New study generates methods on conservation of Ungulates

Bengaluru, Mar 15 (PTI):
A new ecological study by scientists of city-based Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS) and collaborators has generated methods on conservation of tropical forest ungulates. The scientific monograph titled ‘Spatial Dynamics and Ecology of Large Ungulate Populations in Tropical Forests of India’ has been published by ‘Springer Nature’, a research publisher.
The publication is based on field work and analyses conducted on population ecology of five species of threatened ungulates: Gaur, Sambar, Chital, Muntjac and Wild Pig in the Nagarahole-Bandipur protected landscape, a CWS statement said on Monday. The study involved the conduct of line transect surveys on foot, designed and implemented advanced distance sampling methods, CWS said.
The data generated were analysed using spatially explicit hierarchical distance sampling models, one of the first studies in the world employing these advanced methods.
The study rigorously estimated population densities of these five ungulates at both local and landscape scales, and explored causal factors underlying the variations in their densities in terms of different ecological and management factors, according to the statement.