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Wildlife and Biodiversity - Volume:3 Issue: 2, Winter 2019

Journal of Wildlife and Biodiversity
Volume:3 Issue: 2, Winter 2019

  • تاریخ انتشار: 1398/01/31
  • تعداد عناوین: 6
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  • Anisha Aryal *, Kishor Bhatta Pages 1-10
    Himalayan musk deer(Moschus chrysogaster), commonly known as Kasturi mriga  is listed as an endangered species by IUCN and protected by the National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act 1973 of Nepal. The study was carried out in two village development committees within the Annapurna conservation area region- Ghandruk and Shikha. Plots were laid using random sampling, and the corresponding GPS coordinates were recorded. The habitat of musk deer was analyzed through land cover analysis and vegetation analysis. Ivelv’s electivity index (+1 to -1) was calculated to determine the preference or avoidance of habitat by musk deer, in which positive values showed preference and negative values showed avoidance. The vegetation analysis was performed by applying the importance value index. The habitat map based on preference and avoidance was prepared using GIS. M. chrysogastershowed higher preference to the slope ranging from 25º to 35º (IV- 0.29), followed by the slope 15º to 25º (IV- 0.16). North-west aspect and North aspect had the IV values of 0.51 and 0.42 respectively that showed the greater predilection of musk deer to these aspects. Musk deer was widely distributed in the altitudinal range of 3400m to 3600m (IV- 0.27) that was followed by the altitude of 3300m to 3400m (IV- 0.26). Musk deer preferred the shrub land and grassland in maximum extent. The study sites were dominated by Birch- Rhododendron forest, which were widely used by the musk deer. The preferred plants were Rosa spp., Betula spp., Abies spp. whereas the herb species mostly consisted of Lichen/Moss and Khar/grass. The habitat map showed a notably smaller extent of preferred area, indicating an obligation towards conservation of the species in its present habitat. Regular patrolling and investigation of musk deer habitat and effective conservation strategies regarding habitat management is recommended.
    Keywords: M. chrysogaster, Conservation, GIS, Habitat preferences, Ivelv's electivity index
  • Hadi Khoshnamvand, Mansoureh Malekian *, Yazdan Keivani, Forough Goudarzi Pages 11-17
    The Luristan newt (Neurerguskaiseri) is an endemic and vulnerable species to the southern Zagros Mountains of Iran, inhabiting streams and ponds in open woodlands, dominated by oak tree (Quercus brantii). In the current study, 20 specimens of the Luristan newt were collected and sequenced for a 651bp fragment of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (CO1). Sequence divergence values varied from 0.0% to 2.8%. The phylogenetic analysis revealed the existence of two distinct clades and a clear divergence between Northern and Southern populations. The genetic variation among the two clades was significant (FST = 0.95, P < 0.001). Five haplotypes were observed among N. kaiseri sequences, of which two haplotypes were found in the Northern populations and the other three haplotypes in the Southern populations. None of the haplotypes was shared between the two clades. The distinction of Northern and Southern populations may be due to the rough topography of its habitats and the low dispersal ability of the Luristan newt.
    Keywords: Amphibian, COI, habitat features, phylogeny
  • Ehsan Kashani, Hamidreza Rezaei *, Nematolah Khorasani, Morteza Naderi Pages 18-28
    The Brandt`s hedgehog Paraechinus hypomelas (Brandt 1836), is a relatively widespread species which range from Arabian Peninsula and Iran, through southern areas of Central Asia to western South Asia.The phylogenetic position of the species tat is little known in Iran, although it has been studied in different parts of its distributional range. To this aim, during 2017-2018, the species was sampled in a non-invasive method (n= 34) from the southeast of Iran. Genetic variation and polymorphic sites were determined from cytb (1120bp). Totally 22 haplotypes and haplotype diversity ranging from 0.859 to 1.099 were detected from cytb. The average value of the nucleotide differences among the cytb sequences was calculated as 4.68. The Tamija’s  D test (-1.88) and Fu`s FS test (-15.73) revealed negative value, indicating significantly deviations from neutrality which both indicate of recent population expansion. Investigation on pairwise differences, mismatch distributions, indicated of past expansions (SSD= 0.0033, P value = 0.38). The Iran south east population constitute a phylogenetic clade which is completely distinct from other known lineages in the species distributional range. Relatively high amount of the haplotype and nucleotide diversity can be related to the high effective population of the species, the rate of gene flow among the populations and also the sudden expansion in the past.
