Habitat use and Documentation of a Historic Decline of Western Hoolock Gibbon (Hoolock hoolock) in Dampa Tiger Reserve, Mizoram, India

Abstract:Invasive weeds like Lantana camara have a range of effects on animals such as elephant. These plants are not edible by the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). They also compete for space with elephant food plants and take over large areas of elephant habitat. We tested whether the addition of L. camara to a model consisting of measured environmental variables improved predictions of habitat use by elephant in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, India. Elephant dung density was used to assess elephant habitat use from 62 line transects 1-km in length. Results indicated that habitat and impact of human settlements significantly influenced elephant habitat use at a landscape scale. However, we found no evidence for the hypothesis that the addition of L. camara significantly predicted elephant habitat use at the landscape level. We then tested the association of L. camara on elephant habitat use in the dry deciduous forest (DDF) where there was a significant interaction between DDF and L. camara. In the DDF, L. camara significantly predicted elephant habitat use. We conclude that while no significant effects of L. camara were seen at the level of an entire reserve, at a finer scale and in specific habitats negative effects of this invasive plant on elephant habitat use were observed.

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Assessing the habitat use, suitability and activity pattern of the rusty-spotted cat Prionailurus rubiginosus in Kanha Tiger Reserve, India

Mammalia ◽

10.1515/mammalia-2019-0032 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 84 (5) ◽

pp. 459-468

Author(s):

Jayanta Kumar Bora ◽

Neha Awasthi ◽

Ujjwal Kumar ◽

Shravana Goswami ◽

Anup Pradhan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Habitat Use ◽

Activity Pattern ◽

Buffer Zone ◽

Sympatric Species ◽

Multiple Use ◽

Lack Of Information ◽

Tiger Reserve ◽

Close Proximity ◽

Intensively Managed

AbstractThe rusty-spotted cat Prionailurus rubiginosus is the smallest wildcat in the world, endemic to India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Although new occurrence records have recently been reported from different geographic localities in India and Nepal, there is still a lack of information on its biology and habitat use that are required for its conservation planning. Herein, we report results from systematic, long-term (2014–2018) camera trapping in Kanha Tiger Reserve, India, to evaluate the habitat use, suitability and activity pattern of the rusty-spotted cat and model its local distribution with habitat and anthropogenic covariates. Thick canopied forest and rugged terrain were found to be extensively used and preferred by the rusty-spotted cat. It was also recorded in the multiple-use buffer zone forests in close proximity to agriculture. The species is nocturnal and its activity seems to coincide with its major prey. The guiding philosophy of tiger reserves in India is to use the tiger as an umbrella species for biodiversity conservation, and often these reserves are intensively managed to enhance tiger and prey populations. This approach, however, may not cater to the requirements of other less charismatic sympatric species, and those of the rusty-spotted cat also need to be considered for its continued survival.

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Population organisation in reef sharks: new variations in coastal habitat use by mobile marine predators

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps11545 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 544 ◽

pp. 197-211 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

A Chin ◽

MR Heupel ◽

CA Simpfendorfer ◽

AJ Tobin

Keyword(s):

Habitat Use ◽

Coastal Habitat ◽

Marine Predators ◽

Reef Sharks

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Habitat use of toothed whales in a marine protected area based on point process models

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps12820 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 609 ◽

pp. 239-256 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

TL Silva ◽

G Fay ◽

TA Mooney ◽

J Robbins ◽

MT Weinrich ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Habitat Use ◽

Point Process ◽

Protected Area ◽

Marine Protected Area ◽

Process Models ◽

Point Process Models

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Modeling cetacean habitat use in an urban coastal area in southeastern Brazil

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps13313 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 642 ◽

pp. 227-240

Author(s):

L Lodi ◽

R Tardin ◽

G Maricato

Keyword(s):

