Theses and Dissertations
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Item A Study on Breeding Behaviour of Oriental White-backed Vulture (Gyps bengalensis) in Anjarle and Deobag, Mahashtra(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2011) Kambale, Asish Atmaram; Sivakumar, S.; Mohan, D.This study was aimed to understand the current status, distribution pattern, habitat characteristics, nesting success and nesting behaviour of Oriental Whitebacked vulture in the Konkan coast during a breeding season between December 2010 and May 2011. A total of 24 sites either nesting or feeding were located all along the Konkan coasts of Maharashtra during the survey using area search method as well as interview based techniques. Study shows that there was no significant difference in the habitats of both active and inactive nesting sites in the Konkan coast which indicates that the decline of nesting population of vulatures in the region may not be exclusively due to habitat destructionItem Understanding the impact of habitat fragmentation on sympatric Large Carnivore connectivity across Tiger Reserves in Maharashtra, India(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2022) Modi, Shrushti; Habib, BilalThis study is an effort to understand the impact of habitat fragmentation on the connectivity of sympatric large carnivores across the tiger reserves of Maharashtra. The top predator assemblage in Maharashtra's major tiger reserves and surrounding areas consist of three species: tiger, leopard, and dhole. Most connectivity studies focus on the single species, which does not incorporate other species' requirements and conservation interests. As a result, given the current context of haphazard development, there is a need to develop a multispecies conservation plan that focuses on multidimensional aspects for several species of interest. Given this, the current study was conducted in major tiger reserves and surrounding protected areas, i.e., Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR), Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), Nawegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve (NNTR), Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR), Sahyadri Tiger Reserve (STR), Umred Karandhla Wildlife Sanctuary (UKWLS) in the state of Maharashtra. The objectives of the study were to (i) Develop and standardise molecular markers for species and individual identification, (ii) Meta-population dynamics of tiger, leopard and Asiatic wild dog across the tiger reserves of Maharashtra, (iii) Impact of habitat fragmentation on the gene flow and genetic connectivity across the habitat connectivity gradient of the tiger reserves. The three species from the major carnivore guild suggests that landscape genetic patterns respond to the ecological differences in habitat characteristics, and disturbance can differentially affect landscape genetic structure. The study develops a framework for the landscape genetic study of any species starting from the sampling to understanding the impact of habitat fragmentation on the functional as well as structural connectivity of these species. The empirical findings of this study provide an outlook to delineate the corridor planning as per species need and do not follow the one for all approach. This study also developed the first PCR based protocol for dhole species identification and a better individual identification panel. The study will help in introducing species-specific modifications in connectivity corridors planning. It has paved the way to consider the requirements of each species while establishing priority-based conservation. As obtained in this study, landscape genetics outputs, coupled with multispecies connectivity models, could help prioritise the conservation of areas where maintaining connectivity is most critical.Item Indian Grey wolves (Canis lupus pallipes) in Human dominated landscape; Movement, space use and foraging(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2023) Khan, Shaheer; Habib, BilalThe study presented a comprehensive investigation into the ecology of Indian wolves (Canis lupus pallipes) within human-dominated landscapes in Maharashtra, India. The study focused on movement patterns, den and rendezvous site selection, and food habits of Indian wolves to gain insights into their adaptation strategies and ecological interactions within changing environments. Seven adult wolves (three males and four females) and four subadult wolves (two males and two females) were captured using soft leghold traps from 2017 - 2021. Trapped wolves were held using a double-threaded nylon hockey net and immobilized using Ketamine–Xylazine by injecting intramuscularly on their hind leg and fitted with GPS collars. A total of ten wolves from seven different packs were fitted with GPS collars, and one male was fitted with a proximity collar. The GPS collars were programmed for the different intervals between positions ranging from 0.5-5 hours per fix (median=1 hour), depending on the time of year and type of individual. I then scaled the data to 1 hour per fix for movement analysis. This research underscores the importance of understanding wolf movement, denning ecology, and food habits for effective conservation strategies. As human populations and habitat alterations increase, studying wolf adaptation is crucial for species-specific conservation planning.Item Evaluating the use of Camera-Traps for population estimation of unmarked individuals using spatially explicit models in Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra, India(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2021) Chatterjee, Nilanjan; Habib, BilalWildlife monitoring is of fundamental importance to establish baseline information, measure population changes and extinction risk. Motion-triggered camera traps are an increasingly popular tool for monitoring terrestrial species over large