Tanoy Mukherjee

Indian Statistical Institute | ISI · Agricultural and Ecological Research Unit (AERU)

The Indian rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) is susceptible to habitat change and fragmentation due to illegal logging, rapid urbanization and non-forest use and therefore were confined in to isolated areas throughout its distribution. The present study was conducted in Gorumara landscape which is composed of two protected areas (PAs) viz., Gorumara Nat...

Hangul (Cervus hanglu hanglu), the only red deer subspecies surviving in the Indian subcontinent, is of top conservation priority with global importance. Unfortunately, it has lost much of its historical distribution range, and it is now confined to Dachigam landscape within the Kashmir valley of India. The Government of India initiated a recovery...

The Semi-arid wildlands of the West Bengal state of India are known habitats of Indian Grey Wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) and Striped Hyaena (Hyaena hyaena) in India. However, increasing anthropogenic pressure in these regions is one major factor behind habitat loss and rising carnivore-human conflict. We mapped the suitable habitat and estimated the...

The improvement and application of pest models to predict yield losses is still a challenge for the scientific community. However, pest models were targeted chiefly towards scheduling scouting or pesticide applications to deal with pest infestation. Thysanoptera (thrips) significantly impact the productivity of many economically important crops wor...

Trachypithecus geei Khajuria, 1956 or Golden langur are an endangered colobine primate species that are distributed in the transboundary region of Bhutan and India. The species is severely threatened because of increasing habitat fragmentation and isolation across its entire range, especially the populations in Assam, India. The distribution range...

State of West Bengal is the last stronghold for fishing cats in the country. Although Fishing cats has been mentioned as a vulnerable wetland species, few works have been conducted on their distribution pattern, habitat or ecology. Our study uses camera traps in various urban and rural wetland areas of South Bengal spanning more than 60,000 km2 to...

State of West Bengal is the last stronghold for fishing cats in the country. Although Fishing cats has been mentioned as a vulnerable wetland species, few works have been conducted on their distribution pattern, habitat or ecology. Our study uses camera traps in various urban and rural wetland areas of southern West Bengal spanning more than 67,000...

Climate change has severely impacted many species, causing rapid declines or extinctions within their essential ecological niches. This deterioration is expected to worsen, particularly in remote high-altitude regions like the Himalayas, which are home to diverse flora and fauna, including many mountainous ungulates. Unfortunately, many of these sp...

Human-wildlife interactions can range from reverence to extreme conflict. Conservationists have come to the realization that humans and wildlife have always coexisted together in shared landscapes across the globe. Thus, understanding and acting upon the prospects of human-wildlife coexistence (HWCo) is now a crucial component of biodiversity conse...

The small mammalian fauna plays pivotal roles in ecosystem dynamics and as crucial biodiversity indicators. However, recent research has raised concerns about the decline of mammalian species due to climate change. Consequently, significant attention is directed toward studying various big flagship mammalian species for conservation. However, small...

Owing to accelerated climate change, recent decades have witnessed a concerning trend of deforestation and habitat conversion, particularly in Asia, leading to significant habitat loss for a large number of wildlife, including several keystone and/or indicator species. The binturong, Arctictis binturong is no exception, facing multiple threats such...

The storks (Ciconiiformes: Ciconiidae) represent a captivating avian group distinguished by their heavy-wading nature, long legs, elongated necks, and robust bills. The South and Southeast Asian region boasts the most diverse population of storks, necessitating immediate conservation efforts to preserve their habitats and shield them from the escal...

The endangered and poorly known Swamp Grass-babbler, Laticilla cinerascens (Passeriformes: Pellorneidae), confronts critical threats and vulnerability due to its specific habitat requirements and restricted populations in the northeastern region of the Indian Subcontinent. This study investigates the distribution of the species, habitat quality, ge...

The hispid hare, Caprolagus hispidus, belonging to the family Leporidae is a small grassland mammal found in the southern foothills of the Himalayas, in India, Nepal, and Bhutan. Despite having an endangered status according to the IUCN Red List, it lacks studies on its distribution and is threatened by habitat loss and land cover changes. Thus, th...

The spotted pond turtle ( Geoclemys hamiltonii ) is a threatened and less explored species endemic to Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. To infer structural variation and matrilineal phylogenetic interpretation, the present research decoded the mitogenome of G. hamiltonii (16,509 bp) using next-generation sequencing technology. The mitogenome...

