Posts in category: Scientific_Papers

Authors: H. B. Katuwal, B. P. Bhattarai, S. Regmi, S. Bhandari, A. K. Ram, B. Aryal, K. Tamang, S. Kc, A. Nepali, D. Adhikari, S. Koirala, B. D. Baral, S. Devkota, R. Gautam, D. N. Mandal, J. L. Belant, H. P. Sharma, R.-C. Quan

Abstract: Large carnivores such as leopards (Panthera pardus) experience continuing threats from habitat loss and fragmentation, depletion of prey populations, and retaliatory killing following conflicts with humans. We aimed to identify factors affecting leopard occupancy and temporal overlap between leopards and tigers (P. tigris), their major prey, and human activities in the Parsa-Koshi Complex (PKC), Nepal. We deployed 154 cameras for 21 days each along wildlife trails throughout PKC during December 2022–March 2023. We found low leopard occupancy (0.17 ± 0.04) in PKC, with greater occupancy rates within protected areas, particularly in Parsa National Park and its buffer zone. Human (63.10 ± 23) and livestock (36.46 ± 102) detections were higher across the PKC. Leopard occupancy was positively associated with the presence of tigers and prey. Temporal overlap was moderately high between leopards and tigers, as well as between leopards and their prey. Our research suggests that coexistence between leopards and tigers is likely largely facilitated by higher prey availability, which may reduce competition. Further, we demonstrate that maintaining forest cohesion can improve habitat for leopards. Intensifying use of agricultural areas could reduce forest fragmentation and increase leopard habitat overall, in turn reducing leopard depredation of livestock and improving leopard-human co-existence and conservation.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.13251

Journal: Journal of Zoology

Paper link: https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jzo.13251

Authors: Dipendra Adhikari, Jagan Nath Adhikari, Janak Raj Khatiwada, Bishnu Prasad Bhattarai, Subarna Ghimire and Deepak Rijal

Abstract: Wetlands support around 27% of birds in Nepal, however, there is a paucity of information about bird diversity and the wetland habitat of Western Chure Landscape Nepal. The “point count” method along transects was carried out to evaluate the species composition and habitat associations of birds. A total of 2,532 individuals representing 152 species (winter: N = 140 and summer: N = 91) from 19 orders and 51 families were reported from Jhilmila Lake and its surrounding area. The number of birds was reported to be significantly higher during winter than in the summer season. The species diversity was also higher in winter (Shannon’s index (H) = 4.38, Fisher’s alpha = 30.67) than in summer (H = 4.21, Fisher’s alpha = 34.69) as this area is surrounded by old-growth forest that provides available habitats for forest, grassland- and wetland-dwelling birds. This lake is an example of a wetland present in the Chure area that plays an important role in the conservation of biodiversity along with birds. Hence, we recommend its detailed study in terms of biodiversity and water quality.

Journal: Ornis Hungarica

Doi: https://doi.org/10.2478/orhu-2023-0002

Paper link: pdf

Authors: Binod Bhattarai, Dipendra Adhikari, Jagan Nath Adhikari,
and Bishnu Prasad Bhattarai

Abstract: Invasive alien species play a major role in biodiversity decline. We studied the impacts of invasive alien plant species (IAPS) on bird assemblages and their habitats in Jalthal Forest, a biogeographically unique lowland remnant forest in eastern Nepal. We surveyed birds by point counts and quantified environmental variables at 89 sites. Observations of 1,373 individuals of 86 species showed that species richness was the highest in wooded grasslands and floodplains and lowest in sal forests invaded by IAPS, whereas abundance was highest in IAPS invaded forests. Abundance and richness decreased with increasing cover of IAPS, shrub cover and distance to water. The abundance and richness of every feeding guild except omnivores were negatively correlated with IAPS cover. Our results increase our understanding of the impacts of IAPS on birds and clearly indicate the need of controlling IAPS in Jalthal Forest, and thus, are valuable for forest management and biodiversity conservation.

Journal: ORNIS HUNGARICA

Paper link: https://sciendo.com/article/10.2478/orhu-2024-0019

Authors: Kavi Raj Bohara, Yam Bahadur Rawat, Santosh Bhattarai

Eleven species of turtles of the family Geomydidae are
known from Nepal, including the spotted pond turtle Geoclemys hamiltonii,
which also occurs in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan,
and is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
In the most recent list of the herpetofauna of Shuklaphanta
National Park in Sudoorpaschim Province, four species of
Geomydidae were documented, not including the spotted
pond turtle. The spotted pond turtle is heavily traded, and
illegal trafficking is the greatest threat to its existence. The
seizure of more than 10,000 illegally traded individuals.

