Journal of Animal Diversity
مجله تنوع جانوری
JAD
Basic Sciences
http://jad.lu.ac.ir
1
admin
2676-685X
2676-685X
10.61186/JAD
en
jalali
1401
3
1
gregorian
2022
6
1
4
2
online
1
fulltext
en
Investigating resource selection of the Indian leopard Panthera pardus fusca (Meyer, 1794) in a tropical dry deciduous forest
Ecological Diversity
مقاله پژوهشی اصلی
Original Research Article
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="line-height:107%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""><span style="letter-spacing:-.25pt">In order to understand the generalist nature of leopards and whether they have any degree of specialization, a study on resource selection of the Indian Leopard (<i>Panthera pardus fusca</i>) was carried out in a tropical dry deciduous forest in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Western India from January 2007 to May 2011 with the use of camera trapping under the mark-recapture framework. Camera trapping was done in an intensive study area (230 km<sup>2</sup>) encompassing 200 camera locations on 85–130 occasions each year. In total, 40 Indian leopards were identified in the study area, of which seven individual leopards were selected for resource selection analysis. Resource selection by Indian leopards was investigated at two scales. First, habitat selection was studied using compositional analysis comparing habitat availability in the geographic </span>range of all seven Indian leopards and utilization by the individual animals within it. The results showed that habitat selection was non-random (P< 0.001). The leopard’s preference of habitat selection was in the following order: <i>Boswellia</i> forest> <i>Anogeissus</i> forest> <i>Acacia</i> forest> <i>Butea</i> forest> <i>Zizyphus</i> forest> Barren land> Scrubland. Second, resource selection was studied through a generalized linear mixed-effect model (GLMM) comparing the resource availability and utilization in each leopard’s range. The results showed that leopards preferred <i>Anogeissus</i> dominated forest followed by <i>Zizyphus</i> mixed forest and scrubland. In addition, leopards preferred habitat with a higher encounter rate of sambar (<i>Rusa unicolor</i>) and chital (<i>Axis axis</i>) and to a lesser degree of use, habitat with a higher livestock encounter rate. The results revealed that Indian leopards showed a significant degree of preference for moderate to thick vegetation cover and wild prey species rather than areas with open forest types and domestic prey species.</span></span></span></span></div>
Compositional analysis, generalized linear mixed effect model, mark-recapture, utilization distribution
97
109
http://jad.lu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-178-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1
Krishnendu
Mondal
drkrish31@gmail.com
10031947532846002447
10031947532846002447
No
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India, Integrated Regional Office, 25, Subhash Road, Dehradun – 248001, Uttarakhand
Pooja
Chourasia
pooja.wildlife@yahoo.in
10031947532846002448
10031947532846002448
Yes
Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun - 248001, Uttarakhand, India
Shilpi
Gupta
guptashilp@gmail.com
10031947532846002449
10031947532846002449
No
Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun - 248001, Uttarakhand, India
Kalyanasundaram
Sankar
dirsacon@gmail.com
10031947532846002450
10031947532846002450
No
Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty Post, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
Qamar
Qureshi
qamarqureshi.1964@gmail.com
10031947532846002451
10031947532846002451
No
Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun - 248001, Uttarakhand, India