Relative sensitivity of mammalian carnivores to disturbance in sub-tropical forests of Arunachal pradesh

Abstract

Study the impacts of disturbance such as clearing of forests for habitation, presence of domestic livestock, forestry operation such as logging and extracting of non-timber forest products, trapping and hunting for sustenance as disturbance on carnivore populations. The study was conducted in the low land semi evergreen forests of Pakke Tiger Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh. For this study following objectives were identified • Prepare an inventory of carnivore species occurring in Pakke Tiger Reserve. • Study spatial and ecological distribution in terms of disturbances and environmental variables respectively. Four study sites, Khari, West bank, Dicho and Lanka were selected from within the Pakke Wildlife Sanctuary and adjoining Papum Reserve Forests, on the basis of various parameters which might have affected the habitat structure of the area. The influences of habitat variables on the occurrences of carnivore species were examined by using Classification tree analysis by using S-PLUS 4.5 software. The final output showed that, distances from village was the most important variable that determines the presence - absence of civets .Civets were absent in areas with more than 65 % shrub cover .Small cats occurred in areas with greater shrub cover and shrub height The occurrence of small cats decreased with the distances from village increased '. Small cat occurred low in areas with high canopy cover.