Link: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/first-record-of-the-spotted-pond-turtle-geoclemys-hamiltonii-in-shuklaphanta-national-park-nepal/C46433D52CC7874D12323392989CCD26

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605324000590

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Authors: Saneer Lamichhane, Abhinaya Pathak, Aashish Gurung, Ajay Karki, Trishna Rayamajhi, Ambika Prasad Khatiwada, Jeffrey Mintz, Sudip Raj Niroula, Chiranjibi Prasad Pokharel

Abstract: A balanced equilibrium between carnivores and their prey is crucial for maintaining ecosystem sustainability. In this study, we
applied the predator–prey power law equation to assess the balance between the biomass densities of carnivores and their wild
prey within Nepal’s lowland protected areas during 2013, 2018, and 2022. The estimated value of the power law exponent k for
predator–prey biomass was 0.71 (95% CI = 0.39–1.05), indicating an approximate threefold increase in predator biomass density
for every fivefold increase in prey biomass density. Consequently, this creates a systematically bottom-heavy
predator–prey
biomass pyramid. This finding, consistent with the k = 3/4 trophic biomass scaling across ecosystems, suggests that predator
biomass is proportionally sustained by prey biomass, indicating a balance between top predators and their wild prey in Nepal’s
lowland protected areas. We further demonstrated it is possible to retain the overall power law exponent while jointly measuring
intraguild competition between two predators with canonical correlation analysis. This understanding opens avenues for future
research directed toward unraveling the factors that drive these consistent growth patterns in ecological communities.

Journal: Ecology and Evolution

Paper link: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70387

Authors: Khagendra Prasad Joshi, Gunjan Adhikari, Divya Bhattarai, Ayush Adhikari, Saurav Lamichanne

Abstract: The Chure region, among the world’s youngest mountains, stands out as highly susceptible to
natural calamities, particularly forest fires. The region has consistently experienced forest fire
incidents, resulting in the degradation of valuable natural and anthropogenic resources. Despite
its vulnerability, there have been limited studies to understand the relationship of various
causative factors for the recurring fire problem. Hence, to comprehend the influencing factors for
the recurring forest fire problem and its extent, we utilized generalized linear modeling under
binary logistic regression to combine the dependent variable of satellite detected fire points and
various independent variables. We conducted a variance inflation factor (VIF) test and correlation
matrix to identify the 14 suitable variables for the study. The analysis revealed that forest fires
occurred mostly during the three pre-monsoon periods and had a significant positive relation with
the area under forest, rangeland, bare-grounds, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index
(NDVI) (P < 0.05). Consequently, our model showed that the probability of fire incidents decreases
with elevation, precipitation, and population density (P < 0.05). Among the significant
variables, the forest areas emerges as the most influencing factor, followed by precipitation,
elevation, area of rangeland, population density, NDVI, and the area of bare ground. The validation
of the model was done through the area under the curve (AUC = 0.92) and accuracy (ACC
= 0.89) assessments, which showed the model performed excellently in terms of predictive capabilities.
The modeling result and the forest fire susceptible map provide valuable insights into
the forest fire vulnerability in the region, offering baseline information about forest fires that will
be helpful for line agencies to prepare management strategies to further prevent the deterioration
of the region.

Paper link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e28525

Authors: Divya Bhattarai, Saurav Lamichhane, Aayoush Raj Regmi, Khagendra Prasad Joshi, Pratik Pandeya, Bijaya Dhami, Ambika Prasad Gautam, Hari Adhikari

Abstract: Invasive alien plant species (IAPS) pose a serious threat to overall plant biodiversity
across the globe. Nepal’s national parks and protected areas are not devoid of the
impact of IAPS. Unfortunately, there is a substantial gap in knowledge regarding the
extent and impact of invasion in protected areas of Nepal. This study assessed the
impact of invasive alien plant species on the resident plant species of the Koshi Tapu
wildlife reserve. After a preliminary field observation, we selected five major IAPS
in the area, Mesosphaerum suaveolens, Chromolaena odorata, Ipomoea carnea, Lantana
camara, and Mikania micrantha for this study. Ten pairs of adjacent plots sized 4 m × 4 m
were surveyed for each invasive species, comprising diverse vegetation types. Each
pair consisted of one “invaded plot” where the invasive species was dominant with
cover greater than 50%, and another “uninvaded plot” laid out in an adjacent area
with similar site conditions but without the invasive species. We calculated the Sørensen Index of Similarity for each paired plot. Wilcoxon rank-sum test was employed to compare ecological parameters between invaded and uninvaded plots for various plant species. Similarly, the difference in impact between each of the five invasive species was assessed using the Kruskal–Wallis test. Species richness varied significantly between invaded and uninvaded plots for C. odorata and I. carnea. The most significant impact on species composition of invaded communities (39.6%) was
observed for C. odorata. The cover of the other dominant species varied significantly
between invaded and uninvaded plots for all five species studied. The Kruskal–Wallis
test showed no significant difference in the impact caused by the five studied invasive
species on Species richness, Shannon–Wiener diversity index, species evenness, and
height of dominant species. However, a significant difference was observed between
the impacts of five studied invasive species and the cover of other dominant species.
The crown cover of dominant species decreased much more in the invaded plots of
L. camara and M. micrantha than in other species. Specialized management efforts are
required to control highly invasive species, such as C. odorata and I. carnea, alongside
proactive measures to prevent further spread in ecologically sensitive areas.