landscapes. Over the years, the application of camera traps has increased exponentially but studies aiming at fundamental information about sampling design and protocols are still limited to simulation studies. In this dissertation, we have used occupancy as an indicator of effective species monitoring. Occupancy has become a robust and unbiased state variable to monitor species worldwide. However, the optimal sampling design required for robust estimations of occupancy is lacking for many species.The Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) is situated in the Chandrapur district in the the Vidharbha Landscape of Maharashtra state, between 204’53” to 2025’51’’ N and 7913’13” to 79 33’34” E (Figure 6). The TATR is distributed over an area of 1700 sq. km which consists of Tadoba national park and Andhari wildlife sanctuary.Item Geospatial modelling of ungulate-habitat relationship in Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve(2008) Paliwal, Ambika; Mathur, V.B.The present study is an amalgamation of ecological theory, scientific technology and modern statistical modeling. It provides a sound basis for effective management of Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve TATR including preparation of science based management plans. the study aims to map landuse/landcover patterns and to assess spatial structure and configuration of landscape; structure and composition of vegetation types in landscape; spatial and ecological distribution of ungulate species in response to seasons and management status and habitat suitability and site occupancy using spatially explicit ungulate-habitat model. The study was carried out in Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR). It lies in civil district of Chandrapur, eastern edge of Maharashtra. Field work was carried out between February 2005 and January 2007.Item Diversity of spider assemblages in sacred groves of Ratnagiri, Maharashtra: Implications for conservation management in the landscape.(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2016) Patil, Vinayak K.; Uniyal, V.P.; Trivedi, MukulThe present study was conducted in Dapoli Taluka of Ratnagiri district in maharashtra with the objectives was to comprehensively document the sacred groves in the study area because it is a high concentration sacred groves region but very little documentation has been done so far. The other objective was to explore the spider diversity in sacred groves and compare it with some other habitats in the study area. These habitats included, reserved forests, mango orchards and cashew orchards. Lastly it was sought to find out if the habitats, seasonality, disturbance etc. had any influence on the diversity and composition of spider assemblages in the study sites.Item Application of Geographic Information System(GIS) and Remote Sensing in assessing habitat, resource availability and its management in Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve.(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 1999) Dubey, Yogesh; Mathur, V.B.The present study attempts to determine the distribution and abundance pattern of ungulate species in Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve and to assist in the development of a computerised wildlife database on spatial as well as non spatial attributes, which could be used for conservation monitoring and evaluation as well as to help in resource management planning, With the increasing pressure on forests it has become important to focus the research effort which could eventually lead to a better management of our PAs.Item Assemblage of Shorebirds in the Sindhudurg District Maharashtra(SACON, 2022) Babu Rao, Golusu; Babu, SMigratory shorebirds are the most threatened waterbird species around the world. Shorebirds in India have received little attention, particularly on the west coast. Thus, this study was conducted in the coastal areas of the Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra. The coastal habitats in the district are dominated by beaches, mudflats, and mangroves, which have been identified as potential habitats for shorebirds. Thus, the distribution, abundance, and factors influencing habitat use of shorebirds were studied from these three habitats across seven sites and five seasons. Among the three habitat types, mudflat was an important area for shorebirds thus fine-scale habitat selection for select shorebird species was carried out in the mudflats. Total count and photographic methods were used to count the birds. A total of 36 species of shorebirds were recorded, of which 21 and 10 species used Sindhudurg coast as stopover and wintering sites respectively. Mudflats had a higher species richness (21) than the beach (20) and mangroves (14) habitats. Plovers were the most common and abundant species in the study area. nMDs showed various pattern of shorebird species composition across the habitats and seasons. The cluster analysis revealed five distinct migratory seasons in shorebirds along the Sindhudurg coast: 1) arrival phase, 2) wintering phase, 3) early departure and late arrival phase, 4) departure phase, and e) breeding phase. The physiochemical parameters of water and prey varied significantly between habitats and seasons. Salinity showed decreasing trend from beach (34.67±5.94) towards the mangroves (28.07±7.66). Prey abundance was higher in mudflats and during the wintering season. BIO-ENV analysis showed that among the measured environmental parameters salinity was the key factor influenced prey distribution (ρ=0.51). The shorebird richness (X2=56.5, P=0.00) and abundance (X2=32.6, P=0.00) positively influenced by crustacean density, salinity and bivalve density. Prey availability and accessibility had a major impact on the finescale habitat selection of the studied species. The Lesser Sand Plover and Kentish Plover avoided areas with oyster beds and preferred fine sand substrates with