Habitat selection by Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) in Siran and Kaghan Valleys, Pakistan

Asiatic black bear is present in variety of habitats like broad-leaves and coniferous forests, extending form sea level to 4300m elevation and change their habitat for food purpose seasonally. The present study was conducted at Kaghan and Siran Valleys, District Mansehra, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan to assess habitat of black bear. Line transect method was used for observation of bear signs. Twelve meter circular radius plots were selected for the concern vegetation’s i.e. (trees, shrubs and herbs) and three to six plots were placed in each transect. At the result of sign survey, thirteen different categories of bear signs were recorded and encounter rate was calculated for each sign. A total of 1858 signs were observed during field surveys. Total (81%) coniferous species were recoded among trees, with the highest appearance of Pinus wallichiana (34.22%) and Spruce spp (27.76%), similarly broad leaves trees (18.56%) were also recoded from habitat plots. Most of the signs were encountered in bushy areas, whereas high number of Viburnum Spp (60.29%) was present. It is indicated that black bear prefers blend of Coniferous Trees, Viburnum and Ferns Species; probably because these plants provide enough food, protection, and meticulous shelter because more than 80% of habitat composed of these three species. Currently habitat destruction and increase in human population are the up-growing issues for wild animals (especially Asiatic black bear), which is highly sensitive to such problems. High levels of conservation efforts are recommended for the protection of black bear habitat and to avoid human interference in their territory.

Major threats and habitat use status of Demoiselle crane (Anthropoides virgo), in district Bannu, Pakistan

Cranes are the large and attractive Creatures of nature with long necks, legs, and life-span. Adults of both sexes are the same with similar color patterns. Demoiselle cranes spend most of their lifespan on dry grasses. They are also found around the stream, rivers, shallow lakes, natural wetlands, and depressions. To evaluate the current status of habitat use and major threats a study was conducted in tehsil Domel district Bannu. Line transect method and water quality tests (temperature, PH, contamination of E-coli bacteria) were used. To determine the major threats questionnaire method was used. The whole data was analyzed by using SPSS 21 version. Based on the distribution four study sites were selected and four water samples from each study site were taken. Most sites were moderate to highly degraded except Kashoo and kurram river mixing point which was low degraded with livestock grazing and human activities. Water quality tests showed PH ranges from 7-9, temperature 6.5-8.5, and contamination of E-coli in all samples. The social survey revealed that hunting, habitat degradation, and pollution as major threats. Effective long-term conservation and management in the study area are needed to focus on the protection of disturbance-free habitat.

Assessment of water quality based on biological indices of macrobenthos: a river under pressure from tourism activities

Cijulang River is one of the leading ecotourism objects in Pangandaran, West Java Province, Indonesia. However, the river has a variety of activities that can increase the water pollution in the river such as Green Canyon cliffs tourism, ecotourism of mangrove conservation, housing, and industrial siting. Macrobenthos is one of the bio-indicators that can assess the rate of water pollution in rivers, especially their organic pollutants. Therefore, this research aims to determine water pollution status in Cijulang River Tourism by comparing various biotic indices. The study was conducted at four site sampling locations from upstream to downstream in the rainy season period and dry season period using different methods namely, line transect model, water quality assessment by biological indexing (diversity, species dominant, and family biotic), species deficit, and organic measurement. The research showed 5873 macrobenthos and divided into 27 species with an average abundance of 167 ind.m-2 and are mainly dominated by gastropod species Faunus ater (40%). They are extreme species that can live in high organic pollution and water salinity. This divided the research of quality water assessment of Cijulang River into three categories as follows: slightly polluted (score 36-46) at Green Canyon site, moderately polluted (score 50-60) at Boat Shelter and Muara Cijulang location, and highly polluted (score 66) at Nusawiru site.Keywords:RiverBio-indicatorOrganicAquatic pollution

List of Species and Conservation Status of Avifauna and Small mammal around Bade Segment Area of River Yobe, Yobe State, Nigeria

