Publications
- Journal Article2014Positive interactions between Irrawaddy dolphins and artisanal fishers in the Chilika Lagoon of eastern India are driven by ecology, socio-economics and cultureAmbio
In human-dominated landscapes, interactions and perceptions towards wildlife are influenced by multi- dimensional drivers. Understanding these drivers could prove useful for wildlife conservation. We surveyed the attitudes and perceptions of fishers towards threatened Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris) at Chilika Lagoon India. To validate the drivers of fisher perceptions, we : (1) observed dolphin foraging behavior at stake nets, and (2) compared catch per unit effort (CPUE) and catch income of fishers from stake nets in the presence and absence of foraging dolphins. We found that fishers were mostly positive towards dolphins, believing that dolphins augmented their fish catch and using culture to express their perceptions. Foraging dolphins were observed spending half their time at stake nets and were associated with significantly higher catch income and CPUE of mullet (Liza sp.), a locally preferred food fish species. Wildlife conservation efforts should use the multidimensional drivers of human–wildlife interactions to involve local stakeholders in management.
- Journal Article2014An elephantine challenge: human–elephant conflict distribution in the largest Asian elephant population, southern IndiaBiodiversity Conservation DOI 10.1007/s10531-014-0621-xDownload
PDF, 1.01 MB
Wildlife conservation is a complex issue especially when it involves large carnivores or mega-herbivores that are conflict-prone. Karnataka state in southern India is known to harbor high density of wild elephants. This conservation success story also has opportunity costs for communities living in close proximity to elephants. Despite the fact that human–elephant conflict is a serious conservation and social issue, there is little quantitative understanding of conflict especially over large areas. Here we conduct the first analysis of human–elephant conflict distribution, severity and explanatory factors over the entire state of Karnataka. We use data from the state forest department records on villages that experience conflict, compensation payments made by the government, elephant den- sities, forest cover and perimeter, and presence of physical barriers to mitigate elephant conflict. In total, 60,939 incidences of crop loss were reported and US$ 2.99 m paid in compensation during April 2008–March 2011. A total of 91 people were killed by ele- phants and 101 elephants died in retaliatory killings during the study period. A total of 9.4 % of the state’s geographic area covering 25 of the 42 forest administrative divisions were affected. There was no significant difference in conflict incidences or compensation given between protected areas and non-protected areas. There was no correlation between conflict incidences/unit area and elephant density, forest cover, forest perimeter of pro- tected areas and presence of physical barriers. The results depict the importance of efficient management of physical barriers, conserving key habitat linkages, and acts as baseline data for future work.
- Thesis2014Seed dispersal by hornbills, conservation status and the consequences of their decline in tropical forests of Arunachal PradeshManipal University, Manipal, KarnatakaDownload
PDF, 9.62 MB
- Journal Article2014Vigorous Dynamics Underlie a Stable Population of the Endangered Snow Leopard Panthera uncia in Tost Mountains, South Gobi, MongoliaPLoS One. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0101319Download
PDF, 1.08 MB
- Journal Article2014Accounting for false positives improves estimates of occupancy from key informant interviewsDiversity and Distributions 20: 223-235Download
PDF, 443 KB
Aim
Much research in conservation biogeography is fundamentally dependent on obtaining reliable data on species distributions across space and time. Such data are now increasingly being generated using various types of public surveys. These data are often integrated with occupancy models to evaluate distributional patterns, range dynamics and conservation status of multiple species at broad spatio-temporal scales. Occupancy models have traditionally corrected for imperfect detection due to false negatives while implicitly assuming that false positives do not occur. However, public survey data are also prone to false-positive errors, which when unaccounted for can cause bias in occupancy estimates. We test whether false positives in a dataset collected from public surveys lead to overestimation of species site occupancy and whether estimators that simultaneously account for false-positive and false-negative errors improve occupancy estimates.
Location
Western Ghats, India.
Methods
We fit occupancy models that simultaneously account for false positives and negatives to data collected from a large-scale key informant interview survey for 30 species of large vertebrates. We tested their performance against standard occupancy models that account only for false negatives.
Results
Standard occupancy models that correct only for false negatives tended to overestimate species occupancy due to false-positive errors. Occupancy models that simultaneously accounted for false positives and negatives had greater support [lower Akaike's information criterion (AIC)] and, consistent with predictions, generated systematically lower occupancy estimates than standard models. Furthermore, accounting for false positives improved the accuracy of occupancy estimates despite the added complexity to the statistical estimator.
