Spatiotemporal evaluation of waning grassland habitats for swamp deer conservation across the human-dominated upper Gangetic Plains, India

Abstract

Summary Grassland habitats currently face severe anthropogenic exploitation, thereby affecting the survival of grassland-dependent biodiversity globally. The biodiversity-rich grasslands of India lack quantitative spatiotemporal information on their status. We evaluated the status of upper Gangetic Plains grasslands in 2015 and compared it with those from 1985, 1995 and 2005. On-ground mapping and visual classifications revealed a 57% decline in these grasslands between 1985 (418 km2) and 2015 (178 km2), mostly driven by habitat conversion (74% contribution by cropland). Limited radiotelemetry data from endemic swamp deer indicated a possible grassland-dominated average home range size of 1.02 km2, and these patches were highly preferred (average Ivlev’s index = 0.85) over other land-use classes at both spatial and temporal scales. Camera-trapping within the core habitats suggests the critical use of these patches as fawning/breeding grounds. Habitat suitability analysis indicates only c. 17% of the area along the Ganges is suitable as swamp deer habitat. We recommend the protection of these critical grassland patches to maintain ‘dynamic corridors’, with restoration and other management approaches involving multiple stakeholders to ensure the survival of this critical ecosystem.

Evaluating the potential for reintroducing the endangered wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) in Kanha National Park, central India

“…Although there has been no assessment for evaluating the impacts of wild buffalo extinction in central India, there are indications of increased coarse grasses in the low‐lying grassland savannas of central India due to the absence of generalist grazers who periodically removed these species (Pandey 1982; Pandey & Haradha 2007). There is an ongoing decline in the swamp and seasonal swamp ecosystems across the historical wild buffalo range due to altered hydrological regimes and land use changes (Vashistha et al 2021; Paul et al 2023). Wild buffaloes have been observed to engineer wallow sites, thereby sustaining mosaics of swamps, grassy and open areas across different parts of their range (Choudhury 2014; Mihailou & Massaro 2021).…”