The current status and distribution of <i>Rucervus eldii eldii</i> (McClelland, 1842), with respect to human-wildlife conflict, competitive exclusion and new immerging threats

The hog deer (Axis porcinus) is threatened by habitat alteration, fragmentation, and poaching, which have led to a drastic decline of its wild population. Two subspecies of A. porcinus have been described from its distribution range. A. p. porcinus is reported to occur from Pakistan along the Himalayan foothills through Nepal, India and Myanmar, and A. p. annamiticus is found in Thailand, Indo-China, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. However, the current distribution range of A. p. annamiticus is still unclear. We used the partial control region (CR) of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and seven microsatellite loci to investigate the intra-species structure, differentiation, and demographic history of hog deer populations from three landscapes, the Terai Arc, Northeast, and Indo-Burma (Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP), Manipur, India) landscapes. We also carried out divergence time estimation using the complete mitogenome. The level of variation was ~4%, and the time of divergence of the KLNP population and the other Indian populations was about 0.22 Mya, i.e., during the last glaciation periods of the Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene. The KLNP haplotypes of the control region were shared with the Southeast Asian subspecies, A. p. annamiticus. The results of the investigations of the microsatellite loci supported the mtDNA results unambiguously. Two genetically distinct lineages are found in India: one is found from the Terai Arc to Assam (A. p. porcinus) and the other in Manipur (A. p. annamiticus). The genetic diversity in KLNP was low and exhibited a higher degree of genetic differentiation compared with major Indian populations. The Bayesian skyline plots indicated that after a long phase of historic demographic stability, the populations of both the lineages of hog deer suffered pronounced declines during the period from ~800 years BP to 5000 years BP. In summary, our finding provided evidence that the KLNP population is probably a prime, isolated and sustaining stock of A. p. annamiticus and should be managed as evolutionarily significant units (ESUs).

Seasonal variations in the water quality of a tropical wetland dominated by floating meadows and its implication for conservation of Ramsar wetlands

Factors affecting forage selection by the endangered Eld's deer and hog deer in the floating meadows of Barak-Chindwin Basin of North-east India

Ecological factors that control the species distribution patterns at various spatiotemporal scales will get affected by climate change. To combat the situation, in the past few decades geographical information system (GIS) and remote sensing have been widely used by the researchers in the field of wildlife and habitat suitability modeling. The main objective of this study is to map and predict the current and future habitat suitability potential of Rucervus eldii eldii in Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP) using MaxEnt. Presence location data of the species, topographic factors, and bio-climatic variables were used as input in the MaxEnt software to map current habitat suitability potential. To map the habitat suitability potential for future, two representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios RCP 2.6 and RCP 8.5 for the years 2050 and 2070 were used. The model returned an average AUC value of 0.944 which indicates the model to be sensitive and descriptive. Isothermality and precipitation in the wettest quarter were found to be two most significant variables. The suitable range of precipitation in the wettest quarter for Rucervus eldii eldii varies from 1365 to 1410mm with an optimal value of 1405mm and isothermality from 46.43 to 46.6% with an optimal value of 46.5%. Current habitat suitability results of the model show 0.45 km2 of the area under no potential, 29.25 km2 of the area under least potential, 8.29 km2 of the area under moderate potential, 9.21 km2 of the area under good potential, and 8.82 km2 of the area under high potential. Both RCPs for the years 2050 and 2070 show the decreasing trend in the area under high suitability potential and increasing trend under no suitability potential. The results of this study can provide aid in the management and protection of Rucervus eldii eldii.

The Sangai deer (Rucervus eldii eldii) is an endangered species which is found only in KeibulLamjao National Park, Manipur (India) with an area of 40 km2. Selection of observation point and direct observation method were utilized to record certain behavioral pattern shown by the Sangai deer. Determination of food resources were carried out to identified feed species during the observation hour. The finding of the present study shows that the behavioral activities were notice more in the morning (dawn) than evening (dusk). The most favorable food by Sangai deer were Zizania latifolia (Kambong), Pragmitis karka (Tou), Saccharum munja (Khoimom), Carex cruciata (Humdang), Learsia hexandra (Hup), Alpinanigra (Pullei) and Hydechiumcoronarium (Loklei). Amongst the favorable food species, the most preferable food by the Sangai deer is Zizania latifolia while some of the individuals were seen consuming ashes (Tanggoi) during the observation. Intrusion of domestic animals within the park area may lead to severe calamities which then lead to the spread of many harmful diseases to Sangai deer and its inhabitants. Shyness of animal and sensitive behaviors of Sangai deer was observed. Questionnaire surveys were carried out among 40 respondents. The result suggested that the status of feeding must be taken care so that there should not be any alteration or changes in their behavior due to intrusion, local vegetables collector and disturbances.

The Sangai (Rucervus eldii eldii) is found only in the Manipur’s Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP). The Sangai is peculiar, being the "only deer to adapt to a floating wetland habitat." The reasons why there is threats to the Sangai's very existence will, for the purpose of this paper, assume that there are efforts to learn more about the basic characteristics that define the deer, regarding its population and approaches to conservation. Despite a population recovery from near-extinction in 1960s, the species remains in danger of extinction due to its habitat deterioration by Loktak Hydro Electric Project, loss of genetic diversity, poaching and disturbance on the overall ecosystem of Loktak Lake by human activities.

The population of the globally endangered hog deer (Axis porcinus) has declined severely across its geographic range. Intensive monitoring of its demographic and genetic status is necessary. We examined the demographic and genetic structure of a small hog deer population in Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP), located on the western fringe of the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot for conservation planning. The distribution pattern of hog deer in the Park was derived based on the presence/absence of faecal pellets in 1 km × 1 km grids. We used double-observer distance sampling method to derive the hog deer abundance and population structure and compared with previous data to derive the population trend. We determined the genetic diversity of the population through microsatellite screening and bottleneck detection. The overall pellet density was 0.34 ± 0.02 pellets km-2 restricted to only 22.34 ± 0.20 km2 area of the park. The estimated density of the deer in the park was 1.82–4.32 individuals km-2. The population showed a declining trend from 2006–08 (p < 0.05, R2 = 0.916) with 8% annum-1 and an increasing trend from 2003–2018 (p < 0.05, R2 = 0.9304) with 10% annum-1. The adult male-to-female ratio and fawn-to-doe ratio were 36.2 ± 1.9 males per 100 females and 16.5 ± 0.4 fawns per 100 females, respectively. The molecular examination suggested that the mean number of alleles at 23 loci was 2.70 ± 0.18, the observed heterozygosity (Ho) ranged from 0.26 to 0.63 (mean 0.42 ± 0.02), the expected heterozygosity (He) ranged from 0.23 to 0.73 (χ = 0.51 ± 0.03), and the polymorphic information content (PIC) ranged from 0.2 to 0.67 (χ = 0.43 ± 0.03) indicating a moderate level of genetic diversity. Although no bottleneck in the population was observed, the loss of genetic diversity may affect the evolutionary potential of the species at the site by limiting the selection flexibility. Conservation planning coupled with scientific management regime will help in the long term persistence of the population in the region.

A wetlandscape is a landscape characterized by the presence of numerous interconnected wetlands (Bertassello et al. 2018). Loktak located in the Manipur River basin in India is a unique wetlandscape that includes numerous floodplain wetlands and associated channels. It hosts the Loktak wetland, the largest freshwater body in the northeastern India, also designated as Ramsar site and the Keibul Lamjao National Park, the only floating national park in the world. Like any other wetlands in the world, Loktak wetlandscape is also under great threat due to the changes in the hydrometeorological conditions associated with climate change as well as the human interventions in the wetlandscape and its catchment. Loktak hydro-electric project, the major anthropogenic intervention in the wetlandscape has a huge impact on the hydrology and ecology of Loktak wetland complex and to Pumlen wetland complex to a less significant level (Trisal and Manihar 2002). This work investigates the multi- and cross-scale degradation of wetlands in the Loktak wetlandscape in a nested-framework by studying hydrogeomorphic dynamics at catchment scale, wetlandscape scale, and wetland complex scale. The catchment scale encompasses surrounding uplands and hillslopes. At the wetlandscape scale, which includes interconnected wetlands and associated channels, individual wetland boundaries are demarcated using historical Corona image and recent Sentinel-2 image. By comparing historic and recent boundaries, we found that six natural wetlands of area less than 1.5km2 have completely converted into other land use types and three small wetlands with area less than 1km2 get merged with bigger ones due to barrage-induced prolonged inundation. The wetland complex scale is a cluster of hydrologically interconnected wetlands of same or different types. Loktak wetland complex has not shown any prominent change in its extent, whereas Ikop and Pumlen wetland complexes have shrunken remarkably over time. The degradation of wetlandscape is evident from other factors such as proliferation and thinning of phumdis (floating biomass) and destruction of vegetation in the catchment. The cross-scale investigation suggests the influence of both natural and anthropogenic controls on the degradation of Loktak wetlandscape. The findings of this study and the protocols developed here will help to better understand the stressors of Loktak wetlandscape and elsewhere and could be instrumental in developing a conservation and management plan. Multi-scale management of wetlandscape include the catchment-scale measures such as afforestation, protection of hills and reducing the frequency of shifting (jhum) cultivation in hilly areas, wetlandscape scale measures such as control of waste dumping, control of channel modification for builtup and then wetland scale measures such as removal of invasive species from open water, and control of athaphum farming (method of farming using phumdis). Considering that a huge proportion of population in the valley depend on these wetlands for their livelihood, accounting their needs and making them a part of any effort for the management of this ecosystem has to be one of the primary goal.

