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Item Management of human wildlife interaction and invasive species in India(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2015) Mathur, V.B.; Bist, S.S.; Kaushik, M.; Mungi, N.A.; Qureshi, Q.Human – carnivore conflict is perceived as one of the most negative interactions in wildlife and humans, owing to the direct loss of human life associated with the presence of carnivore. Tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, wolf, dhole and bear are the most conflict related species. Studies on conflict related to tiger, lion, snow leopard and leopard are available while that for wolf, dhole and bear are rarely conducted. Owing to the conservation value of tiger and lion, guidelines and policies have been centered to the conflict related to these flagship species. In almost all the cases, management system has guaranteed economic compensation. Standard operating protocol (SOP) is developed for identifying and removing an individual that has repeatedly reported in conflict with humans. As few of these carnivores need healthy habitat and ample prey species for their sustenance, co-existence with increasing human pressure seems distinct from the present facts. Thus, in order to minimize the negative interaction, it is essential to relocate human settlement from the protected areas inhabited by these species. Attack by leopard on humans is amongst the major conflict cases. As leopard and snow leopard also inhabit in areas dominated by humans, it is of immense importance to amplify the social carrying capacity through awareness camps and increasing the vigilance during peak activity time of a species in the shared area. Frequency of conflicts associated to leopard in human dominated areas has triggered concern about the sustenance of these species, as shown by recent series of studies invested on subject. Results of these studies were adapted to form guidelines in order to avoid and mitigate the conflict issue and the SOP is being developed for conflict scenario management. In all the cases of carnivore conflict, economic compensation has helped to elevate the social carrying capacity. Hence, timely facilitating the desired amount of compensation can reduce the negative perception associated with conflict case. In case of snow leopard, the medical and life insurance policy has helped in building positive perception towards snow leopard conservation. However, such solutions are possible by joint efforts from multiple sectors and active participation of governmental agencies; and hence should be considered for managing conflict of other species as well. Human - Herbivore conflicts are mainly centered towards the loss of agricultural crops. These losses are high if the crop fields are present around Protected Areas or in the forest used by herbivores involved in conflict. Nilgai, Wild pig, Elephant and Black buck are ranked as species with highest conflict records owing to their vast distribution across India and habitat overlap with human settlements. While conflict caused by Rhino and Wild ass though restricted in few parts of the country, is similar conflict case. Particularly, in case of elephants, agricultural fields are used as corridors for colonizing or moving across adjacent protected forests. Conflicts with herbivores are speculated to be caused due to habitat degradation, absence of predator, absence of quality forage in the forest, etc. However, these speculations are not tested in field. Nevertheless, looking at increased individual and group raiding on the crops, it is essential to put a control on the reproductive rate of these individuals to avoid long-term conflict. Reproductive control needs an understanding of optimal demographic age and sex ratios to be maintained for sustenance of species. Hence, it should be practiced only in addition to the ecological population monitoring. Techniques used in reproductive control are new to the country and should be executed by expert research team. In case of a species like wild pig that can cause repeated conflict, provision of declaring such species as vermin for a particular area is available. In case of managing the on-going crop raiding, bio-fencing around the crop fields, night vigilance, alarm alerts and barricades should be used. Elevating the social carrying capacity by forming a self help group in the conflict prone villages that includes people from various sectors can provide immediate and economical solutions. Human - Non-human primate conflict is one of most serious issue in the negative interactions in human and wildlife. Though Rhesus macaques, Bonnet macaques and Hanuman Langur carry cultural respect from the dominant society, their increasing population in human settlements is increasingly resulting in negative interactions. Devotees and animal lovers feel gratified in feeding monkeys in temples, highways or roof tops and consider it a religious deed. Apart from many monkeys getting diseased and killed due to these habits, they have become habitual of snatching food from people and attacking them. Macaque troops involved in conflict are often translocated to the forests or enclosures in many parts of the country. Often these empty habitats are re-colonized by the surrounding macaque troops, and the conflict continues. Reproductive control is the most convenient and long term solution for controlling the negative interactions, but should be carried with regular population monitoring to keep the densities at optimal