Community, conflict and conservation: response of mammalian fauna to ecological and anthropological correlates ‒ a critical habitat in Indo-Bhutan transboundary landscape urges multiagency cooperation

The impacts of conflict on nature are devastatingly adverse but differ widely in different socio-political regimes. Armed conflict often facilitates illegal plunder and unsustainable use of natural resources, variously by rebel groups and impoverished or displaced people challenged with limited subsistence options. We studied the response of mammals in Ripu Reserve Forest (Assam) that suffers prolonged anthropogenic pressure due to armed conflict instigated by social unrest. We used standard single-season (spatial-dependence) occupancy models using sign survey to assess the factors affecting the space use of mammals and subsequently build capacity of conservation volunteers for long-term sustenance of Ripu. Our study revealed that Ripu has a high proportion of occupied area by prey species of large carnivores. Asian elephant, barking deer, and wild pig occupied most of the habitat, whereas gaur, sambar and spotted deer restricted themselves to selected patches within the Ripu. Common leopards found to be positively associated with prey occupancy. The studied mammals responded variably to different ecological and anthropological covariates and urge for species-specific management alongside landscape scale conservation approach. Our ground effort to strengthen community patrolling and operational execution of various alternative livelihood has helped to empower the economic condition of patrolling staff. Strategic implementation of law enforcement could support dispersal of tigers from Phibsoo WLS (Bhutan), potentially linked with the larger tiger and elephant landscape far west (Buxa Tiger Reserve) in the Terai region of India. Community-based conservation initiatives required continuous support from various agencies, including national, international, and local bodies, to restore this critical habitat.

Habitat Types Effect on Diversity, Distribution and Abundance of Dung Beetles

Dung beetles are ecologically important taxa to study the assessment of habitat modification and disturbance across the globe. This study was aimed to explore community composition, species richness and abundance of dung beetles in response to Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan. Dung beetle assemblage were sampled from four habitat (natural rangeland, cropland, roadside and housing colonies) during 2014-2016 by placing pitfall traps baited with cattle dung. A total number of 540 specimens representing 17 species belonging to seven genera and four tribes were collected. We calculated species relative abundance in natural habitat (34.8%), cropland habitat (40.4%) and in road side areas (25.2%) was recorded, whereas no specimens were recorded in urban areas. Aphodius contaminatus (42.96%) was the most abundant species followed by Onitis castaneous (26.29%) and Onitis singhalensis (20.74%). Tunnellers (50.58%) and dwellers (49.01%) were dominant in all habitats, whereas rollers were least abundant (1.37%). The values of Shannon-Wiener (H) diversity and evenness (E) showed variations among different habitats i.e. natural habitat (H=1.20; E=0.55), cropland habitat (H=1.41, E=0.32) and roads-side (H=0.80, E=0.37). The study showed that cropland served as a major habitat for dung beetles due to its uniformity and close association with mammalian fauna. The results emphasized that natural habitats within the agro-ecosystem have become isolated and fragmented habitat with lesser stability and low resources thus resulting into less diverse habitat. Roadside areas are in close proximity with cropland and act as corridors for efficient species flow within ecosystem due to cattle movement through these areas.

Use of mineral licks by mammals in areas of the Amazonia with no hunting pressure

Mineral licks are areas where several species of animals, including mammals, converge to consume water and soil as a mineral supplement. Certain mammal species are an important source of protein in the diet of indigenous communities. Many of these species are under hunting pressure and their populations have been seriously affected. The purpose of this study was to determine the species of large and medium-sized mammals that use three open mineral licks in the area of the Kichwa Añangu community, within the Yasuní National Park, where hunting used to take place. We calculate the capture frequency for the visiting species and the richness, composition, and similarity of the assemblages recorded in the mineral licks during two climatic seasons of the year (higher rainfall vs. lower rainfall). We installed a single camera trap station (CTS) at each mineral lick during three sampling periods in 2018. In each period, all cameras operated 24 hours a day for 30 to 40 days and were set to capture three photographs upon sensor activation, with 60-second intervals between consecutive activations. With a total sampling effort of 249 days/trap, we obtained 645 photographs and 398 grouped records of 16 species. We recorded 95.2 % of the expected richness according to the Chao1 estimator (S = 16.8). The species with the highest capture frequency were: Mazama zamora (FC = 62.2), Tayassu pecari (FC = 35.7), Tapirus terrestris (FC = 28.9), and Pecari tajacu (FC = 8.0). ECT-1 and ECT-2 captured 11 species each, and ECT-3 captured nine species. There were no significant differences in the species composition between the three mineral licks or between climatic seasons. Our results show that the focal mineral licks studied attract a rich mammalian fauna, which likely points to the success of the government regulation of wildlife trafficking and the application of sustainable tourism practices in the Añangu community.

