Rosettes in a matrix: Predicting spatial variation in density of a large felid in a forest-production mosaic

Abstract

Large carnivores are keystone for ecosystems and flagships for conservation efforts but face severe threats globally. Protected areas are vital for the conservation of these charismatic species along with a host of ecological processes. However, the extent and scope of protected areas for conservation of all threatened species is limited, especially in the global south. Considering larger landscapes that can be compatible with large carnivore conservation goals is an alternative approach to ensure their persistence. This study explores the potential of multi-use landscapes for the persistence of a globally threatened large felid, the Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca). This study investigated the spatial variability of leopard densities across a land-use gradient using spatially explicit capture-recapture framework in a tea-plantationdominated forest-production landscape mosaic in the Duars region of northeastern India. While the density of leopards in this landscape was estimated to be 7.96 ± 1.56 (SE) per 100 km², significant (p = .048, t = 2.02, df=61) differences in estimates were observed between teaplantations (11.53 ± 2.72 (SE) leopards per 100 km²) and the forested habitats (4.67 ± 2.07 (SE) per 100 km²). Densities between tea plantations and protected areas (a subset of the forested habitat) were found to be comparable (9.19 ± 4.55 (SE) per 100 km2). The study posits that conservation-compatible land use in landscapes shared with people can host a higher density of adaptable large felids like leopard than forested areas and that conservation planning needs to move beyond the dominant PA-centric paradigm. The study also reinforces the importance of multi-use landscapes for wildlife conservation, especially for an adaptable large felid.

Keywords

conservation-compatible-landscapes / human-use landscapes / Panthera pardus / spatially explicit capture-recapture / tea plantations

References

[1] Alexander, J.S., Gopalaswamy, A.M., Shi, K., Hughes, J. & Riordan, P. (2016) Patterns of snow leopard site use in an increasingly human-dominated landscape. PLoS One, 11(5), e0155309. Available from:

[2] Alexander, J.S., Gopalaswamy, A.M., Shi, K. & Riordan, P. (2015) Face value: towards robust estimates of snow leopard densities. PLoS One, 10(8), e0134815. Available from:

[3] Athreya, V., Odden, M., Linnell, J.D.C., Krishnaswamy, J. & Karanth, K.U. (2016) A cat among the dogs: leopard Panthera pardus diet in a human-dominated landscape in Western Maharashtra, India. Oryx, 50(1), 156-162. Available from:

[4] Athreya, V., Odden, M., Linnell, J.D.C., Krishnaswamy, J. & Karanth, U. (2013) Big cats in our backyards: persistence of large carnivores in a human dominated landscape in India. PLoS One, 8(3), e57872. Available from:

[5] Balme, G.A., Hunter, L.T.B. & Slotow, R. (2009) Evaluating methods for counting cryptic carnivores. Journal of Wildlife Management, 73(3), 433-441. Available from:

[6] Bateman, P.W. & Fleming, P.A. (2012) Big city life: carnivores in urban environments. Journal of Zoology, 287(1), 1-23. Available from:

[7] Bhattacharjee, A. & Parthasarathy, N. (2013) Coexisting with large carnivores: a case study from Western Duars, India. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 18, 20-31. Available from:

[8] Borah, J., Sharma, T., Das, D., Rabha, N., Kakati, N., Basumatary, A. et al. (2013) Abundance and density estimates for common leopard Panthera pardus and clouded leopard Neofelis nebulosa in Manas National Park, Assam, India. Oryx, 48, 149-155. Available from:

[9] Brashares, J.S., Arcese, P. & Sam, M.K. (2001) Human demography and reserve size predict wildlife extinction in West Africa. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 268(1484), 2473-2478. Available from:

[10] Burnham, K.P. & Anderson, D.R. (2001) Kullback-Leibler information as a basis for strong inference in ecological studies. Wildlife Research, 28(2), 111-119. Available from:

[11] Champion, H.G. & Seth, S.K. (1968) A revised survey of the forest types of India. New Delhi, India: Government of India.

[12] Chapron, G., Kaczensky, P., Linnell, J.D.C., von Arx, M., Huber, D., Andrén, H. et al. (2014) Recovery of large carnivores in Europe’s modern human-dominated landscapes. Science, 346(6216), 1517-1519. Available from:

[13] Chatterjee, N., Nigam, P. & Habib, B. (2020) Population density and habitat use of two sympatric small cats in a central Indian reserve. PLoS One, 15(6), e0233569. Available from:

[14] Chaudhary, R., And, J. & Zehra, N. (2019) Indian leopard Panthera pardus fusca: a comprehensive review of current ecological knowledge and research efforts across its range. International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, 45, 267-281.