The study was carried out to assess a Checklist of avifauna and small mammal species along Bade catchment area of Yobe State, Nigeria. Preliminary survey was conducted around the river, three (3) habitat types were identified; (river bank, farm lands and flood plain). The line transect was 8 km in length. Two (2) transects were established per habitat type, making a total of six (6) transects. The transects were 100 m apart to the left or right in order to avoid double counting of species. A distance of 200m was maintained between each habitat. The data obtained were analyses using descriptive statistics (Frequency tables and Charts were used to portrayed the findings. The result of the study; showed that a total of 50 bird species in 28 families were recorded. RB had the highest individuals of Fifty (50) species while FP has the lowest with ten (10) species. The Bird family Columbidae has the highest number with six (6) of species, while the lowest were Ardeidae, Sturnidae and Tytonidae with one species in each of the habitat types. However, checklist of small mammal species also indicated that a total of 6 species of small mammals belonging to 4 families were identified. The result of the study shows that the family Muridae has 3 species which was the highest number of per family identified in the study area, this is due to the fact that Muridae family are the most common small mammals in the study area. And both bird small species fell under least concern (LC) category except Pallid Harrier Circus macrourus which felled under near threatened (NT) species. However, awareness campaign should also be organize for the residents around the study area on the presence, distribution of bird and small mammal species and also disturbing effect of their activities on bird and small mammal around the segment area of river Yobe.

Male Humpback Whale Chorusing in Hawai‘i and Its Relationship With Whale Abundance and Density

Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) with autonomous bottom-moored recorders is widely used to study cetacean occurrence, distribution and behaviors, as it is less affected by factors that limit other observation methods (e.g., vessel, land and aerial-based surveys) such as inclement weather, sighting conditions, or remoteness of study sites. During the winter months in Hawai‘i, humpback whale male song chorusing becomes the predominant contributor to the local soundscape and previous studies showed a strong seasonal pattern, suggesting a correlation with relative whale abundance. However, the relationship between chorusing levels and abundance, including non-singing whales, is still poorly understood. To investigate how accurately acoustic monitoring of singing humpback whales tracks their abundance, and therefore is a viable tool for studying whale ecology and population trends, we collected long-term PAM data from three bottom-moored Ecological Acoustic Recorders off west Maui, Hawaii during the winter and spring months of 2016–2021. We calculated daily medians of root-mean-square sound pressure levels (RMS SPL) of the low frequency acoustic energy (0–1.5 kHz) as a measure of cumulative chorusing intensity. In addition, between December and April we conducted a total of 26 vessel-based line-transect surveys during the 2018/19 through 2020/21 seasons and weekly visual surveys (n = 74) from a land-based station between 2016 and 2020, in which the location of sighted whale pods was determined with a theodolite. Combining the visual and acoustic data, we found a strong positive second-order polynomial correlation between SPLs and abundance (land: 0.72 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.75, vessel: 0.81 ≤ R2 ≤ 0.85 for three different PAM locations; Generalized Linear Model: pland ≪ 0.001, pvessel ≪ 0.001) that was independent from recording location (pland = 0.23, pvessel = 0.9880). Our findings demonstrate that PAM is a relatively low-cost, robust complement and alternative for studying and monitoring humpback whales in their breeding grounds that is able to capture small-scale fluctuations during the season and can inform managers about population trends in a timely manner. It also has the potential to be adapted for use in other regions that have previously presented challenges due to their remoteness or other limitations for conducting traditional surveys.

Avifaunal Diversity of Barandabhar Corridor Forest, Chitwan, Nepal

The main aim of the study was to analyze the avifaunal diversity of Chitwan, Nepal. The avifaunal diversity at six transects of Barandabhar Corridor Forest in Chitwan district was carried out during two visits (autumn and spring) in 2020-2021. The line transect method was used to cover most of the study area. In total, 125 species of birds representing 18 orders and 59 families were recorded. The highest number of bird species i.e. (56) 44.8% were represented by order Passeriformes along with 34 families. The highest number of species was found in family Picidae (9) 7.2% followed by Cuculidae (8) 6.4% and least number (1) 0.8% in other 31 families. The seasonal status of species was Autumn (84) and Spring (116). The relative abundance of species was Very Common (60), Common (40), Uncommon (16), and Rare (9). According to the National Red List of Nepal’s Birds, 110 species were in the Least Concern category, eight species were in the Near Threatened category, six species were in the Vulnerable category and one species was in the Critically Endangered category. It was noted that major threats to the birds were illegal fishing, noise pollution, firewood collection, illegal cattle grazing, and invasive alien plant species. One Globally Threatened Bird Lesser Adjutant Leptoptilos javanicus was also noted.

