the effects of PC I were removed by partial correlation, both variables were negatively correlated with PC2. The number of species in guilds such as frugivores, nectarivore insectivores, bark-feeder, canopy insectivores were positively related to PC 1. Only the bamboo-substrate feeding guild was related to PC2. These results suggest that bird community structure is largely determined by ,woody plant succession. Mature forests were found to be the main habitat for forest specialists, rare birds, and altitudinal migrants. Thirteen specialised open-country birds and two species of latitudinal migrants occurred mainly in jhumed areas. These were generally common and widespread species that will likely persist in highly disturbed areas. In terms of conservation of the forest birds of the region, mature forests are most important. The major implication of the study relates to the observed hyperbolic changes in bird species richness, and vegetation variables such as woody plant species richness. This suggests species loss in jhumed areas will be a logarithmic and not linear function of the age, i.e. a decline in jhum cycle from 100 to 50 years Ca 2-fold difference) will have less impact than a decline from 25 to 5 years Ca 5-fold difference). This implies that under the 5-10 year jhum cycles that are prevalent in most parts of north-east India today, there will be substantial losses in bird species richness. This effect may be accentuated if primary forests are not part of the jhum habitat matrix.