Theses and Dissertations
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Item Assessment of tree diversity, successional changes and forest fragmentation in jhum influenced forest ecosystem of South Garo Hills, Meghalaya.(Wildlife Institute of India, 2005) Kumar, Ashish; Roy, P.S.; Sawarkar, V.B.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 Ranging and Habitat Utilization by the Himalayan Ibex (Capra ibex sibirica) in Pin Valley National Park.(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 1997) Bhatnagar, Yashveer; Rawat, G.S.The Himalayan ibex is an important prey species of the endangered apex predator of the alpine region, the snow leopard (Schaller 1977). There is an imminent threat to the trans-Himalayan areas in India due to increasing human activities. In this context the study is conducted to study ibex in a relatively safe population to learn about its habitat requirements and ranging behaviour. The study area is part of the Pin Valley National Park (PVNP; 31o 6' 40'' to 32o 2' 20'' N latitude and 77o 41' 21" to 78o 6' 19" E longitude), located in the South-East of the Lahul and Spiti district of Himachal PradeshItem Characterization of bone, ivory, Rhino horn and antler to deal wildlife offence cases.(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2007) Singh, Rina Rani; Goyal, S.P.Species for this study were selected according to the endangered status of the species and since these products were difficult to identify mostly in processed form. Therefore, attempts were made to characterize bones of tiger (Panthera tigris) and leopard (Panthera pardus), greater one horned rhinoceros (rhinoceros unicornis) horn and antlers of chital (Axis axis), sambar (Cervus unicolor), swamp deer (Cervus duvauceli). Other than these species mentioned in synopsis, antlers of hog deer (Axis porcinus) and barking deer (Muntiacus muntajak) and ivory of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) have also been characterized for comparison purposes. The present study is an effort to develop methods to characterize these items for conservation of the concern species and objectives of this study are as follows: 1. Determine morphological, crystallographic (XRD & XRF) and DNA characteristics of major bones of tiger and leopard, and 2. Determine morphological, crystallographic (XRD & XRF) and DNA characteristics of rhino horn and antler of chital, sambar and swamp deer species.Item Breeding Ecology of the Edible-nest Swiftlet Aerodramus fuciphagus and the Glossy Swiftlet Collocalia esculenta in the Andaman Islands, India(SACON, 2009) Manchi Shirish, S.; Pramod, P.The intriguing biological feat of making nest with its saliva is threatening the survival of the edible-nest swiftlet. Ever since the16th century when bird’s nest became a delicacy in Chinese cuisine and an important item in their pharmacy, edible nest swiftlets are found overexploited all over. In the past two to three decades the production of the edible bird’s nests has reduced drastically because of overexploitation and uncontrolled harvesting that is directly affecting the population of this cave-dwelling species. The high demand in the international markets has put so much pressure that despite strict regulations on nest collection, the wild populations of the edible-nest swiftlets is plummeting by as much as 80% to 90% and has reached local extinction across some of their ranges. To understand the nest-site requirements of the species, their nest-site characters, preference and the relationship with nesting success were studied. Results showed that the edible-nest swiftlet and the glossy swiftlet are cave dwelling trogloxenes and do not nest randomly inside the cavesItem Techno-Economic Assessment of Physio-Chemical and Anaerobic Treatment of Textile Wastewater from the Textile Industrial Clusters in Tiruppur.(SACON, 2008) Baladhandapani, M.; Azeez, P.A.The HUASB reactor was started successfully using real textile effluent. The treatability study carried out for the textile effluent using the reactor revealed that such low strength textile wastewater could be treated by the system efficiently. The HUASB attained steady state condition on 135'th day at an OLR of 0.60 kg COD/m³ /day. The normal operation of the HUASB reactor lasted from OLR of 0.60 to 0.81 kg COD/m³ /day. The VFA content varied from 90 to 111 mg/L during the stable operation period. The maximum VSS and TSS removal was 64.5 and 73% respectively. Biogas generation was maximum (566.7 mL/day) at 0.81 kg COD/ml/day OLR. The HUASB system was more effective in organics removal than physio-chemical treatment in operation in the CETPs in Tiruppur.Item Status and Ecology of the Andaman Crake(SACON, 2009) Ezhilarasi, N.; Vijayan, LalithaAndaman Crake is a rare and endemic bird of Andaman Islands. There was no detailed information available on this species and was listed as data deficient till recently. Hence a study was undertaken during 2004-2007 to collect baseline data on the population, ecology and biology of the Andaman Crake. A variety of factors is responsible for Andaman Crake's habitat degradation and loss. In this chapter I briefly highlight key findings of this study, major threats to this species and suggestions for conservation and future research. While these threats and recommendations are given for the conservation of the Andaman Crake, they pertain to several other species ecologically dependent on the wet forests.Item Levels of organic contaminates and select biomarkers in the birds of Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, India(SACON, 2009) Dhananjayan, V.; Murlidharan, S.There has been an ongoing concern about the presence of different types of contaminants in the environment and their ill effects on wildlife, particularly birds. While substantial information is available on such in effects on birds elsewhere in the world , very limited data exist in India, A study was initiated to document the environmental residue levels of certain persistent organic