Elephant Population Status, Distribution and Conservation Threats in Kibale National Park, Uganda

This study focused on the estimation of the African elephant population, distribution, and conservation threats in Kibale National Park (KNP) from August 2019 to February 2020. The objectives of the study were to: generate population estimates, distribution and assess threats to the conservation of elephants. The line transect method based on the dung pile count density from line transect, dung decay, and defecation rates were used to estimate the elephant population. The density was calculated by multiplying the decay rate with the ratio of dung density to defecation rates. The overall elephant population was estimated at 566.27 (95% Confidence limits 377.24-850.02). This was a slow increase from 393 recorded in 2005 to 566 animals in 2019. Elephants were widely distributed within the park and these pose challenges such as increasing human-elephant conflicts. With a steady increase in the elephant population and seasonal movements out of the park, there is a need to continuously monitor elephant population growth and ranging behaviour vis-a-vis available habitat range and how this impacts ecosystem dynamics and human-elephant conflicts

Birds and the Fire Cycle in a Resilient Mediterranean Forest: Is There Any Baseline?

This study investigates the effects of recurrent wildfires on the resilience of a typical Mediterranean ecosystem. It is based on uninterrupted monitoring over 42 years of the avifauna in a cork oak forest that burned three times during this time interval. The monitoring involved two line-transect counts in spring accompanied by the simultaneous and independent estimation of the vegetation cover profile. One of the two transects was initially designed to serve as an unburned control before it also burned during the second fire. Many forest bird species were already present from the first spring postfire due to the rapid regeneration of the canopy. Some open-habitat bird species colonized the burned area during the first 2–4 years after the fire, resulting in an initial phase of high diversity. The postfire bird succession was mainly driven by sedentary species that recolonized the burned area after the first winter, whereas most migratory species present before the fire resettled as early as the first postfire spring, probably because of site tenacity. It was found that the impact of the second fire on avifauna was lower than that of the first or third fire. The return to an avifauna and forest structure successionally equivalent to the prefire control was achieved in about 15 years, which can be considered as the recovery time. Afterwards, both vegetation and avifauna in the burned areas tended to take on more forest characteristics than in the prefire control. These findings suggest that: (i) the recurrence of fire does not necessarily result in the cumulative degradation of the ecosystem at each repetition; (ii) the asymptotic resilience model is not adapted to the case of disturbances in non-mature environments; (iii) the notion of returning to an original undisturbed baseline is illusive in an area that has been under continuous human influence since ancient times.

Subtropical Broad-Leaved Urban Forests as the Foremost Dynamic and Complex Habitats for a Wide Range of Bird Species

Broad-leaved subtropical forests are the most productive, diversified, and complex ecosystems on the planet. Unfortunately, they are currently under severe threat from anthropogenic activities, such as. deforestation, housing settlements, and agricultural expansion. In response to these severe effects, the present study was conducted to explore the current conservation status and population structure of a wide range of bird species inhabiting different subtropical broad-leaved urban forests of Pakistan. In total, 2879 individuals comprising 53 species and 28 families were detected between December 2017 and November 2018 as revealed through the distance sampling line transect method. The habitat selection among bird species varied according to vegetation structure and composition, food resources, adjoining habitats, and human settlements. According to IUCN Red List data, one species was deemed vulnerable out of 53 bird species, while the remaining 52 species were ranked as ofleast concern. The findings of the density analysis revealed that bird density varied between six subtropical broad-leaved forests. Palamar (3.954 ± 0.221 birds/ha) and Kityari (3.138 ± 0.162 birds/ha) were densely populated, whereas Kamal Khan (1.102 ± 0.178 birds/ha) was of the least concern. Likewise, the diversity analysis showed that Kamal Khan was a more diverse habitat (Shannon–Wiener Index; H’ = 3.581 ± 0.021). Shahabad was richer (Margalef Richness Index; R1 = 8.007 ± 0.053) and Dob Ghar was evenly distributed (Pielou J Evenness Index; E = 0.940 ± 0.005) compared to other urban habitats studied. Eight foraging guilds were identified among the bird species. Insectivores were the most abundant bird species utilizing the urban dwelling habitats. carnivores/piscivores/insectivores utilized Dob Ghar forest, while more frugivores utilized Kamal Khan and Dob Ghar. Based on the data, it was concluded that subtropical broad-leaved urban forests are dynamic, complex, and of vital significance for a diverse range of bird species.