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Shi, K.; Jun, Z.F.S.; Zhigang, D.; Riordan, P.; MacDonald, D. |
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Title |
Reconfirmation of snow leopards in Taxkurgan Nature Reserve, Xinjiang, China |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2009 |
Publication |
Oryx |
Abbreviated Journal |
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43 |
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2 |
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169-170 |
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Keywords |
administration; Beijing; China; conservation; global; habitat; management; nature; presence; province; range; research; reserve; snow-leopard; snow-leopards; snow leopard; snow leopards; species; uncia; wildlife; Xinjiang |
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China may hold a greater proportion of the global snow leopard Panthera uncia population than any other country, with the area of good quality suitable habitat, estimated at nearly 300,000 km2, comprising .50% of that available across the species' entire range. We can now reconfirm the presence of snow leopard in the Taxkurgan area of Xinjiang Province in north-west China after a period of 20 years. |
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Fauna & Flora International |
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United Kingdom |
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SHI KUN Institute of Wildlife Conservation and Management, Beijing Forestry University, China ZHU FUDE SHI JUN and DAI ZHIGANG Xinjiang Forestry Administration, China PHILIP RIORDAN and DAVID MACDONALD Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Tubney House, Abingdon Road, Tubney, Abingdon, OX13 5QL, UK. E-mail philip.riordan@zoo.ox.ac.uk |
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SLN @ rana @ 1056 |
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884 |
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Suryawanshi, K.R. |
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Title |
Towards snow leopard prey recovery: understanding the resource use strategies and demographic responses of bharal Pseudois nayaur to livestock grazing and removal; Final project report |
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Report |
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Year |
2009 |
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1-43 |
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Keywords |
project; snow; snow leopard; snow-leopard; leopard; network; conservation; program; prey; recovery; resource; use; strategy; demographic; Response; bharal; Pseudois; pseudois nayaur; Pseudois-nayaur; nayaur; livestock; grazing; Report; decline; wild; populations; population; Himalayan; region; Competition; threats; threat; uncia; Uncia uncia; Uncia-uncia; study; diet; winter; Test; browse; nutrition; areas; area; young; Female; times; High; Adult; mortality; species; predators; predator; endangered; trans-himalaya; transhimalaya |
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Abstract |
Decline of wild prey populations in the Himalayan region, largely due to competition with livestock, has been identified as one of the main threats to the snow leopard Uncia uncia. Studies show that bharal Pseudois nayaur diet is dominated by graminoids during summer, but the proportion of graminoids declines in winter. We explore the causes for the decline of graminoids from bharal winter diet and resulting implications for bharal conservation. We test the predictions generated by two alternative hypotheses, (H1) low graminoid availability caused by livestock grazing during winter causes bharal to include browse in their diet, and, (H2) bharal include browse, with relatively higher nutrition, to compensate for the poor quality of graminoids during winter. Graminoid availability was highest in areas without livestock grazing, followed by areas with moderate and intense livestock grazing. Graminoid quality in winter was relatively lower than that of browse, but the difference was not statistically significant. Bharal diet was dominated by graminoids in areas with highest graminoid availability. Graminoid contribution to bharal diet declined monotonically with a decline in graminoid availability. Bharal young to female ratio was three times higher in areas with high graminoid availability than areas with low graminoid availability. No starvation-related adult mortalities were observed in any of the areas. Composition of bharal winter diet was governed predominantly by the availability of graminoids in the rangelands. Since livestock grazing reduces graminoid availability, creation of livestock free areas is necessary for conservation of grazing species such as the bharal and its predators such as the endangered snow leopard in the Trans-Himalaya. |
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Project funded by Snow Leopard Network's Snow Leopard Conservation Grant Program, 2008. Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore. Post-graduate Program in Wildlife Biology and Conservation, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Wildlife Conservation Society -India program, Bangalore, India. |
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SLN @ rana @ 1077 |
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952 |
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Suryawanshi, K.R.; Bhatnagar, Y.; Mishra, C. |
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Title |
Why should a grazer browse? Livestock impact on winter resource use by bharal Pseudois nayaur
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2009 |
Publication |
Oecologia |
Abbreviated Journal |
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1-10 |
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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 |
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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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Springer-Verlag |
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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. |
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Call Number |
SLN @ rana @ 1062 |