Habitat Use ◽

Protected Areas ◽

Linear Models ◽

Anthropogenic Activities ◽

Buffer Zone ◽

Humpback Whales ◽

Southeastern Brazil ◽

Major Influence ◽

Cetacean Species ◽

Few Data

Most studies of cetacean habitat use do not consider the influence of anthropogenic activities. We investigated the influence of environmental and anthropogenic variables on habitat use by humpback Megaptera novaeangliae and Bryde’s whales Balaenoptera brydei off the coast of the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. Although there are 2 marine protected areas (MPAs) in this area, few data are available on cetacean habitat use or on the overlap of different cetacean species within these MPAs. Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of the MPAs and propose a buffer zone to better protect the biodiversity of the study area. We conducted systematic surveys and developed spatial eigenvector generalized linear models to characterize habitat use by the species in the study area. Habitat use by humpback whales was influenced only by depth, whereas for Bryde’s whales there was the additional influence of anthropogenic variables. For Bryde’s whales, which use the area for feeding, sea surface temperature and the distance to anchorages had a major influence on habitat use. We also showed that neither of the MPAs in the study area adequately protects the hotspots of either whale species. Most of the humpback whale grid cells with high sighting predictions were located within 2 km of the MPAs, while areas of high sighting prediction of Bryde’s whales were located up to 5 km from the MPAs, closer to beaches. Our findings provide important insights for the delimitation of protected areas and zoning of the MPAs.

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Differing prey associations and habitat use suggest niche partitioning by fin (Balaenoptera physalus) and humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) whales off Kodiak Island

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps13596 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

A McCarthy ◽

A De Robertis ◽

S Kotwicki ◽

K Hough ◽

P Wade ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Habitat Use ◽

Niche Partitioning ◽

Megaptera Novaeangliae ◽

Balaenoptera Physalus ◽

Kodiak Island

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Habitat use patterns and edge effects across a seagrass-unvegetated ecotone depend on species-specific behaviors and sampling methods

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps12609 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 598 ◽

pp. 21-33 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

C Gross ◽

C Donoghue ◽

C Pruitt ◽

JL Ruesink

Keyword(s):

Habitat Use ◽

Edge Effects ◽

Sampling Methods ◽

Use Patterns ◽

Species Specific

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Long-term monitoring provides insight into estuarine top predator (Carcharhinus leucas) resilience following an extreme weather event

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps13269 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 639 ◽

pp. 169-183

Author(s):

P Matich ◽

BA Strickland ◽

MR Heithaus

Keyword(s):

Habitat Use ◽

Acoustic Telemetry ◽

South Florida ◽

Behavioral Variability ◽

Catch Per Unit Effort ◽

Ontogenetic Shifts ◽

Carcharhinus Leucas ◽

Acute Disturbance ◽

Cold Snap

Chronic environmental change threatens biodiversity, but acute disturbance events present more rapid and immediate threats. In 2010, a cold snap across south Florida had wide-ranging impacts, including negative effects on recreational fisheries, agriculture, and ecological communities. Here, we use acoustic telemetry and historical longline monitoring to assess the long-term implications of this event on juvenile bull sharks Carcharhinus leucas in the Florida Everglades. Despite the loss of virtually all individuals (ca. 90%) within the Shark River Estuary during the cold snap, the catch per unit effort (CPUE) of age 0 sharks on longlines recovered through recruitment within 6-8 mo of the event. Acoustic telemetry revealed that habitat use patterns of age 0-2 sharks reached an equilibrium in 4-6 yr. In contrast, the CPUE and habitat use of age 3 sharks required 5-7 yr to resemble pre-cold snap patterns. Environmental conditions and predation risk returned to previous levels within 1 yr of the cold snap, but abundances of some prey species remained depressed for several years. Reduced prey availability may have altered the profitability of some microhabitats after the cold snap, leading to more rapid ontogenetic shifts to marine waters among sharks for several years. Accelerated ontogenetic shifts coupled with inter-individual behavioral variability of bull sharks likely led to a slower recovery rate than predicted based on overall shark CPUE. While intrinsic variation driven by stochasticity in dynamic ecosystems may increase the resistance of species to chronic and acute disturbance, it may also increase recovery time in filling the diversity of niches occupied prior to disturbance if resistive capacity is exceeded.

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