Abstract
<p class="Default">The present study was conducted in Little Rann of Kutch (LRK) landscape in the Gujarat state of western India. It is a vast saline mud-plain holding the last remaining source population of Indian wild ass (<em>Equus hemionus khur</em>) or Khur after its population from other parts of the world got locally extinct. Khur occupy fringes of the Sanctuary and bets (islands) having grassland and scrubland vegetation. Taking adequate and effective management decisions and monitoring would be difficult in absence of reliable information. Line transect sampling will ensure robust population estimate of Khur. By bridging this gap with adequate information, meaningful and effective management decisions can be taken. We have conducted line transect surveys using foot and vehicle transect following distance sampling in southern fringe as intensive study site. The density estimates (No./km<sup>2</sup> ± SE) in southern fringe of LRK during two surveys were 5.76 ± 0.91, 6.08 ± 1.39 in winter and 2.29 ± 0.55 in summer from foot transect and 5.2 ± 0.73, 6.72 ± 1.12 in winter and 4.29 ± 0.87 in summer from vehicle transect, respectively. The study will help managers to evaluate long term monitoring method and make adaptive management decisions.</p>
Highlights
Population variability over time due to various factors has been the central goal of animal ecology[1]
Indian wild ass or Khur (Equus hemionus khur) population had been estimated using line transect sampling for the first time in Little Rann of Kutch (LRK) in 1998 by Gujarat Forest Department[26] which was not exercised in following surveys
The global habitat of Khur that was once wide-spread in the Indian subcontinent across the western arid landscape of Pakistan, Baluchistan and Afghanistan is restricted to the LRK landscape[2,3,4,5,27] which is 5000 square kilometre of saline desert covered with brine and windblown sand
Summary
Population variability over time due to various factors has been the central goal of animal ecology[1]. To make decisions regarding conservation management, we need precise estimates of population density of the target species. Indian wild ass or Khur (Equus hemionus khur) population had been estimated using line transect sampling for the first time in LRK in 1998 by Gujarat Forest Department[26] which was not exercised in following surveys. The high dependency on grassland communities makes them the landscape engineer crucial to conserve the Semi-arid ecosystem of LRK1,3, estimation of population density is important to conserve and manage their population and habitat[9,10,11]. In a Semi-arid ecosystem, population of large herbivore fluctuates due to its unpredictable weather change and change in forage quality
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