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951 |
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Khanyari, M., Suryawanshi, K. R., Milner-Gulland, E. J., Dickinson, E., Khara, A., Rana, R. S., Vineer, H. R., Morgan, E. R. |
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Title |
Predicting Parasite Dynamics in Mixed-Use Trans-Himalayan Pastures to Underpin Management of Cross-Transmission Between Livestock and Bharal |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2021 |
Publication |
Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
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8 |
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714241 |
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1 - 21 |
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disease, Trans-Himalaya, livestock, nematodes, bharal, model, ungulates, grazing |
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The complexities of multi-use landscapes require sophisticated approaches to addressing disease transmission risks. We explored gastro-intestinal nematode (GINs) infections in the North India Trans-Himalayas through a socio-ecological lens, integrating parasite transmission modelling with field surveys and local knowledge, and evaluated the likely effectiveness of potential interventions. Bharal (blue sheep; Pseudois nayaur), a native wild herbivore, and livestock share pasture year-round and livestock commonly show signs of GINs infection. While both wild and domestic ungulates had GINs infections, egg counts indicated significantly higher parasite burdens in bharal than livestock. However, due to higher livestock densities, they contributed more to the total count of eggs and infective larvae on pasture. Herders also reported health issues in their sheep and goats consistent with parasite infections. Model simulations suggested that pasture infectivity in this system is governed by historical pasture use and gradually accumulated larval development during the summer, with no distinct short-term flashpoints for transmission. The most effective intervention was consequently predicted to be early-season parasite suppression in livestock using temperature in spring as a cue. A 1-month pause in egg output from livestock could lead to a reduction in total annual availability of infective larvae on pasture of 76%, potentially benefitting the health of both livestock and bharal. Modelling suggested that climate change over the past 33 years has led to no overall change in GINs transmission potential, but an increase in the relative influence of temperature over precipitation in driving pasture infectivity. Our study provides a transferable multi-pronged approach to investigating disease transmission, in order to support herders’ livelihoods and conserve wild ungulates. |
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1673 |
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Khanyari, M., Oyanedel, R., Khara, A., Sharma, M., Milner-Gulland, E. J., Suryawanshi, K. R., Vineer, H. R., Morgan, E. R. |
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Predicting and reducing potential parasite infection between migratory livestock and resident Asiatic ibex of Pin valley, India |
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2024 |
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Journal of Biosciences |
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49 |
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50 |
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1-14 |
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Disease; epidemiology; gastrointestinal nematode; intervention; parasite; ungulate |
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Disease cross-transmission between wild and domestic ungulates can negatively impact livelihoods and wildlife conservation. In Pin valley, migratory sheep and goats share pastures seasonally with the resident Asiatic ibex (Capra sibirica), leading to potential disease cross-transmission. Focussing on gastro-intestinal nematodes (GINs) as determinants of health in ungulates, we hypothesized that infection on pastures would increase over summer from contamination by migrating livestock. Consequently, interventions in livestock that are well-timed should reduce infection pressure for ibex. Using a parasite life-cycle model, that predicts infective larval availability, we investigated GIN transmission dynamics and evaluated potential interventions. Migratory livestock were predicted to contribute most infective larvae onto shared pastures due to higher density and parasite levels, driving infections in both livestock and ibex. The model predicted a c.30-day anti- parasitic intervention towards the end of the livestock’s time in Pin would be most effective at reducing GINs in both hosts. Albeit with the caveats of not being able to provide evidence of interspecific parasite trans- mission due to the inability to identify parasite species, this case demonstrates the usefulness of our predictive model for investigating parasite transmission in landscapes where domestic and wild ungulates share pastures. Additionally, it suggests management options for further investigation. |
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1748 |
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Xiao, C., Bai, D., Lambert, J. P., Li, Y., Cering, L., Gong, Z., Riordan, P., Shi, K. |
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How Snow Leopards Share the Same Landscape with Tibetan Agro-pastoral Communities in the Chinese Himalayas |
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2022 |
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Journal of Resources and Ecology |
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13 |
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3 |
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483-500 |
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habitat use; landscape ecology; occupancy model; Qomolangma; Panthera uncia |
