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Author |
Shrestha, R.; Wegge, P. |
Title |
Wild sheep and livestock in Nepal Trans-Himalaya: coexistence or competition? |
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Journal Article |
Year |
2008 |
Publication |
Environmental Conservation |
Abbreviated Journal |
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32 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
125-136 |
Keywords |
bharal; blue sheep; diet; food habits; mountain ungulates; Nepal; pastoralism; pseudois nayaur; rangeland management; resource partitioning |
Abstract |
Excessive grazing by livestock is claimed to displace wild ungulates in the Trans-Himalaya. This study compares the seasonal diets and habitat use of sympatric wild naur Pseudois nayaur and domestic goat Capra hircus, sheep Ovis aries and free-ranging yak Bos grunniens in north Nepal and analyses their overlap both within and across seasons. Alpinemeadow and the legumes Oxytropis and Chesneya were critical resources for all animal groups. High overlap occurred cross-seasonally when smallstock (sheep and goats) in summer used the spring and autumn ranges of naur. Relatively high total ungulate biomass (3028 kg km-2) and low recruitment of naur (56 young per 100 adult females in autumn) suggested interspecific competition. The spatio-temporal heterogeneity in composition and phenology of food plants across the steep gradient of altitude, together with rotational grazing, appears to indirectly facilitate coexistence of naur and smallstock. However, owing to high crossseasonal (inter-seasonal) overlaps, competition is likely to occur between these two groups at high stocking densities. Within seasons, naur overlapped more with free-ranging yak than with smallstock. As their habitat use and diets were most similar in winter, when both fed extensively on the same species of shrubs, naur was most likely to compete with yak during that season.
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SLN @ rana @ 936 |
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890 |
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Author |
Shrestha, R.; Wegge, P. |
Title |
Habitat relationships between wild and domestic herbivores in Nepalese trans – Himalaya |
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Journal Article |
Year |
2008 |
Publication |
Journal of Arid Environments |
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72 |
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Pages |
914-925 |
Keywords |
blue sheep; Competition; domestic; habitat partitioning; naur; Nepal; pastoralism; pseudois nayaur; trans-himalaya |
Abstract |
In the semi-arid ecosystems of Asia, where pastoralism is a main subsistence occupation, grazing competition from domestic stock is believed to displace the wild ungulates. We studied the habitat relationships among sympatric naur and domestic yak and smallstock in Phu valley in upper Manang district, Nepal, on the basis of their distribution on vegetation types, elevation and slope. To control for the disturbance effect by humans, we collected the data on naur from those ranges where domestic stock were not being attended by herders. We applied correspondence analysis to explore habitat associations among animal groups (n ¬ 1415) within and across-seasons. Within each association, interspecific habitat overlaps and species habitat preferences were calculated. Naur was strongly associated with free-ranging yak as they used similar altitudinal ranges in all seasons, except in spring. Their distributions on vegetation types and slopes were also quite similar, except for a stronger preference for alpine meadows by naur during summer and winter. Naur and smallstock did not form temporal associations as the latter consistently used lower elevations. In autumn and spring, however, naur spatially overlapped with the summer range of smallstock, and both preferred the alpine meadow habitat during these periods. Alpine meadow was the least abundant vegetation type but was consistently and preferentially used by all animal groups across seasons. At high stocking densities, all three animals groups are therefore likely to compete for this vegetation type. The role of spatio-temporal heterogeneity for interpreting the interspecific relationships among ungulates in the semi-arid rangelands of the trans-Himalaya is discussed. |
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Call Number |
SLN @ rana @ 937 |
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891 |
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Shrestha, R.; Wegge, P.; Koirala, R.A. |
Title |
Summer diets of wild and domestic ungulates in Nepal Himalaya |
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Journal Article |
Year |
2005 |
Publication |
Journal of Zoology |
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266 |
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111-119 |
Keywords |
argali; blue sheep; Capra hircus; diet; faecal analysis; fecal analysis; mountain ungulates; Ovis ammon hodgsoni; pseudois nayaur |
Abstract |
The selection of summer forage by three sympatric ungulates in the Damodar Kunda region of upper Mustang in
north Nepal was studied to assess the extent of food overlap between them. To compare their diets, a microhistological technique of faecal analysis was used, adjusted for inherent biases by comparing it with bite-count data obtained in domestic goats. Tibetan argali Ovis ammon hodgsoni, naur (blue sheep or bharal) Pseudois nayaur and domestic goat Capra hircus consumed mostly forbs, graminoids and browse, respectively. The proportions of food items in their diets were significantly different both at the plant species (P<0.02) and at the forage category level (P<0.001). Except for sharing three common plants (Agrostis sp., Stipa sp. and Potentilla fruticosa), dietary overlap at the species level was quite low. At the forage category level, naur and domestic goat overlapped more than the other ungulate pairs. Although all three species were opportunistic, mixed feeders, argali was a more selective forb specialist grazer than the other two ungulates. Owing to some spatial separation and little dietary overlap, interspecific competition for summer forage was low. If animal densities increase, however, goats are expected to compete more with naur than with argali because of their more similar diets. Owing to differences in forage selection by argali and naur throughout their large geographical ranges, reflecting adaptations to local ecological conditions, inferences regarding forage competition between domestic livestock and these two wild caprins need to be made from local, site-specific studies, rather than from general diet comparisons. |
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The Zoological Society of London |
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London |
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Call Number |
SLN @ rana @ 934 |
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888 |
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Author |
Oli, M. |
Title |
Snow leopards and blue sheep in Nepal: Densities and predator: Prey ratio |
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Miscellaneous |
Year |
1994 |
Publication |
Journal of Mammalogy |
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75 |
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998-1004 |
Keywords |
snow leopard,Panthera uncia,blue sheep,Pseudois nayaur,density,predator:prey ratio,harvest rate,livestock predation,Nepal |
Abstract |
I studied snow leopards (Panthera uncia) and blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur) in Manang District, Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal, to estimate numbers and analyze predatorprey interactions. Five to seven adult leopards used the 105-km2 study area, a density of 4.8 to 6.7 leopards/100 km2. Density of blue sheep was 6.6-10.2 sheep/km2, and biomass density was 304 kg/km2. Estimated relative biomass consumed by snow leopards suggested that blue sheep were the most important prey; marmots (Marmota himalayana) also contributed significantly to the diet of snow leopards. Snow leopards in Manang were estimated to harvest 9-20% of total biomass and 11-24% of total number of blue sheep annually. Snow leopard :blue sheep ratio was 1 :1 14-1 :159 on a weight basis, which was considered sustainable given the importance of small mammals in the leopard's diet and the absence of other competing predators. |
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Call Number |
SLN @ rana @ 894 |
Serial |
741 |
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Author |
Sharma, R. K., Sharma, K., Borchers, D., Bhatnagar, Y. V., Suryawanshi, K. S., Mishra, C. |
Title |
Spatial variation in population-density, movement and detectability of snow leopards in
2 a multiple use landscape in Spiti Valley, Trans-Himalaya |
Type |
Journal Article |
Year |
2020 |
Publication |
bioRxiv |
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Co-existence; land sharing; population-density; spatial capture recapture; Pseudois nayaur
Capra sibirica; ungulates; livestock. |
Abstract |
The endangered snow leopard Panthera uncia occurs in human use landscapes in the mountains of South and Central Asia. Conservationists generally agree that snow leopards must be conserved through a land-sharing approach, rather than land-sparing in the form of strictly protected areas. Effective conservation through land-sharing requires a good understanding of how snow leopards respond to human use of the landscape. Snow leopard density is expected to show spatial variation within a landscape because of variation in the intensity of human use and the quality of habitat. However, snow leopards have been difficult to enumerate and monitor. Variation in the density of snow leopards remains undocumented, and the impact of human use on their populations is poorly understood. We examined spatial variation in snow leopard density in Spiti Valley, an important snow leopard landscape in India, via spatially explicit capture recapture analysis of camera trap data. We camera trapped an area encompassing a minimum convex polygon of 953 km . We estimated an overall density of 0.49 (95% CI: 0.39-0.73) adult snow leopards per 100 km . Using AIC, our best model showed the density of snow leopards to depend on wild prey density, movement about activity centres to depend on altitude, and the expected number of encounters at the activity centre to depend on topography. Models that also used livestock biomass as a density covariate ranked second, but the effect of livestock was weak. Our results highlight the importance of maintaining high density pockets of wild prey populations in multiple use landscapes to enhance snow leopard conservation. |
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1620 |
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