Estimation of Encounter Rate and Population Structure of Ungulates by Using Vehicle Road Transects in Ranthambore National Park, India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36808/if/2015/v141i10/80673Keywords:
Encounter Rate, Group Composition, Ungulate, Vehicle Transect.Abstract
Encounter rate and group composition of chital (Axis axis), sambar (Cervus unicolor), nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus), wild pig (Sus scrofa) and chinkara (Gazella bennetti) were studied in the Ranthambhore National Park, Rajasthan, India during 2010-2011. 93.65 Km vehicle road transect was done to conduct the study. The encounter rate of chital (3.91) was found highest followed by sambar (1.29). The average group size of chital (3.36±0.866) was also found highest followed by sambar (1.70±0.37) and nilgai (1.31±0.46). The ratio of young to adult females was found highest in wild pig (71.42: 100 females), followed by sambar (12.60:100 females) and chital (11.8: 100 females). The ratio of number of adult male to adult females was found highest in sambar (49.30: 100 females) followed by nilgai (31.42:100 females). However, the adult female ratio constituted the main bulk of all ungulates population. The road transect was found to be an effective way for the continuous monitoring of the ungulate population in the park and can be implemented as a rapid assessment technique.References
Adler P.B., Raff D.A. and Laurenroth W.K. (2004). The effect of grazing on the spatial heterogeneity of vegetation, Oecologia, 128:465-479.
Bagchi S., Goyal S.P. and Shankar K. (2008). Social organisation and population structure of ungulates in a dry tropical forest in western India (Mammalia, Artiodactyla), Mammalia, 72:44–49.
Barrette C. (1991). The size of Axis deer fluid groups in Wilpattu National Park, Sri Lanka, Mammalia, 55:207–220.
Buckland S.T., Anderson D.R., Burnham K.P. and Laake J.L. (1993).Distance Sampling; Estimating Abundance of Biological Populations. Chapman and Hall, New York 446 pp.
Champion H. and Seth S. (1968). A revised study of the forest types of India. Government of India Press, New Delhi.
Clutton-Brock T.H., Guinness F.E. and Albon S.D. (1982). Red deer: behaviour and ecology of two sexes. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh 400 pp. Dinerstein, E. (1980). An ecological survey of the Royal Karnali-Bardia Wildlife Reserve, Nepal- III; Ungulate populations, Biological Conservation, 18:5-37.
Eisenberg J.F. and Lockhart M. (1972).An ecological reconnaissance of Wilpattu National Park, Ceylon,Smithson. Contrib. Zool., 101:1–118.
Giraldeau L.A., (1988). The stable group and the determinants of foraging group size. In:The ecology of social behavior (C.N., Slobodchikoff,ed). New York: Academic Press, pp. 33-53.
Jarman P.J. (1974). The social organisation of antelope in relation to their ecology, Behaviour, 48:215–267.
Jhala, Y.V., Qureshi Q., Gopal R., Sinha P.R. (2011). Status of Tigers, Co-predators and Prey in India 2010.National Tiger Conservation Authority, GoI, New Delhi and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.TR2011/003. 302pp.
Johnsingh A.J.T. (1983). Large mammalian prey-predators in Bandipur,J. Bombay Natural History Society. 80:1-49. Karanth, U. and Sunquist, M.E. (1992). Population structure, density and biomass of large herbivores in tropical forest of Nagarahole, India. J. of Tropical Ecology, 8:21-35.
Karanth K.U., Nichols J.D., Kumar N.S., Link W.A. and Hines J.E. (2004). Tigers and their prey: predicting carnivore densities from prey abundance, In: Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, 101: 4854–4858.
Kremen C., Merenlender A.M. and Murphy D.D. (1994).Ecological monitoring a vital need for integrated conservation and development programs in the tropics, Conservation Biology, 8:1-10.
Khan J.A., Chellam R. and Johnsingh A.J.T. (1995).Group size and age-sex composition of three major ungulate species in Gir lion sanctuary, Gujarat, India, J. Bombay Natural History Society, 92:295–302.
Laake J.L., Buckland S.T., Anderson D.R. and Burnham K.P. (1993). DISTANCE: user's guide. V 2.0, Colorado Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA 72pp.
Mishra H.R. (1982). The ecology and behaviour of chital (Axis axis) in the Royal Chitwan National Park, NepalPh.D. Thesis, University of Edinburg, UK: 240Pp.
Norton-Griffiths M. (1978). Counting Animals. Handbooks on techniques currently used in African wildlife ecology. No.1. Ed. J.J.R. Grimsdell AWLF, Nairobi.
Prasad S., Krishnaswamy J., Chellam R. andGoyal S.P. (2006). Ruminant-mediated seed dispersal of an economically valuable tree in Indian dry forests, Biotropica, 38:679-682.
Pulliam H.R.and Caraco T. (1984). Living in groups: is there an optimal group size? In:Behavioural ecology (Krebs JR, Davies NB, eds). Sunderland, Massachusetts: Sinauer Associates,122 -147.
Ramesh T., Snehalatha V., Sankar K. and Qureshi Q. (2009). Food habits and prey selection of tiger and leopard in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, India, J. Sci. Trans. Environ. Technov., 2:170–181.
Rodman P. (1988).Resources and group sizes in primates. In: The Ecology of Social Behavior (C. N. Slobodchikoft, Ed.), Academic Press,New York, pp. 83-107.
Rodgers W.A. and Panwar H.S. (1988).Planning a protected area network in India.Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. India Sankar K. and Acharya B. (2004).Sambar (Cervusunicolar). Pp 163-170. In: Ungulates of Peninsular India(K. Sankar, and S.P. Goyal, Eds.), ENVIS Publication, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, pp. 163-170.
Schaller G.B. (1967). The Deer and the Tiger: A study of Wildlife in India. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 370 pp.
Sharatchandra Ç.C., and Gadgil Ì. (1975). A year of Bandipur, J. Bombay Natural History Society,72:623–647 SPSS (2007).SPSS for windows.Version 16.0. Chicago: SPSS.
Varman K.S. and Sukumar R. (1993).Ecology of sambar in Mudumalai Sanctuary, Southern India. In: Deer of China: biology and management(N. Ohtaishi and H.I. Shen, Eds). Elsevier Science Publishers,Amsterdam, pp. 273–284.
Wilson E.O. (1975).Sociobiology: The new synthesis. Belknap Press, Cambridge.
Wittenberger J.F. (1980).Group size and polygamy in social mammals, American Naturalist, 113:197–222.
Downloads
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Unless otherwise stated, copyright or similar rights in all materials presented on the site, including graphical images, are owned by Indian Forester.