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The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) inhabits a human-altered alpine landscape and is often tolerated by residents in regions where the dominant religion is Tibetan Buddhism, including in Qomolangma NNR on the northern side of the Chinese Himalayas. Despite these positive attitudes, many decades of rapid economic development and population growth can cause increasing disturbance to the snow leopards, altering their habitat use patterns and ultimately impacting their conservation. We adopted a dynamic landscape ecology perspective and used multi-scale technique and occupancy model to better understand snow leopard habitat use and coexistence with humans in an 825 km2 communal landscape. We ranked eight hypothetical models containing potential natural and anthropogenic drivers of habitat use and compared them between summer and winter seasons within a year. HABITAT was the optimal model in winter, whereas ANTHROPOGENIC INFLUENCE was the top ranking in summer (AICcw≤2). Overall, model performance was better in the winter than in the summer, suggesting that perhaps some latent summer covariates were not measured. Among the individual variables, terrain ruggedness strongly affected snow leopard habitat use in the winter, but not in the summer. Univariate modeling suggested snow leopards prefer to use rugged land in winter with a broad scale (4000 m focal radius) but with a lesser scale in summer (30 m); Snow leopards preferred habitat with a slope of 22° at a scale of 1000 m throughout both seasons, which is possibly correlated with prey occurrence. Furthermore, all covariates mentioned above showed inextricable ties with human activities (presence of settlements and grazing intensity). Our findings show that multiple sources of anthropogenic activity have complex connections with snow leopard habitat use, even under low human density when anthropogenic activities are sparsely distributed across a vast landscape. This study is also valuable for habitat use research in the future, especially regarding covariate selection for finite sample sizes in inaccessible terrain. |
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1688 |
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Alexander, J. S., Bijoor, A., Gurmet, K., Murali, R., Mishra, C., Suryawanshi, K. R. |
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Engaging women brings conservation benefits to snow leopard landscapes |
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Journal Article |
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2022 |
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Environmental Conservation |
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1 - 7 |
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community conservation; gender; large carnivores; snow leopard; women |
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Protection of biodiversity requires inclusive and gender-responsive programming. Evidence of success in engaging women in large carnivore conservation remains scarce, however, although women play an important role in caring for livestock at risk of predation and could contribute to large-carnivore conservation. We aimed to assess the performance of an income-generation and skills-building programme for women in Spiti Valley (India) that sought to engage women in local conservation action. Annual programme monitoring together with a one-time survey of attitudes, perceptions and social norms in eight communities exposed to the conservation programme and seven ‘control’ communities revealed: a keen interest and increasing levels of women’s participation over 7 years of programme operation; participant reports of multiple programme benefits including additional personal income, social networking and travel opportunities; and more positive attitudes towards snow leopards among programme participants than among non-participants in the control communities. Women from programme communities recorded in their diaries 33 self-directed conservation actions including improving livestock protection and preventing wildlife poaching. These results show a way forward to purposively engage women in conservation programming towards achieving sustainable and equitable outcomes in efforts to promote carnivore–human coexistence. |
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1689 |
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Murali, R., Bijoor, A., Thinley, T., Gurmet, K., Chunit, K., Tobge, R., Thuktan, T., Suryawanshi, K., Nagendra, H., Mishra, C. |
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Indigenous governance structures for maintaining an ecosystem service in an agro-pastoral community in the Indian Trans Himalaya |
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2022 |
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Ecosystems and People |
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18 |
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1 |
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303-314 |
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Commons; local governance; plant-harvest; rangelands; Spiti Valley |
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The majority of the global terrestrial biodiversity occurs on indigenous lands, and biodiversity decline on these lands is relatively slower. Yet, robust understanding of indigenous governance systems for biodiversity and ecosystem services remains a key knowledge gap. We used the socio-ecological systems framework to study the governance of ecosystem services (ES) by an indigenous community in the Village of Kibber in the Trans-Himalayan Mountains of India. Focusing on plant-biomass removal from communal pastures, we identified the main factors shaping local governance using in-depth focal and deliberative group discussions with community members. Notwithstanding inequities of caste and gender, we found that Kibber had a well-functioning, complex, relatively democratic and inclusive system, with all households of the village involved in decision-making related to ES governance. Robust systems of information sharing, monitoring, conflict resolution, and self-organization played an important role. We found the role of institutional memory sustained by the oracle to be critical in maintaining governance structures. Our work underscores the potential resilience and importance of indigenous systems for the governance of ecosystem services. |