    Keywords: Brandt`s hedgehog, genetic structure, population expansion, phylogeny
  • Fatemeh Abbaspour, Sareh Yaripour, Peter Gloeer, Mehrdad Zamanpoore * Pages 29-39
    The scientific literature on molluscans taxonomy in Iran goes back to many years ago; however, in some parts of the country like southern areas, it is completely new. In addition, many of the studies have focused on their potential risk as intermediate hosts for parasites, ignoring their specific taxonomic identification or detailed ecology. In this research, molluscan fauna of Jubkhalle River, southern Iran was investigated in five stations during 2015 and 2016 within a span of 13 km. Four species from gastropods including Physa acuta, Planorbis intermixtus, Radix persica and Galba truncatula as well as a bivalve species Pisidium casertanum were identified. Among them, R. persica and P. casertanum were new records for the Fars Province. Our results showed consistencies between the number of species present and their environmental settings including total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, and the water current velocity. Mean annual current velocity was lowest in station 2, having the highest temporal fluctuation, while total dissolved solids drastically increased in lower reach (stations 4 and 5), with the lowest fluctuations.
    Keywords: Aquatic invertebrates, conchology, stream ecology, Zagros Mountains
  • Saeed Shahabi, Mozafar Sharifi, Vahid Akmali * Pages 40-51
    We present a review of earlier records of the greater horseshoe bat distribution in Iran together with new distribution records of this bat obtained during recent years (2012–2016). The present study describes 41 new localities that increase the species known range mainly over Zagros and Elburz ranges at elevations between 27 - 2560 m above sea level. Moreover, based on these data potential geographic distribution of the greater horseshoe bat has been estimated using the Maximum Entropy modeling (MaxEnt). The MaxEnt model showed that the environmental variables including bio-12 (average annual precipitation), bio-6 (minimum temperature of the coldest month), and bio-19 (precipitation of the coldest quarter of the year) were the most important predictors of Rhinolophus ferrumequinum distribution. AUC values indicated an excellent power of MaxEent to create potential habitat map (AUC=0.845). The MaxEnt model predicted climate suitability to be high in Zagros and Elburz Mountains especially in northwest of Iran, low in some parts of south, east and southeast of Iran. Suitable habitat was absent in the two vast deserts (Dasht-e lut and Dasht-e Kavir) in the Iranian Plateau basin where there had not been any report of R. ferrumequinum.
    Keywords: Chiroptera, habitat suitability, MaxEent, new records, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum
  • Ishita Ganguly *, Netrapal Chauhan Pages 52-62
    A field study was conducted to investigate perception of local people towards conservation of macaques and possible mitigation strategies can be opted to reduce human-macaque conflict in urban landscape. Questionnaire survey was designed to collect qualitative and quantitative information including 608 respondents in and around Asola-Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary, India during 2016-2017. Our study result showed that there were 21 groups of rhesus macaques available in the study area and caused severe damage to the nearby localities and harassed a total of 466 numbers of individuals. Maximum number of conflict incidences (n=502) were recorded from Sanjay Colony, Bhatti mines area, designated as Site 1 due to maximum availability of food and shelter, large troop size (35-40 individuals) and lack of knowledge of local people. Minimum number of conflict incidences (n=157) were recorded from Surajkund area, designated as Site 7 despite of having multiple food resources because of small troop size (15-20 individuals) and conservation awareness of local people. In this study, we compared socio-cultural aspect of selected locations of study area, socio-economic characteristics of two extreme respondent groups from site 1 and site 7 and also distinguished different age groups of respondents and compared their opinion on mitigation of conflict in urban situation. In the conclusion, it can be said that attitude and perception of local people can contribute in conservation of rhesus macaques and in reducing risk of negative association during conflict. Perception of local people can be helpful in decision making and policy implementation in urban monkey population management.
    Keywords: India, local people perception, management wildlife-human confilicts, primate conservation