low levels. Methods such as oral administrative contraceptives, intra-uterine devices, and blockade of tubal patency following transcervical administration of polidocanol foam should be used for female monkey sterilization. Removal of specific macaque individuals that show persistent aggressive behavior or learnt raiding behavior should be implemented. Additionally social awareness about Solid waste management and proper disposal of rural organic waste as well as prohibition on feeding of monkeys in public places is of immense importance; as most of these troops colonize the area due to readily available food. Management of prioritized invasive species by 2020 is India’s 4th target of Fifth National Report to the Convention of Biological diversity. In total, 21 species were identified as high concern invasive species for 4 different ecosystems of India viz., terrestrial ecosystem (Lantana species complex, Prosopis juliflora, parthenium hysterophorus, Mikania micrantha, Chromolaena odorata, Ageratina adenophora, Ageratum conyzoides, Xanthium strumarium, Mimosa diplotricha, Hyptis suaveolens, Senna tora and Great African Snail (Achatina fulica)) island ecosystem (Axis axis and Hoplobatrachus tigerinus), freshwater ecosystem (Oreochromis mossambicus, Salmo trutta fario, Clarias gariepinus, Cyprinus carpio, Ipomoea carnea and Eichhornia crassipes) and marine ecosystem (Kappaphycus alvarezii). As a response to the impacts of these species, many regional managerial interventions are carried to remove the species. Most of these management practices are guided by the umbrella legislation of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and National Biodiversity Action Plan, 2008. It was also concluded during the workshop, that restoration of the native ecosystem should be the focus of management in the terrestrial ecosystem and hence the removal of any species should be followed by active/passive restoration of native ecosystem. The major gap that was observed was in the information about distribution and magnitude of invasion across country for any invasive species; and in the studies of restoration techniques in terrestrial ecosystem. The repeated introduction of fishes via aquaculture and escape through the controlled culture are the main invasion pathways in freshwater ecosystem. It should be addressed by enhancing the present quarantine techniques to identify the fry of these species during the import, and safeguarding the outlets of culture discharge (particularly in the floods).Item Study on Ecological & Socio-Economic Impact of Invasive species, Prosopis juliflora and Lantana camera and their removal from forest, common and fallow land of Tamilnadu(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2018) Sivakumar, K.; Rawat, G.S.; Badola, Ruchi; Adhikari, B.S.; Kamalakannan, B.Item Study on ecological and socio-economic impact of invasive species, Prosopis juliflora and Lantana camara and their removal from forest, common and fallow land of Tamilnadu(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2018) Sivakumar, K.; Rawat, G.S.; Badola, Ruchi; Adhikari, B.S.; Kamalakannan1) Prosopis juliflora is an invasive, drought resistant, evergreen fast growing pheratophyte widely distributed in India and also in arid and semi-arid tropical countries. It is a highly valued wood source for rural people in India. The P. juliflora is believed one of the worst invaders affecting natural and man-made ecosystems and its local biodiversity in Tamil Nadu. In this context, this study was conducted aimed to assess the distribution patterns of P. juliflora and its impacts in three different agro-climatic zones of Tamil Nadu. 2) In 1959, Prosopis juliflora was introduced in Tamil Nadu to meet the fuelwood requirements of the rural poor people and to re-vegetate the degraded lands but it spread at faster and occupied almost all agro-zones of Tamil Nadu. In India, P. juliflora was considered as one of the worst invaders in the country affecting natural ecosystems and local biodiversity. In order to eradicate this species from natural forests, preparation of a restoration plan is desirable with knowledge on ecology and impacts of P. juliflora in Tamil Nadu. Keeping this in view, Wildlife Institute of India with support of Tamil Nadu Forest Department assessed the extent and abundance of P. juliflora in forest, common and fallow land of Tamil Nadu. Initially, the study was started in the southern zone of Tamil Nadu and later in other agro-climatic zones of Tamil Nadu (i.e. Cauvery delta zone (Nagapattinam district), Southern zone (Ramanathapuram district) and Western zone (Sathiyamangalam Tiger Reserve, Erode district). 3) Totally ninety transects were laid randomly in three agro-climatic zones of Tamil Nadu. Each transect of 2 km length, it had six 15 m radius plots at equal distance of 400 m to quantify the environmental parameters such as vegetation structure and composition, cover percentage of grass, native herbs, weeds, animal pellet and bird abundance, etc., was recorded by using standard methods on the same transect. Influence and impact of Prosopis juliflora and its and socio-economic status were assessed by using a questionnaire survey in entire taluks of three agro-climatic zones. 