Bird Diversity on the campus of the Indian Institute of Science
Measures of diversity are frequently used to measure the well being of ecological systems. Birds are potentially useful as indicators of habitat changes and for other conservation oriented approaches. Here, two methods of measuring bird diversity are compared......... (click on the picture to read more) |
Experimenting usage of camera-traps for population dynamics study of the Asian elephant Elephas maximus in southern India
CAMERA-traps have been used for documentation of wild-life since the early 1900s . Despite the availability of this technology for more than a century, only recently have there been attempts to use camera-traps systematically to study wildlife populations . This technology has a significant scientific, conservation and management advantage for a variety of wildlife species ranging in size from elephants to the smallest mammals or birds . It aids in appreciating their habitat, population dynamics, activity pattern, identification of ‘problem animals’ (habitual crop raiders or human property destroyers or killers, for instance). |
The elephants Elephas maximus of Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam:
status and conservation of a vanishing population This study updates the status and conservation of the Endangered Asian elephant Elephas maximus in Cat Tien National Park, Vietnam. Line transect indirect surveys, block surveys for elephant signs, village surveys of elephant-human conflict incidents, guard-post surveys for records of sightings, and surveys of elephant food plants were undertaken during the dry and wet seasons of 2001. A minimum of 11 elephants and a maximum of 15-17 elephants was estimated for c. 500 km2 of the Park and its vicinity. |
Minimum population size, genetic diversity, and social structure
of the Asian elephant in Cat Tien National Park and its adjoining areas, Vietnam, based on molecular genetic analyses Vietnam’s elephant population that has suffered severe declines during the past three decades is now believed to number 60–80 individuals in the wild. Cat Tien National Park is thought to be one of the key areas for the recovery of Vietnam’s elephants. |
Conservation of a flagship species: Prioritizing Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) conservation units in southern India
The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is believed to number about 45,000 in the wild and is distributed across several populations over South and Southeast Asia. We analyse a Geographical Information System database of administrative forest divisions constituting four Project Elephant Reserves designated for southern India, in an attempt to prioritize them for specific conservation action and funding allocation. We compute a conservation value for each of these divisions by using five variables characterizing habitat, population and biodiversity attributes. |
Elephont Conservation in South India: issues and recommendations
Status and distribution of wild elephants. The elephant is distributed over hilly terrain of the Wlestern Ghats and a part of the Eastern Ghats in the southern Indian States of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu and, relatively recently, Andhra Pradesh. Its range lies between 8'15'N and 15o30'N and 74"L5'E and 78oE, and is characterized by a diversity of vegetation types including medium elevation tropicd evergreen forest, montane stunted evergreen forest and grassland, semievergreen forest, moist deciduous forest interspersed with grasslands, dry decidous forest and dry thorn forest, in addition to planted forests. |