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1692 |
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Changxi, X., Bai, D., Lambert, J. P., Li, Y., Cering, L., Gong, Z., Riordan, P., Shi, K. |
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Title |
How Snow Leopards Share the Same Landscape with Tibetan Agro-pastoral Communities in the Chinese Himalayas |
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Journal Article |
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2022 |
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Journal of Resources and Ecology |
Abbreviated Journal |
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13 |
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3 |
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483-500 |
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habitat use; landscape ecology; occupancy model; Qomolangma; Panthera uncia |
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Abstract |
The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) inhabits a human-altered alpine landscape and is often tolerated by residents in regions where the dominant religion is Tibetan Buddhism, including in Qomolangma NNR on the northern side of the Chinese Himalayas. Despite these positive attitudes, many decades of rapid economic development and population growth can cause increasing disturbance to the snow leopards, altering their habitat use patterns and ultimately impacting their conservation. We adopted a dynamic landscape ecology perspective and used multi-scale technique and occupancy model to better understand snow leopard habitat use and coexistence with humans in an 825 km2 communal landscape. We ranked eight hypothetical models containing potential natural and anthropogenic drivers of habitat use and compared them between summer and winter seasons within a year. HABITAT was the optimal model in winter, whereas ANTHROPOGENIC INFLUENCE was the top ranking in summer (AICcw≤2). Overall, model performance was better in the winter than in the summer, suggesting that perhaps some latent summer covariates were not measured. Among the individual variables, terrain ruggedness strongly affected snow leopard habitat use in the winter, but not in the summer. Univariate modeling suggested snow leopards prefer to use rugged land in winter with a broad scale (4000 m focal radius) but with a lesser scale in summer (30 m); Snow leopards preferred habitat with a slope of 22° at a scale of 1000 m throughout both seasons, which is possibly correlated with prey occurrence. Furthermore, all covariates mentioned above showed inextricable ties with human activities (presence of settlements and grazing intensity). Our findings show that multiple sources of anthropogenic activity have complex connections with snow leopard habitat use, even under low human density when anthropogenic activities are sparsely distributed across a vast landscape. This study is also valuable for habitat use research in the future, especially regarding covariate selection for finite sample sizes in inaccessible terrain. |
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1698 |
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Khanyari, M., Robinson, S., Milner-Gulland, E. J., Morgan, E. R., Rana, R. S., Suryawanshi, K. R. |
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Pastoralism in the high Himalayas: Pastoralism: Research, Policy and Practice Open Access Understanding changing practices and their implications for parasite transmission between livestock and wildlife |
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2022 |
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Springer Open |
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12 |
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44 |
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1-16 |
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Migratory, Transhumance, Livestock, Asiatic ibex, Capra sibirica, Pasture, Rangelands, Gastro-intestinal nematodes |
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Abstract |
Rangelands are increasingly being affected by climatic variations, fragmentation and changes in livestock management practices. Along with resource competition between livestock and wildlife, disease transmission has implications for people and wildlife in these shared landscapes. We worked with two pastoral communities in the Western Indian Himalayas: the migratory Kinnauras that travel to the Trans‐Himalayan Pin valley in summer and the resident herders of Pin Valley. Asiatic ibex (Capra sibirica) is the predominant wild herbivore in Pin. The pastures in Pin are grazed by both livestock (migratory and resident) and ibex, with the potential for disease transmission. We investigate the effects of herding practices on livestock health and disease transmission, while focusing on gastro‐intestinal nematodes (GINs) as they can spread by sharing pasture between wild and domestic ungulates. Surveys were carried out between June and August 2019, the period when migratory Kinnauras, local herders and Asiatic Ibex are found in Pin Valley. We found that the Kinnaura flocks share pasture with ibex during their time in Pin, exhibiting significantly higher endo‐parasite burdens than sedentary livestock, and the Kinnaura flocks are increasing in number. This suggests GIN cross‐transmission is possible, as GINs have low host specificity and a free‐living, environmental stage that is trophically acquired. As local (sedentary) sheep and goats rarely share pasture with ibex, have low endo‐parasite burdens and are few in number, they are unlikely to transmit parasites to ibex. However, increasingly large local stock numbers may be contributing to pasture degradation which could cause nutritional stress and resource competition, exacerbating GIN impacts. We also find evidence for transhumance persisting, in spite of signs of pasture degradation that are seemingly affecting livestock productivity and potentially disease transmission. It is critical that proactive measures are taken, like participatory disease management with the Kinnauras, to align livelihoods with wildlife and rangeland conservation. |
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SLN @ rakhee @ |
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