Divya Mudappa

Nature Conservation Foundation

This document is a product of the preparatory phase project of the National Mission on Biodiversity and Human Well-Being which was catalysed and supported by the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India. It is the outcome of a series of stakeholder consultation meetings on ecological restoration of terrestrial landscape...

In this chapter, we present examples of restoration methods that have successfully returned forest cover to a selected set of study sites in biodiversity hotspots of south and southeast Asia. These methods range from specific site-based restoration treatments facilitating the return of the original rainforest to more general strategies to support t...

As secondary cavity nesters, exhibiting strong nest-site fidelity, hornbills may be limited by the availability of nesting sites and monitoring nest occupancy is important in understanding their breeding populations. In this study, we aimed to assess the current status of nest occupancy of two sympatric hornbill species (MGH: Malabar Grey Hornbill...

Dipterocarpus bourdillonii, a Critically Endangered tree species endemic to the Western Ghats, India, has hitherto been reported mainly from the states of Kerala and Karnataka on the western slopes of the mountain range. In Tamil Nadu, this species has been reported to occur in two locations, but no population details have been documented and the s...

Restoration of canopy cover through tree planting can assist in overcoming barriers to natural regeneration and catalyze recovery of degraded tropical forests. India has made international pledges to restore millions of hectares of degraded forests by 2030, but lacks empirical research on regeneration under different types of planted and natural ov...

In the Western Ghats, India, we study how different intensities of tea cultivation influence birds. We compared bird communities in conventional monoculture tea and mixed-shade tea plantations, both of which use agrochemicals, with organic tea plantations, a rainforest fragment, and continuous rainforest within the Anamalai Tiger Reserve. In 225 po...

Seed predation is one of the key ecosystem processes governing the plant population and community structure in forests. Forest fragmentation and habitat loss have been shown to affect seed predation, leading to altered tree recruitment. However, the effects of fragmentation and habitat loss on seed predation are highly variable and context-specific...

Hornbill habitats are shrinking across their distribution ranges. Geographic spread and small sizes of most protected areas are not sufficient to conserve hornbill populations. Human-modified habitats adjoining protected areas could potentially hold hornbill populations depending upon the proximity to the forest, nature of land-use and structural c...

Asian hornbills are known to forage and breed in fragmented rainforests and agroforestry plantations in human‐modified landscapes adjoining contiguous protected forests. However, the factors influencing year‐round hornbill abundance, demography and tracking of key food resources such as wild fig Ficus fruits in modified habitats and protected fores...

Forest fragmentation and habitat loss are major disruptors of plant–frugivore interactions, affecting seed dispersal and altering recruitment patterns of the dependent tree species. In a heterogeneous production landscape (primarily tea and coffee plantations) in the southern Western Ghats, India, we examined effects of surrounding forest cover and...

The Nilgiri tahr Nilgiritragus hylocrius is an Endangered species of mountain ungulate endemic to the Western Ghats of India, a biodiversity hotspot. Habitat fragmentation, hunting and a restricted range are the major threats to this species. Although several surveys have assessed the species’ status, a population estimate based on a scientifically...

Ecological restoration is a leading strategy for reversing biodiversity losses and enhancing terrestrial carbon sequestration in degraded tropical forests. There have been few comprehensive assessments of recovery following restoration in fragmented forest landscapes, and the efficacy of active versus passive (i.e., natural regeneration) restoratio...

The fragmentation of the rainforests of India's Western Ghats mountains has left the endemic lion-tailed macaque surviving in numerous forest patches in a mosaic of commercial tea and coffee plantations. On the Valparai Plateau, Anamalai Hills, some macaque groups have evidently altered their behavior, becoming habituated to people, suffering from...

We undertook amphibian and reptile surveys in six rainforest remnants of the Anamalai Hills in the Western Ghats, India. Over a two-month period, 36 species of herpetofauna were recorded from these remnants, including one species of caecilian, 19 frog species, 8 lizard species and 8 species of snake. Six species were either critically endangered or...

Abstract Loss of mature tropical forests to agricultural expansion often creates landscapes with forest fragments embedded within a matrix of human-modified habitats and land uses. Such habitat fragmentation may be detrimental to species with specialized habitat and foraging requirements and their ability to persist in such landscapes may depend o...