higher crab densities. Eurasian Curlew selected high profitable foraging sites close to the waterline with increased surface penetrabilityItem Understanding sioth bear (Melursus ursinus) Genetic Connectivity across Vidarbha Landscape, Maharashtra, India(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2024) Gomes, Lynett; Habib, BilalThe goal of this thesis is to use non-invasive DNA sampling to study how sloth bears roam throughout the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, India. Maharashtra's Vidarbha Landscape is a quickly changing area. The great biodiversity that lives there is under risk from the quick changes in the landscape. It's vital to note that there are about 200 instances of deadly human-sloth bear interactions in Maharashtra alone each year, and that number could increase in the years to come due to increased development activities in the area. Wide ranging or long dispersing species who have extensive movements across a landscape are the ones most affected by range contraptions and fragmentation of the habitat. The broad objectives of this thesis were 1. Understand Genetic Structure, Variation and relatedness amongst sloth bear populations in Vidharbha Landscape and 2. Evaluate genetic relatedness with respect to permeability of the landscape and connectivity. The functional corridor obtained for sloth bears is the main result of this thesis. This can be used in a number of ways by managers, planning bodies, and stakeholders. First, the occupancy and connection would assist indicate key movement regions and areas of concern when evaluated in conjunction with the documented incidents of sloth bear attacks. The pinch points could be focused upon and conserved as intact corridors. Secondly, the movement areas could be modelled with documented bear attacks to highlight the probable corridors or movement areas that need awareness to avoid bear attacksItem Effects of Local- and Landscape-level Drivers in Influencing Bird Diversity and Persistence in Cashew Plantations of the Northern Western Ghats(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2024) Madhu, Nandita; Jayapal, Rajah; Page, Navendu V.; Naniwadekar, RohitAgricultural expansion is a significant driver of deforestation and biodiversity loss, particularly in the tropics. The Western Ghats-Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot is no exception. Most forest patches in the northern Western Ghats are being cleared for cashew cultivation. However, here, cashew plantations host varying proportions of cashew and native trees and have varying extents of ambient forest cover. Investigating the effects of such local and landscape-level drivers across land use types on taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversities, as well as species- and trait-specific responses of birds, as implemented in this study, can give comprehensive insights on the impacts of forest conversion. I conducted this study in the low-elevation forests and cashew plantation landscape of Tillari, Maharashtra. I compared tree species diversity and vegetation structural attributes across land use types using Hill-Shannon diversity and linear models (LMs). To assess how land use type affects bird species composition and taxonomic diversity, I used non-metric multidimensional sampling (NMDS) and Hill-Shannon diversity. To compare functional and phylogenetic impacts across land use types, I used SES (Standardised Effect Size) values of fMPD (functional Mean Pairwise Distance) and pMPD (phylogenetic Mean Pairwise Distance) for LMs and Tukey’s post-hoc analysis. Using Hierarchical Modelling of Species Communities (HMSC), I looked for 1) bird species responses, 2) trait responses, and 3) a phylogenetic signal in the residuals. I collected bird and vegetation data from 100 points distributed across forest, mixed cashew plantations, and pure cashew plantations. My field collaborator (Vishal Sadekar) and I sampled vegetation within a 10 m radius of circular plots around all points. We sampled birds, implementing 10-minute point counts at a point, replicated 5 times across 4 months between January to May 2024. Vegetation differed significantly across all three land use types in terms of tree species diversity and tree height, where the forest had the highest estimates followed by mixed cashew. NMDS showed that the community in mixed cashew plantations overlapped with that of pure cashew plantations. There was no significant effect of land use type on functional diversity. But taxonomic and phylogenetic diversities were lowest in pure cashew. The HMSC model revealed a low explained variation (Tjur R2 = 0.1372), but I found land use type, a site-level variable, to exhibit the highest explained variation of 58% compared to the landscape-level variables. Forest species like Malabar Trogon (Harpactes fasciatus) and Black-naped Monarch (Hypothymis azurea) responded negatively to mixed and pure cashew plantations. Species like Golden-fronted Leafbird (Chloropsis auriforns) and Tickell’s Blue Flycatcher (Cyornis tickelliae) benefitted from mixed cashew and open country species like Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) and Plain Prinia (Prinia inornata) responded positively to pure cashew. Trait response analysis revealed that evergreen species responded positively to the forest and negatively to both cashew habitats. Sedentary species responded positively to forest cover in 800 m. No evidence of a phylogenetic signal was found in the residuals (⍴ = 0.23, 95% CI: 0 - 0.68). This study highlights the value of mixed cashew plantations which are more habitable than pure cashew plantations due to native tree prevalence. However, this study also emphasises that even mixed cashew plantations cannot replace forests as habitats for evergreen forest species. This message is now more crucial than ever in the light of ongoing forest clearance in the northern Western Ghats.