[15] Devlin, A.L., Frair, J.L., Crawshaw Jr., P.G., Hunter, L.T.B., Tortato, F.R., Hoogesteijn, R. et al. (2023) Drivers of large carnivore density in non-hunted, multi-use landscapes. Conservation Science and Practice, 5(1), e12745. Available from:

[16] Dhee, I., Athreya, V., Linnell, J.D.C., Shivakumar, S. & Dhiman, S.P. (2019) The leopard that learnt from the cat and other narratives of carnivore-human coexistence in Northern India. People and Nature, 1(3), 376-386. Available from:

[17] Efford, M. (2023). secr: spatially explicit capture-recapture models. R package version 4.5.10, https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=secr.

[18] Elliot, N.B. & Gopalaswamy, A.M. (2017) Toward accurate and precise estimates of lion density. Conservation Biology, 31(4), 934-943. Available from:

[19] Ghosal, S., Athreya, V.R., Linnell, J.D.C. & Vedeld, P.O. (2013) An ontological crisis? A review of large felid conservation in India. Biodiversity and Conservation, 22(11), 2665-2681. Available from:

[20] Ghosh, D. & Basu, P. (2022) Collation of indigenous and local knowledge as evidence base for herpetofauna conservation outside protected areas: case study from an agricultural landscape in Eastern India. Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 75(2), 161-172. Available from:

[21] Ghosh-Harihar, M., An, R., Athreya, R., Borthakur, U., Chanchani, P., Chetry, D. et al. (2019) Protected areas and biodiversity conservation in India. Biological Conservation, 237, 114-124. Available from:

[22] Gogoi, K., Kumar, U., Banerjee, K. & Jhala, Y.V. (2020) Spatially explicit density and its determinants for Asiatic lions in the Gir forests. PLoS One, 15(2), e0228374. Available from:

[23] Gubbi, S., Sharma, K. & Kumara, V. (2020) Every hill has its leopard: patterns of space use by leopards (Panthera pardus) in a mixed use landscape in India. PeerJ, 8, e10072. Available from:

[24] Harihar, A., Pandav, B. & Goyal, S.P. (2009). Density of leopards (Panthera pardus) in the Chilla Range of Rajaji National Park, Uttarakhand, India.

[25] Harihar, A., Pandav, B. & Goyal, S.P. (2011) Responses of leopard Panthera pardus to the recovery of a tiger Panthera tigris population. Journal of Applied Ecology, 48(3), 806-814. Available from:

[26] Jacobson, A.P., Gerngross, P., Lemeris Jr., J.R., Schoonover, R.F., Anco, C., Breitenmoser-Würsten, C. et al. (2016) Leopard (Panthera pardus) status, distribution, and the research efforts across its range. PeerJ, 4, e1974. Available from:

[27] Jhala, Y.V., Gopal, R. & Qureshi, Q. (2008). Status of tigers, co-predators, and prey in India.

[28] Kalle, R., Ramesh, T., Qureshi, Q. & Sankar, K. (2011) Density of tiger and leopard in a tropical deciduous forest of mudumalai tiger reserve, Southern India, as estimated using photographic capture-recapture sampling. Acta Theriologica, 56, 335-342. Available from:

[29] Karanth, K.U. (1995) Estimating tiger Panthera tigris populations from camera-trap data using capture-recapture models. Biological Conservation, 71(3), 333-338. Available from:

[30] Karanth, K.U. & Nichols, J.D. (1998) Estimation of tiger densities in India using photographic captures and recaptures. Ecology, 79(8), 2852-2862. Available from:

[31] Karanth, K.U., Nichols, J.D., Kumar, N.S. & Hines, J.E. (2006) Assessing tiger population dynamics using photographic capture-recapture sampling. Ecology, 87(11), 2925-2937. Available from:

[32] Kittle, Andrew M., Watson, Anjali C., Chanaka Kumara, P.H. & Nimalka Sanjeewani, H.K. (2012) Notes on the status, distribution and abundance of the Sri Lankan leopard in the central hills of Sri Lanka. CatNews, 2012, 28-31.

[33] Kshettry, A., Vaidyanathan, S. & Athreya, V. (2017) Leopard in a tea-cup: a study of leopard habitat-use and human-leopard interactions in north-eastern India. PLoS One, 12, e0177013.