Pleistocene glaciations had profound impact on the spatial distribution and genetic makeup of species in temperate ecosystems. While the glacial period trapped several species into glacial refugia and caused abrupt decline in large populations, the interglacial period facilitated population growth and range expansion leading to allopatric speciatio...

The Nicobar leaf-nosed Bat (Hipposideros nicobarulae) was described in the early 20th century; however, its systematic classification has been debated for over 100 years. This endangered and endemic species has achieved species status through morphological data in the last 10 years. However, the genetic information and phylogenetic relationships of...

The Indian star tortoise (Geochelone elegans) is a massively traded animal in South Asia. To mitigate this risk, the conservation agencies recommended guidelines to safeguard this charismatic species in nature. We adopted mitochondrial DNA-based investigation and performed species distribution modeling of G. elegans throughout its distribution rang...

Species with sympatric distribution influence ecosystem dynamics and are impacted by the presence of other co-existing species. Assessing the coexistence and the role of interspecific interactions with the landscape variables is necessary to know the species co-occurrence in space. In the Indian Himalayan region, such studies are completely lacking...

Large forested landscapes often harbour significant amount of biodiversity and support human society by rendering various livelihood opportunities and ecosystem services. Their periodic assessment for health and ecological integrity is essential for timely mitigation of any negative impact of human use due to over harvesting of natural resources or...

Birds are the most prominent wildlife species in forest and ecosystem attempt to enlist the existing avifaunal species in. trans-Himalayan Lahaul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh based on our observations, previously published checklists/observations and eBird data. 22 A s have been reliably recorded in this region that s total of 278 species belonging...

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) plays a vital role in maintaining the integrity of the high mountain ecosystem by regulating prey populations and maintaining plant community structure. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the role of the snow leopard and its interaction with prey species. Further, elucidating landscape use and co-occurrence o...

Brown bear-mediated conflicts have caused immense economic loss to the local people living across the distribution range. In India, limited knowledge is available on the Himalayan brown bear (HBB), making human-brown bear conflict (HBC) mitigation more challenging. In this study, we studied HBC in the Lahaul valley using a semi-structured questionn...

The mountain ecosystems are fragile because of topography and extreme climatic conditions. The Hindu-Kush Himalayan (HKH) region is a biodiversity-rich ecosystem and highly vulnerable to climate change and anthropogenic activities among the mountains. In HKH, the climate change impacts on ecologically specialist species are already evident, but gen...

Two most recently described macaque species; the White Cheeked Macaque (Macaca leucogenys) and Arunachal Macaque (Macaca munzala) were discovered from a single biodiversity hotspot, the Eastern Himalaya. We conducted surveys in the West Siang, Arunachal Pradesh, India and collected five faeces and two skin samples of macaques that on DNA analysis i...

Himalayan monal is a conservation priority species in its entire distribution range because of its declining population due to various anthropogenic threats. However, the information on its distribution and abundance is lacking, which is vital for conservation and management planning. Hence, the present study has assessed the abundance and occupanc...

Habitat degradation and loss have affected many species across all major groups in India and elsewhere. However, the water birds are among the most impacted in terms of habitat loss and drastic decline in populations. The White-bellied heron (A. insignis) (WBH), a Critically Endangered and top conservation priority species, has lost much of its hab...

The present study aims to explore the mammalian diversity of Darjeeling district using camera traps along with questionnaire survey in protected area (PA) and non- protected area (Non-PA). We also attempted to understand the influence of habitat variables on mammalian species richness using the generalized linear mixed models (GLMM). A total of 30...

The Himalayan Monal is a conservation priority species in its entire distribution range. Its population is declining in many areas due to various anthropogenic threats. The information on species distribution and its abundance is lacking in many areas which are vital for conservation and management planning. Hence, through the present study, we hav...

With the recent classification of red panda into two phylogenetic species, we propose ‘Siang river’ as a potential boundary for species divergence between the Himalayan red panda (Ailurus fulgens) and the Chinese red panda (Ailurus styani). Bayesian-based phylogeny and MJ network splited all the sequences of red pandas into two distinct clusters in...

Large mammals that occur in low densities, particularly in the high-altitude areas, are globally threatened due to fragile climatic and ecological envelopes. Among bear species, the Himalayan brown bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus) has a distribution that is restricted to Himalayan highlands with relatively small and fragmented populations. To date,...

Large mammals that occur in low densities, particularly in the high-altitude areas, are globally threatened due to fragile climatic and ecological envelopes. Among bear species, the Himalayan brown bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus) has a distribution that is restricted to Himalayan highlands with relatively small and fragmented populations. To date,...

