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

[TheHyenid76]

While this is information is not specific to tigers, it is most certainly relevant.

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Trends in Wildlife Connectivity Science from the Biodiverse and Human-Dominated South Asia


Abstract

The threat of habitat fragmentation and population isolation looms large over much of biodiversity in this human-dominated epoch. Species-rich South Asia is made particularly vulnerable by its high human density and anthropogenic habitat modification. Therefore, reliably estimating wildlife connectivity and the factors underpinning it become crucial in mitigating extinction risk due to isolation. We analysed peer-reviewed literature on connectivity and corridors for terrestrial mammals in South Asia to identify trends in connectivity research. We identify key research gaps and highlight future directions that may aid efforts to robustly study connectivity. We found a significant bias towards charismatic megafauna and their habitats. Methodologically, although we observed a range of approaches reflecting some of the advances and innovations in the field, several studies lacked data on animal movement/behaviour, leading to potentially biased inferences of how species disperse through human-modified landscapes. New avenues for connectivity research, though currently under-explored in South Asia, offer alternatives to the heavily used but less-reliable habitat suitability models. We highlight the advantages of landscape genetic methods that reflect effective dispersal and are made feasible through non-invasive and increasingly more cost-effective sampling methods. We also identify important gaps or areas of focus that need to be addressed going forward, including accounting for animal movement/behaviour, human impacts and landscape change for dynamic and adaptive connectivity planning for the future.

Trends in Wildlife Connectivity Science from the Biodiverse and Human-Dominated South Asia

Key points derived:

• There is still huge knowledge gap regarding the mammals of South Asia
• Most of the studies and research have been conducted on tigers and elephants
• Even megafauna like lions and bears do not come close to the amount of studies
  

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