Theses and Dissertations

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Rajaji National park

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    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.
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    Fruit Removal, Seed Dispersal and Demography of Emblica officinalis at Rajaji National Park, Uttaranchal
    (Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2001) Prasad, Soumya; Chellam, Ravi; Krishnamurthy, Jagdish
    Plant-frugivore interactions determine the structure and composition of plant and frugivore communities and consequently the understanding of these interactions may help in defining the management protocol for the conservation of these systems (Howe 1993). E.officinalis fruit are an important non-timber forest produce from Indian deciduous forests. In this study I have looked at fruit removal and seed dispersal patterns of E. officinalis in the context of its use by humans. Fruit removal patterns were followed for 19 E. officinalis trees with a range of fruit crops (from 73 ± 59 X 103 fruit to less than 100 fruit) at Dhaulkand, Rajaji NP. 11 of these trees were monitored to ensure that there was no human removal of the fruit. For each tree, all fruit on the ground in the fruit fall area and all fruit on 5 -7 marked branches were counted thrice every ten days in 12-hour intervals, till less than 5% of the initial number of fruits remained on the .marked branches, to arrive at nocturnal and diurnal removal patterns for fruit. Factors affecting fruit persistence (number of days fruit persisted. on the marked branches) were extraction of fruit by people and fruit crop size. In the fruit-fall area, factors affecting nocturnal and diurnal fruit removal rates were clustering of fruiting trees and human induced factors. A range of direct and indirect methods - tree watches, track plots and camera trapping were used to determine the identity of the fruit removers and to observe the mode of fruit handling by these removers. Langur (Semnopithecus entellus), ungulates such as chital (Axis axis) and barking deer (Muntiacus muntjac) were observed feeding on E. officinalis fruit. There was also evidence that the gerbil, Tatera indica, scatter hoards the fruit. Retention In ungulate rumens reduced germination success of E. officinalis seeds. Demography of E. officinalis and regeneration status of woody plant species at Rajaji was assessed along 6 one Ian transects' across a gradient of human use intensity, 3 each in hill and plain mixed forests. The E. officinalis population at Rajaji was found to have very few trees below 30 cm GBH. E. officinalis seedlings were found only in areas almost completely free from human use. Regeneration for tree species at Rajaji was dominated by species that are not lopped for fodder.
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    Leaf Chemistry and Food Selection by the Common Langur (Presbytis entellus, Dufresne 1797) in Rajaji National Park U.P. India
    (1991) Gupta, Kaberi Kar; Kumar, Ajith
    Food selection in folivorous primates has been hypothesised to be correlated with leaf chemistry. To test this hypothesis, a 5- month study on Presbytis entellus was carried out in a moist deciduous forest in the Rajaji National Park, U.P. Two indices of food selection were estimated: percent time spent feeding on the food item, and selection ratio. The former was estimated from group scan data collected from one study group for six days each month. The selection ratio for each item was estimated as a ratio of time spent feeding to availability. Food availability was estimated from vegetation sampling, which covered 6% of the home range of the study group, and phenology data in the study area. Crude Protein (CP), Acid Detergent Fibre (ADF) and Tannins in mature and young leaves of 12 major food species were estimated in the laboratory. Food selection was positively correlated with CP in winter and with ADF in both seasons. It was also correlated with CP/ADF ratio, but to a lesser extent than the best predictor in winter and spring. Selection ratio did not have any correlation with CP in two seasons and only a weak correlation with ADF» It is very likely that the inclusion of other factors such as micro-nutrients, condensed tannins and digestibility might give a better prediction of food selection.