ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - THE TIGER (Panthera tigris)

[peter]

AMUR TIGER RESEARCH - THE CLAYTON S. MILLER THESIS (2012) - I


A - INTRODUCTION (based on 'Acknowledgements' and the conclusion)

The next posts are about the thesis attached to post 246 (Guate). I read it more than once and decided to scan a few pages. The thesis is interesting in more than one way and needs to be discussed, I think. 

One reason the thesis is interesting, is it expresses the opinion of those involved in Amur tiger research and conservation. The list of researchers who assisted Miller is long and has well-known names only. Miller wrote the thesis on his own, but the others are there all the time. The thesis, I think, not only is a good piece of work on a new method to conserve Amur tigers, but it also, maybe even foremost, is an appeal to those in the decision-making departments in Russia. Those able to implement measures and change situations, that is. Yes, I was thinking of Putin, but remember this is my opinion only.  

I'll go through the thesis from the top down, selecting pieces of information I consider to be interesting here and there. All scans are from the thesis. All comments are mine.

    
B - TITLE PAGE

*This image is copyright of its original author

C - STUDY AREA

*This image is copyright of its original author

- The study area was the Sichote-Alin Biosphere Zapovednik (SABZ), which was founded in 1935 and is maintained as an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Class I protected area close to the village of Terney, Primorski Krai (province) in de Russian Far East (RFE).

- The SABZ is around 4000 square km. It is closed to the public and access is strictly limited to Zapovednik staff and visiting scientists. Inside the Reserve, hunting is illegal and poaching is relatively low.

- The SABZ is dominated by the Sichote-Alin Mountain Range, which runs parallel with the Sea of Japan. Most peaks are below 1200 m., with some up to 1600 m.

- The SABZ occurs in the Far Eastern temperate climatic zone and is characterized by strong seasonality with dry, cold winters, strong winds and moderate snowfall (mean January temperature -14C in Terney) and warm, humid summers (mean July temperature 15C in Terney).

- Annual precipitation is 788 mm. Dominant vegetation communities within the SABZ include oak forests along the coast and mixed conifer-decidious forests at higher elevations including Korean pine, larch, birch and mixed spruce forests.

- The primary tiger prey species in the SABZ include red deer (Cervus elaphus), wild boar (Sus scrofa), sika deer (Cervus nippon) and roe deer (Capreolus pygargus). Amur tigers also opportunististically on moose (Alces alces), musk deer (Mochus moschiferus), ghoral (Nemorhaedus caudatus), brown bear (Ursus arctos), Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus), wolf, red fox (Vulpes vulpes), raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides), badger (Meles leucurus) and domestic dog (Canis familiaris). Reply