Main conclusions
Integrating large-scale public surveys with occupancy modelling approaches is a powerful tool for informing conservation and management. However, in many if not most cases, it will be important to explicitly account for false positives to ensure the reliability of occupancy estimates obtained from public survey datasets such as key informant interviews, volunteer surveys, citizen science programmes, historical archives and acoustic surveys.
- Journal Article2014Genetic diversity and population structure of Lantana camara in India indicates multiple introductions and gene flow.Plant Biology. 16(3): 651-658.Download
PDF, 278 KB
Permanent link:
http://doi.org/10.1111/plb.12087Lantana camara is a highly invasive plant, which has spread over 60 countries and island groups of Asia, Africa and Australia. In India, it was introduced in the early nineteenth century, since when it has expanded and gradually established itself in almost every available ecosystem. We investigated the genetic diversity and population structure of this plant in India in order to understand its introduction, subsequent range expansion and gene flow. A total of 179 individuals were sequenced at three chloroplast loci and 218 individuals were genotyped for six nuclear microsatellites. Both chloroplasts (nine haplotypes) and microsatellites (83 alleles) showed high genetic diversity. Besides, each type of marker confirmed the presence of private polymorphism. We uncovered low to medium population structure in both markers, and found a faint signal of isolation by distance with microsatellites. Bayesian clustering analyses revealed multiple divergent genetic clusters. Taken together, these findings (i.e. high genetic diversity with private alleles and multiple genetic clusters) suggest that Lantana was introduced multiple times and gradually underwent spatial expansion with recurrent gene flow.
- Journal Article2014Roads emerging as a critical threat to leopards in India?Cat News 60 Spring 2014 (30)Download
PDF, 565 KB
Leopards (Panthera pardus) face severe threat from poaching, loss of habitat and killing in retaliation to conflict. However, in India a new threat appears to be emerging in the form of vehicle accident mortalities. In the past 60 months 23 leopards have been recorded as killed due to road accidents in the southern Indian state of Karnataka alone. When roads overlap with important wildlife habitats, considerable scrutiny and critical conservation planning is urgently required
- Journal Article2014Seagrasses in the age of sea turtle conservation and shark overfishingFrontiers in Marine Science 1:28. doi: 10.3389/fmars. 2014.00028.Download
PDF, 1.95 MB
Efforts to conserve globally declining herbivorous green sea turtles have resulted in promising growth of some populations. These trends could significantly impact critical ecosystem services provided by seagrass meadows on which turtles feed. Expanding turtle populations could improve seagrass ecosystem health by removing seagrass biomass and preventing of the formation of sediment anoxia. However, overfishing of large sharks, the primary green turtle predators, could facilitate turtle populations growing beyond historical sizes and trigger detrimental ecosystem impacts mirroring those on land when top predators were extirpated. Experimental data from multiple ocean basins suggest that increasing turtle populations can negatively impact seagrasses, including triggering virtual ecosystem collapse. Impacts of large turtle populations on seagrasses are reduced in the presence of intact shark populations. Healthy populations of sharks and turtles, therefore, are likely vital to restoring or maintaining seagrass ecosystem structure, function, and their value in supporting fisheries and as a carbon sink.
- Popular Article2014Nitya in the rainforestThe Hindu in School, 16 July
- Popular Article2014From hunters to protectorsThe Hindu in School, 23 July
- Popular Article2014For the love of honeydewThe Hindu in School, 19 June
- Popular Article2014Ants in my plants!The Hindu in School, 24 June
- Popular Article2014The khirava's caveThe Hindu in School, 30 July
- Popular Article2014Surprise sighting in SpitiThe Hindu in School, 6 August
- Journal Article2014Multi-scale factors influencing human attitudes towards snow leopards and wolves.Conservation Biology DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12320Download
PDF, 565 KB
- Thesis2014An investigation into the interactions among wild ungulates and livestock in the temperate forests of Kaj-i-nagManipal University, Manipal, KarnatakaDownload
PDF, 6.87 MB
- Popular Article2014Meat momos for everyone!The Hindu in School, 13 August
- Popular Article2014Survival of the fittestThe Hindu (Young World), 8 July
- Popular Article2014Marmot in mealsSAEVUSDownload
PDF, 451 KB
Talks about dog depredation in the snow leopard habitat.
- Popular Article2014Call of the birdsThe Hindu in School, 31 Dec
