Theses and Dissertations
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Item Conserving Natural Heritage Through Genetic Assessment : The Case of Snow Leopards in Ladakh(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2021) Vishnuvardhan; Jhala, Y.V.; Srinivas, YellapuNatural world heritage sites are landscapes that sustain rare ecological processes, provide crucial habitats for the survival of many iconic species of significance and provide a wealth of ecosystem services. A part of India’s natural heritage lies m its youngest landscape, the Himalayas. This natural heritage is an asset in itself due to its immense intrinsic values. Snow leopard, an elusive inhabitant of the cold desert represents an important cultural and ecological symbol of the Central and south Asian mountain systems and acts as a flagship as well as an umbrella species. This study has been designed to assess the genetic status of this vulnerable species distributed across the union territory of Ladakh using non-invasive genetic methods. The study site comprised of four distinct regions, Hemis-Leh, Kargil, Changthang and Nubra. Putative snow leopard scat samples (N=391) were collected from the study area. DNA was extracted from all the samples and a 148 bp Mt-DNA region was amplified with a carnivore specific primer. Successfully amplified samples were sequenced for species identification. From the 95 snow leopard positive samples 56 individuals were identified using a panel of 10 microsatellites. Sex identification was also done by using AMELY gene and results showed male biased sex ratio in Ladakh. PIDsib value was 3.8x1 O’4 was indicative of sufficient power of the microsatellite panel to discriminate between siblings in a population of 10,000 snow leopards. This study provides a baseline for future comparisons since increased anthropogenic development projects may fragment this contiguous population. Genetic integrity and large gene pools are essential for long term viability of species especially in the advent of climate change and anthropogenic modifications. This study using genetic markers on the snow leopard exemplifies the use of this important tool for natural heritage management and conservationItem Sociality of Asiatic lion(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2018) Chakraborty, Stotra; Jhala, Y.V.In the current study investigate (i) how resources are shared between male partners of Asiatic lion coalition (ii) the cost benefits for male lions in forming alliances (iii) female mating strategies and mate selection in lions. The study area is Gir Protected Area and the adjoining agro-pastoral landscape lying to the south-Western fringes of the PA.Item A study on predation ecology of large carnivores with special reference to human-carnivore conflicts in Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, Central India(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2022) Chatterjee, Anindita B.; Sankar, K.; Qureshi, Qamar; Jhala, Y.V.Seven years of data (2008 – 2015) resulted in phot-capture of 96 unique individual tigers in the study area. The estimated survival rate of individual tigers was high. Survival of female tigers were higher than that of the male tigers but the range was overlapping. Apparent survival and transitional probabilities were best explained by gender specific models. Survival constant was selected as the best model for estimating growth rate of tigers. Calculated annual growth rate was 13% with no observed sex bias.Item Modelling plant invasions in tropical India(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2019) Mungi, Ninad Avinash; Qureshi, Qamar; Jhala, Y.V.Human modifications are simplifying global ecosystems, and one agent catalysing this process is biological invasion. Species transferred by human means to areas beyond their evolutionary range, where they impact the native ecosystem and its services, are known as invasive species. Invasive species have affected native ecosystem functioning to an extent where native species went locally extinct, or where the native economy and human health has been adversely affected. While invasive species are spreading at an alarming rate, our knowledge on their large-scale status remains disjunct, disparate, and often outdated. The resultant loss in global ecosystem services is believed to be catastrophic for the global human-welfare; with developing societies being the most vulnerable. One such megadiverse developing country is IndiaItem Evaluation of population structure of tigers (Panthera tigris) in Central India using genetic markers.(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2015) Yumnam, Bibek; Jhala, Y.V.The findings presented in this thesis are the outcome of a long term research project entitled ‘Management of Forests in India for Biological Diversity and Forest Productivity - A New Perspective (1996 — 2002)’. The intensive study area is a part of the Garo Hills situated in the western Meghalaya of the northeast India. The landscape (2459 km2) is a mosaic of protected areas (PAs), managed forests (MFs) and intervening private/community land. The major goal of present study is to provide knowledge, tools, and indicators for monitoring, and potential management guidelines for conserving native biological diversity of study area. The objectives of present study are (i) to assess diversity patterns and successional changes among tree communities, (ii) to analyse landscape characteristics in particular fragmentation, classify tropical forests and prioritise wildlife areas, (iii) to discuss the native wild fauna and develop information base for modelling wildlife habitat relationships, and (iv) to assess the socioeconomics of native tribes, and evaluate the impact on existing protected areas of the region.Item Tiger and leopard: Population ecology and resource portioning of sympatric carnivores in Kanha Tiger Reserve. M.P.(wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2020) Kumar, Ujjwal; Jhala, Y.V.; Qureshi, QamarLarge investment in the form of protected areas, human resettlement, law enforcement-patrols and habitat management are made to conserve tigers and reap their benevolent umbrella role to secure India’s biodiversity. The objectives of present study are (i) the trend of tiger and leopard population (ii) demography of tigers and leopards and mechanism of their co existence. The study area was Kanha tiger reserve (area 2074 km2), a major stronghold for both species in central Indian landscape. Study investigate the estimated vital parameters of tiger demography through robust design based classical open population models in which population was open to demographic process. This study used both camera trap based mark-recapture and continuous monitoring known fate information to estimate reproductive parameters along with age specific survival and dispersal probability of tigers.Item Population dynamics and resource selection by tigers (Panthera tigris) in Corbett Tiger Reserve.(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2021) Bisht, Shikha; Qureshi, Qamar; Jhala, Y.V.Large carnivores are on the brink of extinction across most of their range and this is especially true for tigers, that are symbolic of the wilderness of the Asian forests. This study was carried out to understand the use of camera trap based capture mark recapture (CMR) technique to understand the population dynamics and space use by tigers in this high density tiger population. For this camera trapped technique used in 521 km2 of Corbett National Park (CNP) under open population capture–mark–recapture framework between 2010 and 2015 to estimate annual abundance, spatially explicit density, survival, recruitment, temporary movements, sex ratio and proportion of females breedingItem Resource partitioning among sympatric ungulates in Kanha Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India.(wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2021) Awasthi, Neha; Jhala, Y.V.; Qureshi, QamarThis study explores the potential mechanisms of how the community of sympatric ungulates in Kanha might partition resources by evaluating i) habitat-specific seasonal densities and spatial co-occurrence of ungulates; ii) demographic parameters; iii) temporal activity and food habits of ungulates and; iv) factors affecting their group size. The study area was ~ 2074 km2 Kanha Tiger Reserve comprising inviolate Kanha National park (core zone; devoid of human settlements and use) and the multiple-use area (buffer zone; consisting of forest and xviii revenue land, used by rural communities for farming and livestock rearing). The study stresses the importance of human free core areas and the need for conservation investments for achieving high ungulate densities and biomass that are essential to sustain source populations of tigers and other endangered carnivores in this landscape.Item Spatial abundance of ungulates and role of predation on chital (Axis axis) demography and behaviour in Corbett Tiger Reserve, Uttarakhand, India.(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2022) Banerjee, Sudip; Jhala, Y.V.; Qureshi, QamarTo address the first objective which was to estimate the abundance of ungulates in different habitats of CTR, I have used line transect-based distance sampling approach to estimate the density of four major ungulate species (chital, sambar deer, barking deer, and wild pig) of CTR in ~520 sq. km of the Corbett National Park (CNP) region. Density was estimated using 156 spatial transects replicated 1 to 4 times over four sampling years. Both year-wise and pooled (weighted average of four years) density estimates were highest for chital followed by sambar. Barking deer had the lowest density. Chital density has remained stable over the years. Post-stratifying the densities of the four ungulates by three major habitat types of CNP (grassland, saldominated, and mixed deciduous) exhibited the highest density of chital in the grassland and lowest in the sal-dominated forest. Sambar density on the other hand was highest in the mixed deciduous and lowest in the grassland. Barking deer also exhibited a similar trend of habitat-wise density. A significant part of my thesis was focused on the objective of evaluating the precision and cost-effectiveness of three different density estimation techniques. The diverse ungulate assemblage and complex terrain of CNP provided an excellent environment to conduct this experiment.Item Status, distribution and foraging ecology of wolf in the north-western Himalayan landscape, India.(wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2020) Shrotriya, Shivam; Habib, Bilal; Jhala, Y.V.The Himalayan wolf lineage is known to have genetic uniqueness, as it might be the oldest diverging population of the wolf-dog clad worldwide. This research commenced with the objectives of 1) understanding nature and pattern of livestock predation by the Himalayan wolf and the attitude of local communities towards them, 2) studying food habits of the Himalayan wolf at the landscape level and its diet niche overlap with sympatric carnivore species, and 3) comprehending the status, distribution pattern and factors determining the distribution of the Himalayan wolf and its prey. The study was conducted in an area of 1,41,391 km2 encompassing Leh and Kargil districts of Ladakh region and Lahaul & Spiti and Kinnaur districts of Himachal Pradesh. There are six high altitude protected areas in the districts of Leh and Lahaul & Spiti. The fieldwork for this study was conducted from 2014 to 2018. The Himalayan wolf occurs along with snow leopard as a major carnivore in the Trans-Himalayan landscape. Red fox Vulpes vulpes is another widespread carnivore of the landscape. In this research, diet patterns, niche overlap and the competition were studied by conducting scat analysis and also generates crucial information on the ecology of rare Himalayan wolf lineage