Publications
- Journal ArticleIn pressMixed fortunes: old expansion and recent decline in population size of a subtropical montane primate, the Arunachal macaquePLoS One
- Journal ArticleIn pressGoral Nemorhaedus goralIn: A. J. T. Johnsingh and N. Manjrekar (eds.) Mammals of South Asia: ecology, behaviour and conservation. Permanent Black, Delhi.
- Journal ArticleIn pressSerow Nemorhaedus sumatraensisIn: A. J. T. Johnsingh and N. Manjrekar (eds.) Mammals of South Asia: ecology, behaviour and conservation. Permanent Black, Delhi.
- Book ChapterIn pressConflicts over snow leopard conservation and livestock productionConservation Conflicts, Redpath S, Young J, Gutierrez R, Wood K (eds.), Cambridge University Press.
- Book ChapterIn pressTop-down or bottom-up: the role of the government and local institutions in regulating shifting cultivation in the Upper Siang district, Eastern Himalaya, India (in press)Shifting Cultivation and Environmental Change: Indigenous People, Agriculture and Forest Conservation (Ed: Malcolm Cairns), Published by Routledge.
- Journal ArticleIn pressPlaying it safe? Behavioural responses of mosquito larvae encountering a fish predatorEthology, Ecology & Evolution
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2017.1313785
- Journal ArticleIn pressResponses of interspecific associations in mixed-species bird flocks to selective loggingJournal of Applied Ecology
- Journal ArticleIn pressWE'RE FACING TEMPORATY DIFFICULTIES ALLOWING DOWNLOADS OF OUR PUBLICATIONS. PLEASE REQUEST OUR PUBLICATIONS FROM web@ncf-india.org
- Popular Article2018Spiders: The weavers and stalkers amongst usiWonder Issue 4, Jan 2018
A piece on spiders for iWonder, an Indian magazine for science middle school teachers. Fun and fascinating facts about spiders to talk and discuss about in the classroom. Lots of activities that teachers can do with students in and outside the class room.
http://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/SitePages/resources-iwonder-issue4-Spiders.aspx - Book2018Off to see spiders!StoryWeaver by Pratham Books
Kaveri and Shivi go looking for spiders, along with their friend Shama. A story for young children commissioned and published by Pratham Books', StoryWeaver platform.
Guest editor: Bijal Vachharajani, Art: Pia Meenakshi
https://storyweaver.org.in/stories/27612-off-to-see-spiders - Journal Article2018The role of artificial habitats and rainfall patterns in the unseasonal nesting of Sarus Cranes (Antigone antigone) in south AsiaWaterbirds 41(1): 80-86.
Sarus Cranes (Antigone antigone) in south Asia breed during the rainy season (monsoon), with few nests initiated outside of the monsoon. Several hypothesis have been put forth to explain the unseasonal nesting outside the monsoon, but a careful evaluation of the hypotheses has been absent. Using a multi-year (2004-2017), multi-scale (four Indian states) data set, this study explored the factors potentially responsible for unseasonal nesting by Sarus Cranes. Nests outside the monsoon were very rare (0.3% of all nests) and were initiated when Sarus Crane pairs were in areas with artificial water sources (irrigation canals or reservoirs) or faced abnormal monsoonal conditions. Unseasonal nests were initiated only when breeding pairs had been unsuccessful in raising chicks in the previous primary nesting season. Altered cropping patterns associated with increased artificial irrigation and changing rainfall patterns appear responsible for unseasonal nesting in Sarus Cranes. Nesting of this species outside the monsoon may increase in response to the increasing changes in cropping patterns and changing rainfall conditions.
- Journal Article2018Temporal variations in patterns of Escherichia coli strain diversity and antimicrobial resistance in the migrant Egyptian VultureInfection Ecology and Epidemeology 8:1, 1450590. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008686.145059.
ABSTRACT
Aims: Multiple antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli of wild vertebrates is a global concern with scarce assessments on the subject from developing countries that have high human-wild species interactions. We studied the ecology of E. coli in a wintering population of Egyptian Vultures in India to understand temporal changes in both E. coli strains and patterns of antimicrobial resistance.
Methods and Results: We ribotyped E. coli strains and assessed antimicrobial resistance from wintering vultures at a highly synanthropic carcass dump in north-west India. Both E. coli prevalence (90.32%) and resistance to multiple antimicrobials (71.43%) were very high. Clear temporal patterns were apparent. Diversity of strains changed and homogenized at the end of the Vultures’ wintering period, while the resistance pattern showed significantly difference inter-annually, as well as between arrival and departing individuals within a wintering cycle.
