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Status Survey of the Malabar Pied Hornbill in the Dandeli Region, Northern Western Ghats, India

Sneha, Vijayakumar and Davidar, Priya (2011) Status Survey of the Malabar Pied Hornbill in the Dandeli Region, Northern Western Ghats, India. In: Raffles Bulletin of Zoology (Suppl.). pp. 45-51.

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Abstract

The Malabar Pied Hornbill, Anthracoceros coronatus, is a near threatened species, endemic to the tropical deciduous forests of central and southern India and Sri Lanka. The Dandeli region in Karnataka (India) is believed to be the last stronghold of this species in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot. Being a rapidly developing area with a growing human population, the threats to this species and their habitat are mounting, especially due to a large number of hydroelectric projects and habitat fragmentation caused by paper and plywood industries. This study evaluated the change in population status of the Malabar Pied Hornbill over a 23 year period and defined priorities for the long term conservation and monitoring of hornbills in Dandeli. Encounter rates of hornbills were also analysed in relation to the density and species richness of trees and fruiting trees, basal area, canopy cover and distance from river. Hornbill encounters were not significantly different compared to the earlier study carried out by Reddy in 1988, but were significantly different across the five sites in the current study. Higher numbers of hornbills were encountered closer to the river, but these results were only marginally significant. The mean numbers of hornbills recorded at the two roost sites identified in Dandeli were 26 +/- 4.47 (n=16 counts) and 31.78 +/- 3.53 (n=14 counts) respectively. The study also helped build local awareness about the species, train local Forest Department staff in monitoring hornbills and develop a management plan for its conservation.

Item Type: Journal Article
Publication: Raffles Bulletin of Zoology
Publisher: Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore
Additional Information: Copyright of this article belongs to Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research, National University of Singapore.
Keywords: Dandeli;encounter rate;Malabar Pied Hornbill;population status;Roosting;Western Ghats
Department/Centre: Division of Biological Sciences > Centre for Ecological Sciences
Date Deposited: 15 Jun 2011 06:19
Last Modified: 15 Jun 2011 06:19
URI: http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/37791

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