[34] Kshettry, A., Vaidyanathan, S. & Athreya, V. (2018) Diet selection of leopards (Panthera pardus) in a human-use landscape in North-Eastern India. Tropical Conservation Science, 11, 1940082918764635. Available from:

[35] Kshettry, A., Vaidyanathan, S., Sukumar, R. & Athreya, V. (2020) Looking beyond protected areas: identifying conservation compatible landscapes in agro-forest mosaics in north-eastern India. Global Ecology and Conservation, 22, e00905. Available from:

[36] López-Bao, J.V., Bruskotter, J. & Chapron, G. (2017) Finding space for large carnivores. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1(5), Article 5. Available from:

[37] Maffei, L., Cuéllar, E. & Noss, A. (2004) One thousand jaguars (Panthera onca) in Bolivia’s chaco? Camera trapping in the Kaa-Iya National Park. Journal of Zoology, 262(3), 295-304. Available from:

[38] Maffei, L. & Noss, A.J. (2008) How small is too small? camera trap survey areas and density estimates for ocelots in the Bolivian Chaco. Biotropica, 40(1), 71-75. Available from:

[39] Majgaonkar, I., Vaidyanathan, S., Srivathsa, A., Shivakumar, S., Limaye, S. & Athreya, V. (2019) Land-sharing potential of large carnivores in human-modified landscapes of Western India. Conservation Science and Practice, 1(5), e34. Available from:

[40] Mandal, D., Basak, K., Mishra, R., Kaul, R. & Mondal, K. (2017) Status of leopard Panthera pardus and striped hyena Hyaena hyaena and their prey in Achanakmar Tiger Reserve, Central India. The Journal of Zoology Studies, 4, 34-41.

[41] Mondal, K.M., Gupta, S., Bhattacharjee, S., Qureshi, Q. & Sankar, K. (2012) Response of leopards to re-introduced tigers in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Western India. International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation, 4(5), 228-236. Available from:

[42] Myers, N., Mittermeier, R.A., Mittermeier, C.G., da Fonseca, G.A.B. & Kent, J. (2000) Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature, 403(6772), Article 6772. Available from:

[43] Nagendra, H., Paul, S., Pareeth, S. & Dutt, S. (2009) Landscapes of protection: forest change and fragmentation in Northern West Bengal, India. Environmental Management, 44(5), 853-864. Available from:

[44] Naha, D., Dash, S.K., Chettri, A., Chaudhary, P., Sonker, G., Heurich, M. et al. (2020) Landscape predictors of human-leopard conflicts within multi-use areas of the Himalayan region. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 11129. Available from:

[45] Naha, D., Dash, S.K., Kupferman, C., Beasley, J.C. & Sathyakumar, S. (2021) Movement behavior of a solitary large carnivore within a hotspot of human-wildlife conflicts in India. Scientific Reports, 11, 3862. Available from:

[46] Nair, R., Dhee, O., Patil, O., Surve, N., Andheria, A., Linnell, J.D.C. et al. (2021) Sharing spaces and entanglements with big cats: the warli and their waghoba in Maharashtra, India. Frontiers in Conservation Science, 2, 683356. Available from:

[47] Navya, R., Athreya, V., Mudappa, D. & Raman, T.R.S. (2014) Assessing leopard occurrence in the plantation landscape of valparai, Anamalai Hills. Current Science, 107(9), 1381-1385.

[48] Noor, A., Mir, Z.R., Veeraswami, G.G. & Habib, B. (2020) Density of leopard in a moist-temperate forest of Western Himalaya, India. Tropical Ecology, 61(3), 301-310. Available from:

[49] Odden, M. & Wegge, P. (2005) Spacing and activity patterns of leopards Panthera pardus in the Royal Bardia National Park, Nepal. Wildlife Biology, 11(2), 145-152. Available from:

[50] Otis, D.L., Burnham, K.P., White, G.C. & Anderson, D.R. (1978) Statistical inference from capture data on closed animal populations. Wildlife Monographs, 62, 133.

[51] Packer, C., Loveridge, A., Canney, S., Caro, T., Garnett, S.t, Pfeifer, M. et al. (2013) Conserving large carnivores: dollars and fence. Ecology Letters, 16(5), 635-641. Available from:

[52] Palfrey, R., Oldekop, J.A. & Holmes, G. (2022) Privately protected areas increase global protected area coverage and connectivity. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 6(6), 730-737. Available from:

[53] Punjabi, G.A., Havmøller, L.W., Havmøller, R.W., Ngoprasert, D. & Srivathsa, A. (2022) Methodological approaches for estimating populations of the endangered dhole Cuon alpinus. PeerJ, 10, e12905. Available from:

[54] Q. Qureshi, Y.V. Jhala, S.P. Yadav, V.R. Tiwari, R. Garawad & A. Mallick (Eds.) (2024) Status of leopards in India, 2022. National Tiger Conservation Authority, Government of India, New Delhi, and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun.

[55] R Core Team. (2018) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. https://www.R-project.org/

[56] Rather, T.A., Kumar, S. & Khan, J.A. (2021) Density estimation of tiger and leopard using spatially explicit capture-recapture framework. PeerJ, 9, e10634. Available from:

[57] Rawat, G.S. & Sathyakumar, S. (2020) National Mission on Himalayan Studies (NMHS) progress report (April 2019 to March 2020): Human-wildlife conflict resolution mechanism in the Indian Himalayan region: risk assessment, prediction, and management through research and community engagement. Wildlife Institute of India.