Wildlife management in rapid changing landscapes requires critical planning through cross cutting networks, and understanding of landscape features, often affected by the anthropogenic activities. The present study demonstrates fine-scale spatial patterns of genetic variation and contemporary gene flow of red panda (Ailurus fulgens) populations wit...

With the recent classification of red panda into two phylogenetic species, we propose 'Siang river' as a potential boundary for species divergence between the Himalayan red panda (Ailurus fulgens) and the Chinese red panda (Ailurus styani). Bayesian based phylogeny and MJ network splited all the sequences into two distinct clusters in accordance to...

Wildlife management in rapid changing landscapes requires critical planning through cross-cutting networks, and understanding of landscape features, often affected by the anthropogenic activities. The present study demonstrates fine-scale spatial patterns of genetic variation and contemporary gene flow of red panda (Ailurus fulgens) populations wit...

The group of langur species in the Himalayan range, comprising Semnopithecus ajax, Semnopithecus hector and Semnopithecus schistaceus, now proved to be one single species, were earlier thought to be different species. Their taxonomic confusion has led to deficiency in the understanding of their geographic range and their vulnerability to future cli...

Montane systems, formed by a series of climatic oscillations and temporal topographic metamorphosis, have broken up the contiguous distribution of widespread species and accelerated allopatric speciation. We used partial fragment of mitochondrial cytb gene to address speciation in the Sibreian ibex Capra sibirica from the entire range. The present...

The Gorumara National Park (GNP) is an important conservation area located in the northern region of West Bengal State, India, as it provides habitat for three megaherbivores: Indian One-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and Gaurs (Bos gaurus). It harbours one of the last population of the one-horned rhino....

Large carnivores that occur in low densities, particularly in the high-altitude areas are globally threatened because of habitat loss and anthropogenic disturbances. Among the eight bear species, brown bear has the largest distribution range, where the Himalayan brown bear distribution is restricted to Himalayan high lands with relatively small and...

Indian Grey wolf Canis lupus pallipes is one of the major carnivores of semi-arid regions of eastern India especially in the regions of southern west Bengal and Jharkhand. The present study was conducted in three districts of west Bengal i.e., Purulia, Bankura and Midnapore and Dalma part of Jharkhand state India, to evaluate the current status o...

Different Biogeographic provinces and environmental factors are known to influence the dispersibility of long-ranging carnivores over the landscape. However, lack of empirical data on long-ranging carnivores may lead to erroneous decisions in formulating management plans. The Indian Grey wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) is known to be distributed in the...

The average training ROC for the replicate runs is 0.981, and the standard deviation is 0.007. (DOC)

Zonal statistics table for protected areas in CNP and LGP. (DOC)

Response curves of the important variables for habitat suitability of gray wolf. Curves shows how logistic prediction of the model changes with the selected variables. Keeping all other variables at their average sample value. (DOC)

100% staked bar chart of open-ended semi-structured questionnaire survey. Representing the relative percentage of multiple questionnaire survey series along with the no. of respective respondent. Black bar = indicates the respondents aggress with the statement, Grey bar = indicates the respondents who doesn’t aggress with the statement. (DOC)

Accuracy assessment table for forest cover classification of CNP and LGP. (DOC)

Forest cover map of CNP and LGP. (DOC)

Elevation map of CNP and LGP. (DOC)

List of all 23 variables for habitat suitability modelling for Indian Grey Wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) in the study landscapes (Cotta Nagpur Plateau and Lower Gangetic Plain). (DOC)

Percentage contribution and permutation importance of selected variables. (DOC)

Macaca fascicularis umbrosus also known as Nicobar long tailed macaque is a subspecies of long-tailed macaque. It has a restricted distribution in the three islands namely Great Nicobar, Little Nicobar and Katchal of Nicobar Island groups. This species is the only non-human primates found in Nicobar group of islands. The species has been classifi...

Abstract Butterfly diversity at Serampore, West Bengal, India, was studied on the post monsoon season and the habitat includes tree canopy, shrub, herbs, climbers and grasses. Permanent line transect counts were used to record species richness and abundance of butterfly communities. A total of 38 butterfly species belonging to the families of Hespe...

Plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) are known to influence plant growth by various direct or indirect mechanisms. Present study was conducted with an aim to estimate the PGPB potential of two nickel tolerant bacterial isolates from river Hooghly. Isolates (I-3) (Gram negative coccobacilli) and (II-1) (Gram positive rods) were observed, among a t...