Paper Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.70316

Authors: Hari Prasad Sharma, Hem Bahadur Katuwal, Bishnu Prasad Bhattarai, Shivish Bhandari, Dipendra Adhikari, Bishnu Aryal, Krishna Tamang, Amrit Neupane, Sabin KC, Basudev Baral, Surya Devkota, Dev Narayan Mandal, Sandeep Regmi

Abstract: Understanding factors associated with coexistence of human and wildlife in human-dominated landscapes is crucial for effective species conservation. Among the wildlife species, the sloth bears Melursus ursinus are found both inside and outside the protected areas of Nepal, and with increasing cases of human and bear conflicts in both areas. This highlights the necessity for a comprehensive understanding of anthropogenic and ecological factors that affect the occurrence of sloth bear. The
understanding of these factors is important for its coexistence and conservation in human-dominated areas through establishing management and conservation action plan. We studied the sloth bear’s occupancy and their coexistence in human-dominated environments with other large predators in the Parsa–Koshi Complex of Nepal using camera traps from December 2022 to March 2023. We identified the occupancy and detection probability of the sloth bear as 0.12 and 0.31, respectively.
Our analysis reveals a positive relationship between sloth bear occurrence and the presence of large predators (βpredators = 3.104 ± 0.968), such as tigers (Panthera tigris) and leopards (Panthera pardus), as well as the number of humans detected (βhuman = 1.428 ± 1.216) and canopy cover percentage (βcc = 1.002 ± 0.737). However, the number of livestock detected shows a negative interaction with the occurrence of sloth bears (βlivestock = −2.240 ± 1.467). There was insignificant interaction between sloth bear occupancy and distance to human settlements, roads, and water bodies. These findings underscore the complex dynamics between sloth bears, humans, large predators, and livestock in human-dominated
landscapes. To ensure the long-term survival of sloth bear populations and promote species conservation,
comprehensive conservation strategies that account for both ecological and socio-economic factors are essential.

Key words: camera traps, lowland, Melursus ursinus, occupancy, Parsa–Koshi
Complex, sloth bear

Paper Link

Authors: Abhinaya Pathak, Ashish Bashyal, Bishwa Nath Oli, Bishnu Thapaliya, Santosh Bhattarai, Sujan Khanal, Prashamsa Paudel

Abstract:

The gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) is a Critically Endangered species found in Nepal and India. In
Nepal, gharials are distributed in Chitwan and Bardia National Parks. Gharials are highly
threatened due to various and severe anthropogenic activities. In this study, we assess the attitude,
perception and willingness of a range of stakeholders living around Chitwan National Park to
participate in gharial conservation. We conducted semi-structured questionnaire surveys with open ended questions. We interviewed national park officials (n=8), local community group members
(n=54), hoteliers (n=12), conservation partners (n=5), local elected representatives (n=38), fishing
community members (n=14), fishing net sellers (n=15) and students (n=9). Our study revealed that
respondents are familiar with existing conservation awareness activities and expressed their
willingness to participate in gharial conservation activities which can be capitalized on for future
conservation initiatives for gharials. Further, we suggest to concentrate efforts particularly on local
representatives, fishing net sellers and river dependent communities. These efforts include
community level gharial knowledge sharing and interaction program, school teaching program,
participating community in gharial conservation and its habitat management intervention and
livelihood programs.

Keywords: Gharial; Crocodilian; Chitwan National Park; Buffer Zone, Perception

Paper Link

Authors: Dipendra Adhikari, Jagan Nath Adhikari, Janak Raj Khatiwada, Bishnu Prasad Bhattarai, Subarna Ghimire, Deepak Rijal

Abstract: Wetlands support around 27% of birds in Nepal, however, there is a paucity of information about bird diversity and the wetland habitat of Western Chure Landscape Nepal. The “point count” method along transects was carried out to evaluate the species composition and habitat associations of birds. A total of 2,532 individuals representing 152 species (winter: N = 140 and summer: N = 91) from 19 orders and 51 families were reported from Jhilmila Lake and its surrounding area. The number of birds was reported to be significantly higher during winter than in the summer season. The species diversity was also higher in winter (Shannon’s index (H) = 4.38, Fisher’s alpha = 30.67) than in summer (H = 4.21, Fisher’s alpha = 34.69) as this area is surrounded by oldgrowth forest that provides available habitats for forest, grassland- and wetland-dwelling birds. This lake is an example of a wetland present in the Chure area that plays an important role in the conservation of biodiversity along with birds. Hence, we recommend its detailed study in terms of biodiversity and water quality.

Keywords: Chure, bird diversity, endangered, forest, wetland

Paper Link: