1st Edition
Case Studies of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation in India
This volume brings together a collection of case studies examining wildlife ecology and conservation across India.
The book explores and examines a wide range of fauna across different terrains and habitats in India, revealing key issues and concerns for biodiversity conservation, with a particular emphasis on the impact of humans and climate change. Case-studies are as wide-ranging as tigers, leopards, sloth bears, pheasants, insects, and birds, across a diverse range of landscapes, including forests, wetlands, and nature reserves, and even a university campus. Split into three parts, Part I focuses on how the distribution of animals is influenced by the availability of resources such as food, water, and space. Chapters examine key determinants, such as diet and prey and habitat preferences, with habitat loss also being an important factor. In Part II, chapters examine human-wildlife interactions, dealing with issues such as the impact of urbanisation, the establishment of nature reserves, and competition for resources. The book concludes with an examination of landscape ecology and conservation, with chapters in Part III focusing on habitat degradation, changes in land-use patterns, and ecosystem management. Overall, the volume not only reflects the great breadth and depth of biodiversity in India but offers important insights into the challenges facing biodiversity conservation not only in this region but worldwide.
This volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of wildlife ecology, conservation biology, biodiversity conservation, and the environmental sciences more broadly.
1 Introduction
Orus Ilyas
PART I Resource selection in Protected and Non-Protected areas
2 Prey Preferences of the Large Predators of Asia
Matt W. Hayward, Cassandra Bugir, Salvador Lyngdoh, and Bilal Habib
3 Habitat Use Pattern of Indian Leopard in Western Himalaya
Athar Noor, Zaffar Rais Mir, Gopi Govindan Veeraswami, and Bilal Habib
4 Insight on the Diet of the Golden Jackal
Pooja Chourasia, Krishnendu Mondal, Kalyanasundaram Sankar, and Qamar Qureshi
5 Blackbuck in Agricultural Landscape of Aligarh
Shahzada Iqbal and Orus Ilyas
6 Seasonal Variation in the Diet of Four-Horned Antelope
Abdul Haleem and Orus Ilyas
7 Do the Niches of Sympatric Sparrows Differ?
Anukul Nath and Hilloljyoti Singha
8 Avifauna of Suru Valley: Species Composition and Habitats
Iqbal Ali Khan and Anil Kumar
9 Indian Robin: Song Characteristics and Functions
Poornima Nailwal, Subhechha Tapaswini, and Anil Kumar
PART II Human–Wildlife Interaction
10 Human–Tiger Conflict in Corbett Tiger Reserve
Sharad Kumar, Jamal Ahmad Khan, and Afifullah Khan
11 Ecological Drivers of Livestock Depredation by Large Predators
Prashant Mahajan and Afifullah Khan
12 Is Resource Sharing Leading to Human–Bear Interaction?
Kruti Patel, Arzoo Malik, and Nishith Dharaiya
13 Bird Community Structure in Restored and Unrestored Areas in Delhi, India
Huda Tarannum, Aisha Sultana, Orus Ilyas, and Mohd Shah Hussain
14 Impact of Grazing on Bird Community in Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary
Orus Ilyas and Junaid Nazeer Shah
15 Insect Diversity in a Semi-Natural Environment
Anam Shakil, Afifullah Khan, and Ayesha Qamar
16 Dipteran Flies Associated with Abuse and Neglect: A Forensic Indicator
Swaima Sharif, Tabassum Choudhary, Munawwar Husain, and Ayesha Qamar
PART III Landscape Ecology and Conservation
17 Conservation of Pheasants in Jammu and Kashmir: A Review
Khursheed Ahmad
18 Avifaunal Diversity at Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University Campus
Kaleem Ahmed, Mohd Qasim, Abdul Hamid Malik, and Ali Asghar Shah
19 Distribution and Conservation of Kashmir Gray Langur
Zaffar Rais Mir, Athar Noor, Riyaz Ahmad, Khursheed Ahmad, Intesar Suhail, Bilal Habib, Shahid Ahmad Dar, Aimon Bushra, Rita Rath, Orus Ilyas, and Junid N. Shah
20 Forest Classification of Panna Tiger Reserve
Talat Parveen and Orus Ilyas
21 Wetland Inventory of Aligarh District
Mohd. Mukhtyar Hussain, Orus Ilyas, and Ekwal Imam
22 Web of Socioeconomic Considerations for Nature Conservation in Manipur
Naveen Pandey, Mordecai Panmei, Jadumoni Goswami, Sumanta Kundu, Dibyajyoti Saikia, Sharad Kumar, and Kedar Gore
Conclusion
Orus Ilyas and Sneha Singh
Biography
Orus Ilyas is Associate Professor in the Department of Wildlife Sciences at Aligarh Muslim University, India. She has studied mammals in India since 1995 and has worked in the high-altitude Himalayas for more than 25 years. She has worked on various projects funded by government and non-government organisations, such as WWF India and the Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART).
Afifullah Khan is Professor in the Department of Wildlife Sciences at Aligarh Muslim University, India. He started his research career by investigating the ecology of Asian elephants and continued to work on mammalian and avian species and communities. His current research explores ecological patterns and processes at a landscape level and the effects of EMF on plants and birds.