We used capture (mist-netting) and acoustic methods to compare the species richness, abundance, and composition of a bat assemblage in different habitats in the Western Ghats of India. In the tropics, catching bats has been more commonly used as a survey method than acoustic recordings. In our study, acoustic methods based on recording echolocation...

Wildlife-vehicle collisions on the roads lead to mortality of a range of animal taxa both within and around wildlife reserves. Quantifying and understanding impacts of roads on wildlife mortality are essential for identifying vulnerable taxa and suitable mitigation measures. We studied animal mortality on roads in relation to habitat and season in...

The effects of fragmentation and overstorey tree diversity on tree regeneration were assessed in tropical rain forests of the Western Ghats, India. Ninety plots were sampled for saplings (1–5 cm diameter at breast height (dbh); 5×5-m plots) and overstorey trees (>9.55 cm dbh; 20×20-m plots) within two fragments (32 ha and 18 ha) and two continuous...

The responses of bats to land-use change have been extensively studied in temperate zones and the neotropics, but little is known from the palaeotropics. Effective conservation in heavily-populated palaeotropical hotspots requires a better understanding of which bats can and cannot survive in human-modified landscapes. We used catching and acoustic...

When leopards are found in human-dominated landscapes, conflicts may arise due to attacks on people or livestock loss or when people retaliate following real and perceived threats. In the plantation landscape of the Valparai plateau, we studied incidents of injury and loss of life of people and livestock over time (15 – 25 y) and carried out questi...

Salim Ali's Fruit Bat Latidens salimalii is an IUCN Red listed Endangered species known only from a few locations in southern India. Here we report three records of Latidens salimalii from the Valparai plateau and Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu where this species has not been previously recorded. This bat was caught in riparian habitats close...

To conserve biodiversity it is imperative that we understand how different species respond to land use change, and determine the scales at which habitat changes affect species' persistence. We used habitat suitability models (HSMs) at spatial scales from 100–4000 m to address these concerns for bats in the Western Ghats of India, a biodiversity hot...

Leopards use a wide range of habitats from natural forests to plantations in human-dominated landscapes. Within interface areas, understanding leopard ecology and diet can help in conservation management and conflict avoidance. In a fragmented rainforest and plantation landscape in southern India, we examined diet of large carnivores (with a focus...

The impact of invasive alien species on native ecosystems is a major conservation issue in the tropics. This study in the rainforest fragments of Anamalai hills, in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, assessed the effects of distance from edges and forest structure on the occurrence and abundance of three invasive alien species (Chromolaena odo...

Although leopard photo-capture rate was higher in our study area, the number of conflict in- cidents involving humans or livestock is lower than that in the other areas. Lower conflict incidence in the Valparai land- scape may be due to higher prey abun- dance and fewer households owning livestock and because livestock are fre- quently accompanied...

Bats play crucial roles in ecosystems, are increasingly used as bio-indicators and are an important component of tropical diversity. Ecological studies and conservation-oriented monitoring of bats in the tropics benefit from published libraries of echolocation calls, which are not readily available for many tropical ecosystems. Here, we present the...

Oceanic islands, known for their ecologically sensitive ecosystems and endemic species, are of high conservation significance. The volcanic island of Narcondam in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Indian Ocean, is a prime example and the only home of the endemic and globally endangered Narcondam Hornbill. Despite its ecological and evolutionary sign...

The rapid disruption of tropical forests probably imperils global biodiversity more than any other contemporary phenomenon. With deforestation advancing quickly, protected areas are increasingly becoming final refuges for threatened species and natural ecosystem processes. However, many protected areas in the tropics are themselves vulnerable to hu...

While the conservation impacts of invasive plant species on tropical biodiversity is widely recognised, little is known of the potential for cultivated crops turning invasive in tropical forest regions. In the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India, fragmented rainforests often adjoin coffee plantations. This study in the Anamalai hills assessed...

Conservation in human-modified landscapes is important for riparian animals as their habitats extend linearly beyond adjoining protected areas. We examined occupancy and intensity of habitat use of Asian small-clawed otters in coffee and tea plantations and an adjoining protected area in the Western Ghats. We sampled 66 stream segments of 500 m len...