4) The results revealed that occupancy of Prosopis juliflora was more in the southern zone compared to the other two zones. Southern zone occupies 79.4% of Prosopis juliflora invaded in this region than western zone (46%), and in Cauvery delta zone (32%). Density (F = 34.35, P < 0.05) and frequency occurrence (%) of P. juliflora were also higher in the southern zone followed by western zone and Cauvery delta zone. The richness and native biodiversity of plants and related herbs, shrubs were highly ruined in southern zone followed by Cauvery delta and western zone. The highest extent of Prosopis was observed in the entire seven taluks of the Ramanathapuram district (southern zone) compare to the Nagapattinam taluks (Cauvery delta zone) and Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve ranges (western zone). Except Prosopis juliflora and Lantana camara; Parthenium hysterophorus and 2 Chromolaena odorata caused huge smash up to the native ecosystems in some ranges of Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserves. 5) In Ramanathapuram district, the abundances of herbs such as Tephrosia purpurea, Crotons sparsiflorus, and Cleome viscosa were significantly lesser in P. juliflora invaded plots as compared to the non-invaded plots. Relative abundance of birds such as Pavo cristatus, Conturnix conturnix and Acridotheres tristis were positively correlated with P. juliflora abundance in Ramanathapuram taluks. The western zone where the habitat dominated by P. juliflora was observed with low abundances of wild ungulates. 6) Driest environment settings of southern zone favored more P. juliflora than other two agro-climatic zones that are comparatively wet. 7) The study found that the impact of Prosopis in the forested landscapes of Tamil Nadu, especially in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve seemed to be adversely affecting the distribution of native biodiversity. 8) Dry zone of Tamil Nadu i.e. at Ramanathapuram the groundwater level-soil moisture conditions, humidity and temperature under the canopy cover were better in the habitats dominated by P. juliflora but in the forested landscapes such as in the Sathyamangalam TR, these environmental factors were comparatively lesser than other habitats of the zone. It reveals that P. juliflora in the forested landscape is not good for natural environmental settings as well as the biodiversity of the region. 9) In all zones that were studied in Tamil Nadu, the P. juliflora was observed to be allelopathic that discouraging other plants from growing around them and seems to be toxic to other biotas in ways that allow the invasives to monopolize the space, sunlight, and nutrients at the exclusion of other species. Plant diversity was observed significantly low at P. juliflora dominated habitats than other habitats of Tamil Nadu including in the Ramanathapuram District. In the native habitats of P. juliflora, the other species have developed a mechanism to counter the allelopathy of P. juliflora, but such defense seems to be not available to several native plants of Tamil Nadu. 10) The study could not find any significant impact of Prosopis juliflora and Lantana camara on the productivity of agricultural crops grown adjacent to the dense growth of Prosopis juliflora and Lantana camara on the bund or as a pure stand. 11) Prosopis juliflora, which is adapted to survive and thrive in diverse environments including very harsh dry environments, was a major boon for impoverished people subsisting in the Ramanathapuram District as it provides 3 them with badly needed valuable provisional services; fuelwood, charcoal, animal feed, constructional materials, reclamation of degraded soil, etc, but the Prosopis juliflora was observed to be adversely affecting both environments as well as native biodiversity in other zones of Tamil Nadu. 12) It was found that wetlands in the arid region are highly susceptible to Prosopis invasion and these wetlands were once used by migratory birds in large numbers but not nowadays that is might be due to high abundances of invasive species. 13) Although, alien invasive species such as P. juliflora and L. camara are adversely affecting the native biodiversity especially in the Western Zone and Cauvery Delta but it has livelihood values in the Southern Zone especially Ramanathpuram and adjoining districts of Tamil Nadu. 14) The study also found that the available nitrogen, phosphorus and organic carbon in the soil were high in highly invaded areas compared to less or non-invaded sites especially in the Southern Zone. 15) Economic analyses also revealed that the benefits of the P. juliflora invasion in the southern zone are higher than the costs. However, some aspects such as increased risk of water table and long-term ecological changes were not examined, thus making the total economic valuation incomplete. 16) P. juliflora and L. camara spread can be halted by actions such as clear cutting/up-rooting followed by burning of the stump of P. juliflora and keeping up-side down of stump of L. camara. Alternatively, ways can be found to utilize the existing stands of P. juliflora so that frequent harvesting can exert a check on its expansion in the non-forested landscape. Minimum, 10 years of weed management plan should be made mandatory of all Management Plans of all Protected Areas and other reserve forests of Tamil Nadu to successfully halt the expansion of these invasive species so that the native biodiversity are conserved. 12) The study concludes that complete eradication of P. juliflora and L. camara is inevitable in the forested landscapes and Protected Areas of Tamil Nadu. However, the study recommend that sustainable management and control of P. juliflora may be a better solution than eradication in the Southern Zone.