Significance of study: The carcass dump environment altered both E. coli strains and multiple antimicrobial resistance in migratory Egyptian Vultures within a season. Long-distance migratory species could therefore disseminate resistant E. coli strains across broad geographical scales rendering regional mitigation strategies to control multiple antimicrobial resistance in bacteria ineffective.
- Popular Article2018Meet the world’s smallest wild catThe Hindu, In school, March 18 2018
A peek into the life of the rusty-spotted cat, an elusive feline found in the forests of India.
- Popular Article2018Flexible Fish
http://blog.ncf-india.org/2018/03/20/new-study-from-the-lakshadweep-flexible-fish/
- Popular Article2018Q&A: Spider Insider with Vena Kapoor
http://blog.ncf-india.org/2018/02/23/qa-spider-insider-with-vena-kapoor/
- Popular Article2018Ornithology and Graphic Design: What's the Connection?
http://blog.ncf-india.org/2018/02/01/birds-and-how-we-think-of-colour-today/
- Journal Article2017Commensal in conflict: Livestock depredation patterns by free-ranging domestic dogs in the Upper Spiti Landscape, Himachal Pradesh, IndiaAmbio: doi:10.1007/s13280-016-0858-6Download
PDF, 1.89 MB
In human-populated landscapes worldwide, domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are the most abundant terrestrial carnivore. Although dogs have been used for the protection of livestock from wild carnivores, they have also been implicated as predators of livestock. We used a combination of methods (field surveys, interview surveys, and data from secondary sources) to examine the patterns and factors driving livestock depredation by free-ranging dogs, as well as economic losses to local communities in a Trans-Himalayan agro-pastoralist landscape in India. Our results show that livestock abundance was a better predictor of depredation in the villages than local dog abundance. Dogs mainly killed small-bodied livestock and sheep were the most selected prey. Dogs were responsible for the majority of livestock losses, with losses being comparable to that by snow leopards. This high level of conflict may disrupt community benefits from conservation programs and potentially undermine the conservation efforts in the region through a range of cascading effects.
- Journal Article2017Alternative reproductive tactics and inverse size-assortment in a high-density fish spawning aggregationBMC Ecology, 17:10, DOI 10.1186/s12898-017-0120-5Download
PDF, 1.44 MB
Mating successfully at high densities often requires species to employ unusual reproductive tactics. We report unique courtship behaviours in an un shed, high-density spawning aggregation of squaretail groupers (Plectropomus areolatus) that are potentially associated with alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs). Aggregating males are typically known to court females in small territories (pair courtship), which is often associated with a pair-spawning tactic. However, we also observed the largest males simultaneously courting several females in mid-water shoals – a unique, high-cost-high-benefit courtship tactic which appears to result in a novel school-spawning tactic. Counter-intuitively we observed an inverse size- assortment in individuals–large males courted smaller females and vice-a-versa, likely linked to different pay- offs with competitive ability and local mate density. These unique, high-density behaviours are threatened to be lost, with increasing commercial fishing pressures on the P. areolatus aggregation.
- Popular Article2017Life of PineThe Hindu in School, 8 March
- Journal Article2017From intent to action: A case study for the expansion of tiger conservation from southern IndiaGlobal Ecology and Conservation, 9: 11–20Download
PDF, 2.61 MB
To conserve a large, wide-ranging carnivore like the tiger, it is critical not only to maintain populations at key habitat sites, but also to enable the persistence of the species across much larger landscapes. To do this, it is important to establish well-linked habitat networks where sites for survival and reproduction of tigers are complemented by opportunities for dispersal and colonization. On the ground, expanding protection to areas with a potential for tiger recovery still remains the means of operationalizing the landscape approach. Yet, while the gazetting of protected areas is necessary to enable this, it is not sufficient. It is essential to benchmark and monitor the process by which establishment of protected areas must necessarily be followed by management changes that enable a recovery of tigers, their prey and their habitats. In this paper, we report a case study from the Cauvery and Malai Mahadeshwara Hills Wildlife Sanctuaries of southern India, where we document the infrastructural and institutional changes that ensued after an unprecedented expansion of protected areas in this landscape. Further, we establish ecological benchmarks of the abundance and distribution of tigers, the relative abundance of their prey, and the status of their habitats, against which the recovery of tigers in this area of vast conservation potential may be assessed over time.