Brown palm civet diet was assessed by examining 1,013 scats between May 1996 and December 1999 in Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Western Ghats, India. The brown palm civet is predominantly frugivorous, with fruits of 53 native species and four species of introduced plants comprising 97% of its diet. There was high intra- and inter-annual varia...

The persistence of wide-ranging mammals such as Asian elephants in fragmented landscapes requires extending conservation efforts into human-dominated landscapes around protected areas. Understanding how elephants use such landscapes may help facilitate their movements and reduce conflict incidence. We studied elephants’ use of fragmented habitats a...

Malabar Civet Viverra civettina, one of only two small carnivores in the world listed as Critically Endangered, is considered endemic to the Western Ghats, India. However, it has never been sighted with certainty in the wild and its 'known' ecology is based on speculation, not fact. We reviewed the history of its collection and published and unpubl...

Occurrence and abundance of mammals were compared in five large protected rainforest patches inside the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and in four smaller, unprotected rainforest fragments in a plantation matrix in the Anamalai hills, southern Western Ghats using line transect distance sampling. Among the 28 mammal species found in contiguous pro...

The Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot in India is threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, which is likely to impact large-bodied, wide-ranging species with specialised requirements such as hornbills.

The unique high altitude (> 3,500 m a.s.l.) brackish and freshwater lakes of the Ladakh region, India, are used as breeding grounds and staging sites by migratory waterfowl and waders. A survey of the abundance and diversity of birds at four lakes in eastern Ladakh in July 2007 found that the diversity of birds in these lakes (Tsokar, Statsapuk Tso...

Historical fragmentation and a current annual deforestation rate of 1.2% in the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot have resulted in a human-dominated landscape of plantations, agriculture, and developed areas, with embedded rainforest fragments that form biodiversity refuges and animal corridors. On private lands in the Anamalai hills, India, we es...

Changes in tree, liana, and understory plant diversity and community composition in five tropical rain forest fragments varying in area (18–2600 ha) and disturbance levels were studied on the Valparai plateau, Western Ghats. Systematic sampling using small quadrats (totaling 4 ha for trees and lianas, 0.16 ha for understory plants) enumerated 312 s...

The distribution and abundance patterns of Malabar Grey Hornbill Ocyceros griseus and Great Hornbill Buceros bicornis were studied in one undisturbed and one heavily altered rainforest landscape in the southern Western Ghats, India. The Agasthyamalai hills (Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, KMTR) contained over 400 km2 of continuous rainforest, w...

A major conservation issue, particularly in the tropics, is habitat loss and fragmentation due to developmental activities and increasing human populations. Ecologists today recognise that much of the once-pristine forests that are now secondary forests, as well as large areas outside existing conservation reserves, harbouring significant levels of...

This project examined the impact of rainforest fragmentation on small mammals (murid rodents and shrews), amphibians, and reptiles, in the Western Ghats mountain ranges in South India

A mixture of 15 mg/kg body weight ketamine hydrochloride (KE) and 1.5 mg/kg body weight xylazine hydrochloride (XY) was used to successfully immobilize free-ranging brown palm civets (Paradoxurus jerdoni). Between March 1998 and June 1999, 10 immobilizations of 7 individuals were carried out in tropical rainforests of the Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger...

The Malabar spiny dormouse Platacanthomys lasiurus is a rare endemic mammal of the Western Ghats. We studied the factors influencing its distribution and abundance in two tropical rainforest areas, the Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve and the Anamalai hills. Abundance was highest in the lower altitudinal zone (700-900 m) and during the south-west...

Fascinating and grand, with curious beaks and breeding habits, hornbills are a naturalist’s delight. In forest types ranging from open savannah to rainforest across Africa and Asia, they occupy the pride of place among birds and play a pivotal role as mutualistic frugivores and seed dispersers of various trees. Due to the impact of humans on hornbi...

We quantified and characterized the nesting habitat of Malabar Gray Hornbills (Tockus griseus) Dec. 1993-May 1994 in the Anaimalai Hills of southern Western Ghats. India. Twenty-six nest-site variables were recorded in each of 27 nest plots to evaluate variability of nest-site selection. Malabar Gray Hornbills selected nest trees of significantly l...