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Author Suryawanshi, K.R.; Bhatnagar, Y.; Mishra, C.
Title (up) Why should a grazer browse? Livestock impact on winter resource use by bharal Pseudois nayaur Type Journal Article
Year 2009 Publication Oecologia Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages 1-10
Keywords browse; livestock; impact; winter; resource; use; bharal; Pseudois; pseudois nayaur; Pseudois-nayaur; nayaur; diet; variation; diets; conservation; Media; study; decline; areas; area; grazing; Pressure; plants; plant; sign; feeding; location; population; structure; populations; using; young; Female; times; High; Competition; species; predators; predator; endangered; snow; snow leopard; snow-leopard; leopard; trans-himalaya; transhimalaya
Abstract Many mammalian herbivores show a temporal diet variation between graminoid-dominated and browse dominated diets. We determined the causes of such a diet shift and its implications for conservation of a medium sized ungulate-the bharal Pseudois nayaur. Past studies show that the bharal diet is dominated by graminoids (>80%) during summer, but the contribution of graminoids declines to about 50% in winter. We tested the predictions generated by two alternative hypotheses explaining the decline: low graminoid availability during winter causes bharal to include browse in their diet; bharal include browse, with relatively higher nutritional quality, in their diet to compensate for the poor quality of graminoids during winter. We measured winter graminoid availability in areas with no livestock grazing, areas with relatively moderate livestock grazing, and those with intense livestock grazing pressures. The chemical composition of plants contributing to the bharal diet was analysed. The bharal diet was quantiWed through signs of feeding on vegetation at feeding locations. Population structures of bharal populations were recorded using a total count method. Graminoid availability was highest in areas without livestock grazing, followed by areas with moderate and intense livestock grazing. The bharal diet was dominated by graminoids (73%) in areas with highest graminoid availability. Graminoid contribution to the bharal diet declined monotonically (50, 36%) with a decline in graminoid availability. Bharal young to female ratio was 3 times higher in areas with high graminoid availability than areas with low graminoid availability. The composition of the bharal winter diet was governed predominantly by the availability of graminoids in the rangelands. Our results suggest that bharal include more browse in their diet during winter due to competition from livestock for graminoids. Since livestock grazing reduces graminoid availability, creation of livestock-free areas is necessary for the conservation of grazing species such as the bharal and its predators including the endangered snow leopard in the Trans-Himalaya.
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Publisher Springer-Verlag Place of Publication Online Editor
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Notes This study was made possible by a grant from the Snow Leopard Network. Additional support was given by the Wildlife Conservation Society-India Program and Nature Conservation Foundation, the Whitley Fund for Nature, the Ford Foundation, and the Nadathur Conservation Trust. Approved no
Call Number SLN @ rana @ 1062 Serial 951
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Author Tallian, A., Mattisson, J., Samelius, G., Odden, J., Mishra, C., Linnell, J. D. C., Lkhagvajav, P., Johansson, O.
Title (up) Wild versus domestic prey: Variation in the kill-site behavior of two large felids Type Journal Article
Year 2023 Publication Global Ecology and Conservation Abbreviated Journal
Volume 47 Issue e026750 Pages 1-13
Keywords Eurasian lynx, Handling time, Landscape, Livestock, Predation, Snow leopard
Abstract Livestock depredation is an important source of conflict for many terrestrial large carnivore

species. Understanding the foraging behavior of large carnivores on domestic prey is therefore

important for both mitigating conflict and conserving threatened carnivore populations. Handling

time is an important, albeit often overlooked, component of predatory behavior, as it directly

influences access to food biomass, which can affect predator foraging efficiency and subsequent

kill rates. We used long-term data on snow leopards (Panthera uncia) in Mongolia (Asia) and

Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Norway (Europe) to examine how large carnivore foraging patterns

varied between domestic and wild prey, and how the different landscape characteristics affected

those patterns. Our results suggest handling time was generally shorter for domestic compared to

wild prey. For snow leopards, rugged terrain was linked to increased handling time for larger

prey. For lynx, handling time increased with terrain ruggedness for domestic, but not wild, prey,

and was greater in closed compared to open habitats. There were also other differences in snow

leopard and lynx foraging behavior, e.g., snow leopards also stayed longer at, and remained closer

to, their kill sites than lynx. Shorter handling time suggests that felids may have utilized domestic

prey less effectively than wild prey, i.e., they spent less time consuming their prey. This could a)

result in an energetic or fitness cost related to decreased felid foraging efficiency caused by the

risk of anthropogenic disturbance, or b) exacerbate conflict if reduced handling time associated

with easy prey results in increased livestock depredation.
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Notes Approved no
Call Number SLN @ rakhee @ Serial 1737
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