contaminants, chemicals responsible for incidences of mortality of birds and, generate information on the levels of cholinesterase in brain and blood plasma of birds. The major objectives were to understand tissue specific accumulation of contaminants, namely organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic a romatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in birds, examine the variation in accumulation pattern between sexes and feeding habits, identify normal or reference levels of biomarkers, namely acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) to explain mortality of birds. Two representative cities, namely Ahmedabad, Gujarat in the west and Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu in the south were selected as study locationsItem Studies on Taxonomy, Ecology, Distribution and Conservation values of Sthalavrikshas (Temple Plants) in Tamil Nadu, South India(SACON, 2007) Gunasekaran, K.; Balasubramanian, P.A review of previous studies in this field reveals that the information is found scattered. Only a handful of scholars have conducted research in Ulis field and that too based on medicinal, religious and mythological literature. Hence, a systematic study is felt as the need of the hour with the following objectives.1. To conduct taxonomic survey of s tha1avrikshas and bring out an authentic list of sthala vrikshas of Tamil Nadu. 2. To assess the ecological importance and conservation values of sthalavrikshas. 3. To document the role of traditional customs and beliefs of sthalavriksha worship in conserving the botanical resources. Tamil Nadu s tale along with union territory of Puducherry comprises the study area. Tamil Nadu (8" 5' and 13° 35' N Latitude and 76° 15' and BOO 20' E Longitude) is situated in the southern part of peninsular India. Tamil Nadu has wide range of land forms such as Coast, Plains and Ghats and is often known as the land of temples. There arc about 25,000 temples in the state.Item Communities of small mammals and small carnivores in the Teesta River Basin, Sikkim Himalaya, India(SACON, 2008) Thapa, Jaya; Bhupathy, S.Differences in communities of plants and animals along environmental gradients have been the basis for many ecological theories. Among the first geographical patterns to be recognized in ecology was the climatic gradient in body size of animals, later formalized as the Bergmann 's rule. Latitudinal and altitudinal gradients in species richness are other geographical patterns that have long since been recognized. The different nature of gradients and the ecological factors that cause such gradients have both been subjects of considerable debate in recent decades. Community structure in animals can also be influenced by various factors such as vegetation, biological constraints and historical factors, which may not form gradients. In this dissertation I have examined the in fluence of altitude and vegetation on communities of small mammals and small carnivores in the 11 Himalayan mountain ranges in the Indian State of Sikkim. The sharp altitudinal gradient from 230 m to 8586 m and the variety of vegetation types in this small state,. The overall goal of this study was to examine the influence of altitude and vegetation on the organizalion of the small mammal community in Sikkim Himalaya, with respect to its species richness, composition. distribution, and abundance. The specific objectives of this study were: a. To test the hypothesis that the body weight of murid rodents and shrews should respond to the sharp altitudinal gradient; b. To identify the pattern of variation in the community structure of the murid rodents and shrews along an altitudinal gradient and among different vegetation types; c. To test the hypothesis that murids and shrews differ in microhabitat use in a manner that is consistent between vegetation types; and d. To examine the influence of altitude and vegetation types on the composition and relative abundance of the small carnivore community, as well as their diet. This study was carried out in the North and South Districts of Sikkim in the Teesta River Basin, between 230 m to 3700 m altitude, from June 2003 to April 2004 and from May 2005 to December 2005Item Bird communities and their distribution pattern along the elevation gradient of Teesta Valley, Sikkim(SACON, 2008) Acharya, Bhoj Kumar; Vijayan, LalithaStudies on ecology of local communities are important for understanding environmental problems and planning area-based conservation management (Simberloff, 2004). Community composition, species richness and diversity of birds in five different elevation zones of Teesta valley, Sikkim were studied from June 2003 to March 2006 using point count sampling method. A total of 329 species of birds (299 during regular quantitative sampling and 30 during. opportunistic observations) belonging to 44 families was recorded in the Teesta valley during the study period. The study shows that Teesta valley harbors high diversity and abundance of birds. Broadleaved vegetation, situated at mid-elevation region, is the most diverse zone as compared to tropical, coniferous or alpine vegetation. Species accumulation curves based on number of point counts indicated that most of the species were detected in all the zones. Species richness (observed and estimated) was the maximum in zone II, whereas density, abundance and diversity were the maximum in zone iii. The species-abundance pattern of birds followed truncated log-normal distribution for total bird population as well as for all the zones except zone II which did not fit to any models. Bird data showed the presence of both types of species, exclusive (restricted to one elevation zone) and generalists (present in two or more zones), in the Teesta valley. Out of the total species observed (329), 156 (47.4%) were exclusively recorded in one specific elevation zone. Only three species, namely Blue Whistling Thrush, Greenish Warbler and White-capped Water Redstart occurred in all the five zones.