Theses and Dissertations
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Item A study on habitat use and food habits of swamp deer (Cervus duvauceli duvauceli) in Jhilmil Tal, Haridwar Forest Division, Uttaranchal(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2009) Tiwari, Rachna; Rawat, G.S.Habitat use and food habits of the swamp deer (Cervus duvauceli duvauceli) were studied in and around Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve (JJCR), Uttarakhand, during June 2006 and June 2008. This population of swamp deer was recently rediscovered in the state and warranted an ecological study and conservation initiative because the habitat around this study area is heavily fragmented due to expansion of agriculture, habitation and various other land use practices. Therefore, this study was initiated. The major objectives were: i. ii. iii. To study seasonal variation in habitat use pattern and food habits, Activity pattern, Population structure and habitat condition, and iv. Identify threats and suggest conservation measures. Habitat evaluation of various potential (but fragmented) habitat blocks in Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve area and surrounding Banganga wetland revealed that they bear a close resemblance with the prime swamp deer habitat both in terms of structure and composition of key habitat variables.Item Systematics and ecology of Berberidaceae in Uttarakhand state.(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2012) Banerjee, Kausik; Rawat, G.S.; Adhikari, B.S.In the present study Population estimation, Habitat loss, Ranging pattern, Food habits and other parameters were discussed.Item Habitat use and food selection by wild and domestic ungulates in the Sikkim Transhimalaya.(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2007) Chanchani, Pranav; Rawat, G.S.By defining a resource, determining the resources available to animals and sampling the array of resources actually used by an animal (Krebs 1999), it becomes possible to gauge the nature of interactions between species. This study explored aspects of resource use by diverse assemblage of wild and domestic herbivores including The Tibetan argali (Ovis ammon hodgsoni), Tibetan Gazelle (Procapra picticaudata), kiang (Equus kiang), blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur), domestic yak and sheep in a Trans-Himalayan environment during the lean winter period. Sampling was carried out in a systematic manner using trails, as well as by sampling opportunistically. To quantify vegetation, a 3.52 Ian grid was overlaid on an image of the study area, and grids were randomly picked from these for random sampling. A number of habitat and vegetation variables were measured or noted for all ungulate sightings or within vegetation sampling stations and these were used in analysis to ascertain patterns of habitat use and food selection. U sing a hierarchy of spatial scales, the study modeled animal distributions, and investigated the use of habitats and food habits of ungulates in relation to the availability of these resources in their environment. The study's major findings were that all ungulates were found to occur in the true Trans-Himalaya except for the blue sheep which selected more mountainous terrain in the transition zone between the greater and Trans-Himalaya .. Statistical tests of significance revealed that ungulates differed from one another or from random in their use of resources. Further, terrain features appeared to influence habitat selection to a greater-extent than vegetation. Finally, the findings of this research indicate that although the wild and domestic ungulates of this region all exist in relatively large numbers, they tend to vary in their use of habitats and food either by differences in their distribution, or in the selection of finer environmental (habitat and food) variables. The study therefore concludes that competitive inter-specific interactions are not very apparent in this region.Item Habitat use by Chital (Cervus axis) in Dhaulkhand, Rajaji National Park, India(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 1993) Bhat, Sridhar D.; Rawat, G.S.A study on the habitat use by chital or spotted deer (Cervus axis) was conducted in Dhaulkhand Rajaji National Park, from November 1992 to May 1993. The objectives of the study were to understand the spatio-temporal use of habitats by chital and to identify the factors that govern the patterns of habitat use. Foot transects were used to estimate the densities of chital and quantify the availability and utilization of resources.Item Habitat use by the Great Indian Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) and the other sympatric large herbivores in Kaziranga National Park(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2001) Banerjee, Gitanjali; Rawat, G.S.; Choudhury, B.C.A study on the habitat use by the Great One horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) and three other sympatric ungulates was carried out in Kaziranga National Park (KNP), Assam during December 2000 to April 2001. KNP supports more than half the world's population of the Indian Rhinoceros, a highly endangered species. Since this park also supports a high diversity and density of herbivores coexisting in a typical floodplain habitat, it was an ideal place to conduct the following study. The study aimed to determine how 4 large herbivore species rhino, wild buffalo, swamp deer and hog deer achieve spatial and temporal separation across two seasons. The study also investigated how nutritive content of the forage determines habitat selection by these species. KNP was an ideal place to study habitat use patterns by these four sympatric species due to the seasonal variation of forage quality caused by the practice of annual burning. Sampling for animal abundance within each habitat type over two seasons was done by monitoring transects. Feeding observations were obtained by scan sampling. Laboratory analysis was done to determine the nutritive content of the available forage during winter and summer. Seasonal and spatial differences observed in habitat occupancy patterns by the ungulate species within KNP seem to be a way of partitioning resources in order to minimize competition. During the winter season all ungulates selected the short grasslands for feeding. The wild buffalo and the swamp deer showed no variation in the habitat occupancy patterns showing a positive selection for the short grasslands. However, rhinos and hog deer were observed to prefer the tall, burnt and sprouting grasslands in summer for feeding during summer. When habitat occupancy patterns were correlated with the nutritive value of the forage it was found that all ungulates tracked high crude protein levels in available forage. Rhinos and hog deer formed an association that exploited areas that have high crude protein and low silica content. Wild buffaloes and swamp deer show less flexibility in habitat occupancy patterns and were observed to feed in short grasslands where there was a relatively high amount of crude protein available during both the seasons. The study revealed that crude protein played an important role in determining habitat use by hog deer, which shows a linear relationship with crude protein. Forage volume, an indicator of available food played a significant role in determining habitat use patterns for the large bodied ungulates, namely the rhino and the wild buffalo which is in keeping with their physiology and body requirements. There seems to be partitioning of space by the ungulates on the basis of body size and dietary separation. Rhino and hog deer were observed to formed one guild whereas wild buffalo and swamp deer formed another one. These two groups differed in the pattern of habitat occupancy suggesting that ecological separation in Kaziranga National Park, perhaps occurs on the basis of differential use of the habitat by ungulates that have a similar body size. There was an observed complementation of body sizes within each association. A large bodied ungulate associated with another ungulate that was much smaller in size. and therefore, had different ecological needs.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.