Relationship between species＇ home range and their other biological traits remains poorly understood, especially in migratory birds due to the difficulty associated with tracking them. Advances in satellite telemetry...Relationship between species＇ home range and their other biological traits remains poorly understood, especially in migratory birds due to the difficulty associated with tracking them. Advances in satellite telemetry and remote sensing techniques have proved instrumental in overcoming such challenges. We studied the space use of migratory ducks through satellite telemetry with an objective of understanding the influence of body mass and feeding habits on their home-range sizes. We marked 26 indi- viduals, representing five species of migratory ducks, with satellite transmitters during two consecutive winters in three Indian states. We used kernel methods to estimate home ranges and core use areas of these waterfowl, and assessed the influence of body mass and feeding habits on home-range size. Feeding habits influenced the home-range size of the migratory ducks. Carnivorous ducks had the largest home ranges, herbivorous ducks the smallest, while omnivorous species had intermediate home-ranges. Body mass did not explain variation in home-range size. To our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind on migratory ducks, and it has important implications for their conservation and management [Current Zoology 60 （5）： 616-621, 2014].展开更多
Large-scale distribution and diversity patterns of mammalian herbivores, especially less charismatic species in alpine environments remain little understood. We studied distributional congruence of mammalian herbivore...Large-scale distribution and diversity patterns of mammalian herbivores, especially less charismatic species in alpine environments remain little understood. We studied distributional congruence of mammalian herbivores in the Trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh to see if the distributions of less prominent and smaller herbivores can be determined from those of larger and more prominent herbivores like ungulates. Using a similarity index, we assessed shared distributions of species in 20x20 km2 grid-cells in an area of about 80,000 km2. We used the Unweighted Pair-Group Method with Arithmetic Average （UPGMA） to classify mammalian herbivores into groups with similar distributions. We then used the G-test of independence to look for statistical significance of the groups obtained. We identified six groups of mammalian herbivores with distributions more similar than ex- pected at random. The largest group was composed of nine species whereas the other large group comprised six species. Canonical Correspondence Analysis （CCA）, used to relate the groups with environmental features, showed that the largest group occurred in higher and flatter areas, while the other large group occurred in lower and steeper areas. Large herbivores like ungulates can be used as surrogate for less prominent small herbivores while identifying areas for latter＇s protection in the inaccessible mountainous re- gions of the Trans-Himalaya [Current Zoology 59 （1）： 116-124, 2013].展开更多
基金The researchwas financially supported by the International SnowLeopard Trust (ISLT). Additional support was provided by the Wildlife ConservationSociety (WCS)
文摘Relationship between species＇ home range and their other biological traits remains poorly understood, especially in migratory birds due to the difficulty associated with tracking them. Advances in satellite telemetry and remote sensing techniques have proved instrumental in overcoming such challenges. We studied the space use of migratory ducks through satellite telemetry with an objective of understanding the influence of body mass and feeding habits on their home-range sizes. We marked 26 indi- viduals, representing five species of migratory ducks, with satellite transmitters during two consecutive winters in three Indian states. We used kernel methods to estimate home ranges and core use areas of these waterfowl, and assessed the influence of body mass and feeding habits on home-range size. Feeding habits influenced the home-range size of the migratory ducks. Carnivorous ducks had the largest home ranges, herbivorous ducks the smallest, while omnivorous species had intermediate home-ranges. Body mass did not explain variation in home-range size. To our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind on migratory ducks, and it has important implications for their conservation and management [Current Zoology 60 （5）： 616-621, 2014].
文摘Large-scale distribution and diversity patterns of mammalian herbivores, especially less charismatic species in alpine environments remain little understood. We studied distributional congruence of mammalian herbivores in the Trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh to see if the distributions of less prominent and smaller herbivores can be determined from those of larger and more prominent herbivores like ungulates. Using a similarity index, we assessed shared distributions of species in 20x20 km2 grid-cells in an area of about 80,000 km2. We used the Unweighted Pair-Group Method with Arithmetic Average （UPGMA） to classify mammalian herbivores into groups with similar distributions. We then used the G-test of independence to look for statistical significance of the groups obtained. We identified six groups of mammalian herbivores with distributions more similar than ex- pected at random. The largest group was composed of nine species whereas the other large group comprised six species. Canonical Correspondence Analysis （CCA）, used to relate the groups with environmental features, showed that the largest group occurred in higher and flatter areas, while the other large group occurred in lower and steeper areas. Large herbivores like ungulates can be used as surrogate for less prominent small herbivores while identifying areas for latter＇s protection in the inaccessible mountainous re- gions of the Trans-Himalaya [Current Zoology 59 （1）： 116-124, 2013].