![Figure][1] In August 2009, the International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) held its 36th Congress in Kyoto in the same convention centre where the historic Kyoto Protocol was drawn up 12 years earlier. The symbolism of this coincidence was not missed by Malcolm Gordon, the Chair of

The COVID19 pandemic has served as a salutary reminder of the potential fragility of our relationship with nature. It has forced us as individuals to accept unprecedented constraints on our ability to go about our everyday business, including not least our ability to travel long distances by car or on a plane, while governments have found themselves intervening in the economy in a fashion not seen since wartime. The decline in air pollution that has occurred in the wake of less movement across the globe has reminded us of the impact that our economic activity has on the environment. Yet, despite the fact that there is widespread concern in Britain about the impact of climate change, it will not necessarily be easy in the post-COVID world to persuade voters to take the individual actions or support the collective policies that are widely thought necessary to reverse the increase in global temperatures. In this paper, we examine recent attitudes towards climate change as revealed by a number of polls and surveys conducted during the course of the last decade. We begin by examining how many voters are concerned about climate change and whether concern has become more commonplace. We then turn to the crucial issue of the extent to which people believe that climate change/global warming are the product of human activity, and where responsibility for tacking action to deal with it is thought to lie. Thereafter, we examine attitudes towards both the collective and individual actions that might be taken to counteract global warming, and the extent to which these attitudes reflect their level of concern about the impact of human activity on the climate. We conclude by considering the implications for dealing with climate change in the post-COVID world.

氣候變遷與自然資源的經濟分析－以珊瑚礁、水資源為例

Climate change is a complex and contentious public issue, but the risk-management options available to us are straightforward and have well-characterized strengths and weaknesses.

The streamflow processes of the Poyang Basin are significantly altered due to combined influences from climate changes and human activities,which further triggers higher occurrence frequency of floods and droughts and hence serious water resources problems. In this sense,quantitative evaluations of influences from human activities and climate changes respectively are of greatly theoretical and practical merits in terms of planning and management of water resources. In this study,hydrological models and multivariate regression technique are used to identify quantitatively impacts of climate changes and human activities on streamflow variations of five tributaries of the Poyang Basin. Furthermore,the results are further corroborated by comparisons between the analyses by hydrological models and multivariate regression methods and also sensitivity analysis technique. The explained variables of the multivariate models are done using the adjustment coefficients with different explained variables,showing that the multiple regression models are the right ones with evaporation and the precipitation of the last month. The NASH coefficient for the AWBM model is larger than 0. 842,being better than the modeling results by the multivariate regression models. Meanwhile the impacts modeled by the above-mentioned techniques are similar,and are good for identification of the impacts of human activities and climate changes on streamflow variations. It should be noted here that the sensitivity method cannot exclude the base-period human influences. Due to increase of streamflow as a result of human interferences,the influence component by climate changes is usually exaggerated. Analysis of this study indicates that precipitation,potential evaporation and also human activities have the potential to increase the streamflow of the Poyang Basin and the fractional contribution is 27% and 73%,respectively. Climate changes can increase the streamflow of these five rivers considered in this study. Human activities increase the streamflow of the rivers except Fu River basin. In the Fu River basin,the streamflow decreases due to massive agricultural irrigation. Different influences can be identified for climate changes and human activities on tributaries of the Poyang Basin. Climate change is the major driving factor for the increase of the streamflow within the Rao,Xin and Gan River basins; however,human activity is the principle driving factor behind the increase of the streamflow of the Xiu River basin and also the decrease of the streamflow of Fu River basin. Meanwhile,different impacts of human activities and climate changes on streamflow variations are distinctly different on various temporal scales. On the annual time scale,increase of streamflow is large due to climate changes and human activities during 1970s- 1990 s and decrease of streamflow during 2000 s. On the seasonal scale,human activities can well increase streamflow during dry season(December to February of the subsequent year) and decrease streamflow during wet season(April to June) with the fractional contribution of 78. 9% and 82. 7% respectively. On the monthly scale,different influences of climate changes and human activities can be detected. Climate change is the main factor for the decrease of streamflow during May to June and human activities for the decrease of streamflow during February to May. The results of this study can provide theoretical ground for basin-scale water resources management under the influences of climate changes and human activities.

Effects of land-cover transformation and climate change on the distribution of two endemic lizards, Crotaphytus antiquus and Sceloporus cyanostictus, of northern Mexico

Climate change: Will the parties unite or divide?