Anthropogenic perturbation modifies interactions between mammals and fruits in a tropical forest of southern Mexico

Studies of tropical mammal defaunation highlight the loss of species as well as their reduction in abundance and diversity; however, there is a complex series of effects associated with this anthropogenic disruption, including increases in the relative abundance of disturbance-tolerant mammals and the arrival of alien mammals whose effects on biotic interactions have been poorly studied. We compared the species richness, composition, interaction strength, and patterns of daily activity of mammals that consume the fruits of Pouteria sapota on the forest floor, both inside and outside of the Los Tuxtlas Field Station (LTFS) in Veracruz, southern Mexico. Using camera traps, we recorded eight mammal species interacting with the fruits inside the LTFS ( trees) and nine species interacting outside ( trees). Alien species such as Canis lupus familiaris were recorded both inside and outside of the LTFS, whereas Bos taurus was only recorded outside. Medium-sized generalist mammals were overrepresented both inside and outside of the LTFS, evidencing an impoverishment of the fauna, when compared to the mammal assemblage reported to interact with P. sapota fruits in a more intact forest. The daily activity patterns of the mammals that interacted strongly with P. sapota fruits were different inside and outside the LTFS, particularly in the case of Cuniculus paca. Our results show that the impact of human activity is highly pervasive, directly affecting the mammalian fauna at different levels and indirectly affecting the biotic interactions in which these animals are involved.

First mammal from the Willow Creek Formation: a new early Paleocene ptilodontid (Mammalia, Multituberculata) from near Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Although multituberculates are among the best-represented mammals of the Late Cretaceous and early Paleogene in North America, their evolution during the first several tens to hundreds of thousands of years following the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) impact event is largely obscure. A better understanding of the early Paleogene record of multituberculates is crucial, for their dominance in early Paleocene mammalian faunas is unquestionably a result of rapid evolution during the immediate post-impact interval, and they accordingly played an important role in the evolution of mammalian communities more generally. I report on a new multituberculate from the early Paleocene of southwestern Alberta, in rocks of the Willow Creek Formation, the first such occurrence in this otherwise poorly known unit. The new multituberculate, Aenigmamys aries gen. et sp. nov., most closely resembles the ptilodontid Kimbetohia campi in comparable parts of the dentition and sheds light on the early evolution of Ptilodontidae, one of the major cimolodontan families that diversified during the Paleocene. The presence of Aenigmamys in mammalian faunas that lived soon after the K–Pg boundary implies a still-deeper evolutionary history for Ptilodontidae that may have extended into the Late Cretaceous. Aenigmamys is part of a new mammalian fauna from southwestern Alberta, the taxonomic composition of which includes a diversity of multituberculates, cimolestans, primates, and condylarths. The fauna correlates with those of middle Puercan age from other parts of the Western Interior of North America, and its high taxonomic diversity further corroborates previous hypotheses that multituberculate recovery — and mammalian recovery more generally — occurred relatively quickly after the K–Pg extinction event.

Taxonomy of Ctenomys (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae) in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina: the occurrence of the “mendocinus” lineage

Subterranean rodents Ctenomys are iconic representatives of the mammalian fauna from southern South America. Based on molecular data, eight lineages have been identified within the genus, although species-level identifications and relationships are still debated. Until now, the “magellanicus” clade has been the only lineage mentioned from arid, extra-Andean portions of Patagonia. Here, we report the presence of a Ctenomys population from northern Patagonia that is unambiguously associated with the Central Argentinean “mendocinus” lineage. Most of the 160,000 km2 comprising the northern portion of Patagonia – an area consisting primarily of Monte Desert shrub-land – are inhabited by Ctenomys populations of unknown taxonomy.

Mammals of northeastern India: an updated checklist

A systematic review was carried out to prepare a checklist of the mammalian species of northeastern India. The region is located between two prominent biodiversity hotspots, Himalaya and Indo-Burma. Though it is only 8% of the country, it supports almost half of the country’s total wild flora and fauna. Ongoing developmental activities such as the construction of roads, electrification, and mining in and around the wildlife habitats have threatened the survival of many species of wildlife. A lot of literature has been checked to understand the status and distribution of wildlife in the region and the present manuscript is prepared from existing literature. A total of 267 species representing 11 orders and 38 families from the region have been reported. A state-wise updated list of species along with their status as per IUCN, WPA (Wildlife Protection Act) of India, 1972 and CITES has been provided which is intended to serve as a baseline data for further research in mammalian fauna of the region.