N. Samba Kumar – författare

This book demonstrates how varying levels of human disturbance manifested through different management regimes influence composition, richness, diversity and abundance of key mammal, bird and plant species, even within ecologically similar habitats. Based on our results, we show the critical importance of the ‘wildlife preservation’ approach for effective biodiversity conservation. The study also provides examples of a practical application of rigorous methods of quantitative sampling of different plant and animal taxa as well as human influences, thus serving as a useful manual for protected area managers. Protectedareas of various kinds have been established in India with the goal ofarresting decline in, and to provide for, recovery of biodiversity andecosystem services. A model that targets ‘wildlife preservation’ under stateownership is practiced across the country. However, forests in India are underintensive human pressure and varying levels of protection; therefore,protectedareas may also experience open-access resource use, a model that is beingaggressively advocated as a viable alternative to ‘preservationism’. We haveevaluated the conservation efficacy of alternative forest management models byquantifying levels of biodiversity under varied levels of access, resourceextraction and degree of state-sponsored protection in the Nagarahole forestlandscape of southwestern India.

Large ungulates in tropical forests are among the most threatened taxa of mammals. Excessive hunting, degradation of and encroachments on their natural habitats by humans have contributed to drastic reductions in wild ungulate populations in recent decades. As such, reliable assessments of ungulate-habitat relationships and the spatial dynamics of their populations are urgently needed to provide a scientific basis for conservation efforts. However, such rigorous assessments are methodologically complex and logistically difficult, and consequently many commonly used ungulate population survey methods do not address key problems. As a result of such deficiencies, key parameters related to population distribution, abundance, habitat ecology and management of tropical forest ungulates remain poorly understood.

This book addresses this critical knowledge gap by examining how population abundance patterns in five threatened species of large ungulates vary across spacein the tropical forests of the Nagarahole-Bandipur reserves in southwestern India. It also explains the development and application of an innovative methodology – spatially explicit line transect sampling – based on an advanced hierarchical modelling under the Bayesian inferential framework, which overcomes common methodological deficiencies in current ungulate surveys. The methods and results presented provide valuable reference material for researchers and professionals involved in studying and managing wild ungulate populations around the globe.