Assessing Landscape Connectivity and Gene Flow of Wild Bovids, among Critical Wildlife Habitats, in Central India

Niyogi, Rajashekhar (2023) Assessing Landscape Connectivity and Gene Flow of Wild Bovids, among Critical Wildlife Habitats, in Central India. PhD thesis, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata.

Text (PhD thesis of Rajashekhar Niyogi (16RS004)) 16RS004.pdf - Submitted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (8MB)

Abstract

Habitat fragmentation is a considerable threat to biodiversity worldwide. To minimize the effects of fragmentation, it is important to identify and conserve the existing landscape connections that facilitate dispersal and gene flow among populations. Conserving landscape connections among favourable habitats enables a species to exist as a metapopulation, consisting of several subpopulations connected by dispersal. Connected populations are more resilient to the changing environment that affects local populations due to greater demographic stability and higher genetic diversity. This study is the first attempt to identify the crucial habitats facilitating the dispersal of wild bovids within and outside protected areas for a large landscape in central India. This study highlights the importance of human-wildlife coexistence areas in maintaining connectivity in a multifunctional landscape. In this study, we used geospatial information and species presence data to model the suitable habitats, core habitats, and dispersal corridors for four antelope species in an ~89,000 km² landscape. We found that about 63% of the core habitats, integrated across the four species, lie outside the protected areas. Thereafter, we estimated the relative contribution of habitats outside protected areas in maintaining the ecological network, using graph-based metrics. We then locate and predict the areas that have a high risk of human-influenced antelope mortality using a Bayesian regression model that accounts for spatial structure in the data. Since population isolation can significantly impact genetic differentiation and genetic diversity which affect the overall health of a population, we also performed genetic analysis to understand the population genetic structure and gene flow of the focal species among the critical habitats in the target landscape. We identified the habitats which were largely connected and the ones that were isolated and required greater conservation efforts. We found that the habitats in multiple-use forests play a central role in maintaining the connectivity network for wild bovids. Sizable expanses of privately held farmlands and plantations also contribute to the essential movement corridors. Some perilous patches with greater mortality risk for species require mitigation measures such as underpasses, overpasses, fences, etc. While almost all conservation efforts are currently focused on the protected areas, our research emphasizes that to ensure the long-term survival of wild bovids, substantial conservation efforts are also needed in the spaces of human-wildlife coexistence to conserve their habitat network, reduce mortality and maintain genetic diversity.

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