[58] Riley, S.P.D., Sikich, J.A. & Benson, J.F. (2021) Big cats in the big city: spatial ecology of mountain lions in Greater Los Angeles. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 85(8), 1527-1542. Available from:

[59] Ripple, W.J., Estes, J.A., Beschta, R.L., Wilmers, C.C., Ritchie, E.G., Hebblewhite, M. et al. (2014) Status and ecological effects of the world’s largest carnivores. Science, 343(6167), 1241484. Available from:

[60] Roy, M. (2009) Habitat use and foraging ecology of the Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) in Buxa Tiger Reserve and adjoining areas of northern West Bengal [PhD Thesis]. West Bengal, India: Vidyasagar University.

[61] Roy, M. (2014) Foraging ecology of the Asian Elephant in Northern West Bengal. Gajah, 40, 18-25.

[62] Schuette, P., Creel, S. & Christianson, D. (2013) Coexistence of African lions, livestock, and people in a landscape with variable human land use and seasonal movements. Biological Conservation, 157, 148-154. Available from:

[63] Sharma, R.K., Jhala, Y., Qureshi, Q., Vattakaven, J., Gopal, R. & Nayak, K. (2010) Evaluating capture-recapture population and density estimation of tigers in a population with known parameters. Animal Conservation, 13(1), 94-103. Available from:

[64] Sharma, R.K., Sharma, K., Borchers, D., Bhatnagar, Y.V., Suryawanshi, K.R. & Mishra, C. (2021) Spatial variation in population-density of snow leopards in a multiple use landscape in Spiti Valley, Trans-Himalaya. PLoS One, 16(5), e0250900. Available from:

[65] Shehzad, W., Nawaz, M.A., Pompanon, F., Coissac, E., Riaz, T., Shah, S.A. et al. (2015) Forest without prey: livestock sustain a leopard Panthera pardus population in Pakistan. Oryx, 49(2), 248-253. Available from:

[66] Sidhu, S., Raghunathan, G., Mudappa, D. & Shankar Raman, T. (2017) Conflict to coexistence: human-leopard interactions in a Plantation Landscape in Anamalai Hills, India. Conservation and Society, 15(4), 474. Available from:

[67] Silver, S.C., Ostro, L.E.T., Marsh, L.K., Maffei, L., Noss, A.J., Kelly, M.J. et al. (2004) The use of camera traps for estimating jaguar Panthera onca abundance and density using capture/recapture analysis. Oryx, 38(2), 148-154. Available from:

[68] Singh, R., Qureshi, Q., Sankar, K., Krausman, P.R., Goyal, S.P. & Nicholson, K.L. (2014) Population density of striped hyenas in relation to habitat in a semi-arid landscape, Western India. Acta Theriologica, 59(4), 521-527. Available from:

[69] Surve, N.S., Sathyakumar, S., Sankar, K., Jathanna, D., Gupta, V. & Athreya, V. (2022) Leopards in the city: the tale of Sanjay Gandhi National Park and Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, two protected areas in and adjacent to Mumbai, India. Frontiers in Conservation Science, 3, 787031. Available from

[70] Thapa, K., Shrestha, R., Karki, J., Thapa, G.J., Subedi, N., Pradhan, N.M.B. et al. (2014) Leopard Panthera pardus fusca density in the seasonally dry, subtropical forest in the Bhabhar of Terai Arc, Nepal. Advances in Ecology, 2014, e286949. Available from:

[71] Trolle, M. & Kéry, M. (2003) Estimation of ocelot density in the Pantanal using capture-recapture analysis of Camera-Trapping Data. Journal of Mammalogy, 84(2), 607-614. Available from:

[72] Valeix, M., Hemson, G., Loveridge, A.J., Mills, G. & Macdonald, D.W. (2012) Behavioural adjustments of a large carnivore to access secondary prey in a human-dominated landscape. Journal of Applied Ecology, 49(1), 73-81. Available from:

[73] Warrier, R., Noon, B.R. & Bailey, L. (2020) Agricultural lands offer seasonal habitats to tigers in a human-dominated and fragmented landscape in India. Ecosphere, 11(7). Available from:

[74] Wilmers, C.C., Wang, Y., Nickel, B., Houghtaling, P., Shakeri, Y., Allen, M.L. et al. (2013) Scale dependent behavioral responses to human development by a Large Predator, the Puma. PLoS One, 8(4), e60590. Available from:

[75] Woodroffe, R. (2000) Predators and people: using human densities to interpret declines of large carnivores. Animal Conservation, 3(2), 165-173. Available from:

[76] Wright, H.L., Lake, I.R. & Dolman, P.M. (2012) Agriculture-a key element for conservation in the developing world. Conservation Letters, 5, 11-19. Available from:

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2024 The Author(s). Integrative Conservation published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG).