Distribution, Demography, and Conservation of Lion-tailed Macaques (Macaca silenus) in the Anamalai Hills Landscape, Western Ghats, India

The status of the endemic and endangered lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) has not been properly assessed in several regions of the Western Ghats of southern India. We conducted a study in Parambikulam Forest Reserve in the state of Kerala to determine the distribution, demography, and status of lion-tailed macaques. We laid 5km2 grid cells on the map of the study area (644km2) and made four replicated walks in each grid cell using GPS. We gathered data on lion-tailed macaque group locations, demography, and site covariates including trail length, duration of walk, proportion of evergreen forest, height of tallest trees, and human disturbance index. We also performed occupancy modeling using PRESENCE ver. 3.0. We estimated a minimum of 17 groups of macaques in these hills. Low detection and occupancy probabilities indicated a low density of lion-tailed macaques in the study area. Height of the tallest trees correlated positively whereas human disturbance and proportion of evergreen forest correlated negatively with occupancy in grid cells. We also used data from earlier studies carried out in the surrounding Anamalai Tiger Reserve and Nelliyampathy Hills to discuss the conservation status in the large Anamalai Hills Landscape. This landscape harbors an estimated population of 1108 individuals of lion-tailed macaques, which is about one third of the entire estimated wild population of this species. A conservation plan for this landscape could be used as a model for conservation in other regions of the Western Ghats

Genetic variation in the Giant African Snail Lissachatina fulica (Bowdich, 1822) in its invasive ranges of Asia and West Africa

The rapidly spreading Giant African Snail Lissachatina [=Achatina] fulica (Bowdich, 1822) has been introduced to many parts of the world since the 1800s and is one of the world’s most invasive species. We compared cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences from four invasive ranges: India, United Arab Emirates (UAE), China and West Africa. Sixteen distinct haplotypes were identified, with nine found in India, four in the UAE, one in China and four in West Africa. Haplotype 5 was the most common haplotype in Asia and haplotype 1 the most common in West Africa. Network analysis suggests that all haplotypes in India, the UAE, China and West Africa were derived from the most common haplotype 5 which is present in all three invasive ranges in Asia. Higher levels of genetic variation were observed in the invasive ranges of Asia than in West Africa. The high genetic variation observed in Asia, together with high levels of trade as exemplified by wood import data, supports the hypothesis that there could have been multiple invasion events in India and the UAE. Additional sampling from the native and invasive ranges in Africa and from other regions of invasion is essential for understanding the movement and spread of L. fulica

Fine-scale geographical sampling and molecular characterization of the giant African land snail in its invasive range in Asia shows low genetic diversity, new haplotypes and the emergence of another haplotype from the Indian Ocean Islands

Native to East Africa, the giant African snail Lissachatina [=Achatina] fulica (Bowdich, 1822) is a tropical crop pest and one of the world’s top 100 invasive species. It is now present in at least 52 countries worldwide, with an actively expanding range. Lissachatina fulica was first introduced to India in 1847, but subsequent arrivals in India and local patterns of spread remain unclear. This study uses the 16S rRNA gene to identify the extent of genetic variation in India by sampling Indian populations and comparing them with published sequence data. A total of 307 snails were collected from 178 localities in India and from a single locality in the UAE, and the 16S rRNA gene was amplified and sequenced. Eight haplotypes were identified from India of which four are newly recognized. The new haplotypes identified in this study have increased the number of L. fulica 16S rRNA haplotypes from 19 to 23. Examination of haplotype and nucleotide diversities revealed that genetic variation is low in India, the UAE and across Asia as a whole. The number of haplotypes was higher in India when compared to other invasive regions but all of the Asian haplotypes appear to be closely related to the most common haplotypes in the Indian Ocean Islands. Heavy trade between the snail-infested and native-range countries suggests that the variation observed in India might be traced back to its native range, but the lack of sampling and paucity of sequences from East Africa currently prevents a comparison. Tracing back the emergent haplotypes by additional sampling could throw more light on the spread of L. fulica

Distribution, Demography, and Conservation of Lion-tailed Macaques (Macaca silenus) in the Anamalai Hills Landscape, Western Ghats, India

The status of the endemic and endangered lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) has not been properly assessed in several regions of the Western Ghats of southern India. We conducted a study in Parambikulam Forest Reserve in the state of Kerala to determine the distribution, demography, and status of lion-tailed macaques. We laid 5km2 grid cells on the map of the study area (644km2) and made four replicated walks in each grid cell using GPS. We gathered data on lion-tailed macaque group locations, demography, and site covariates including trail length, duration of walk, proportion of evergreen forest, height of tallest trees, and human disturbance index. We also performed occupancy modeling using PRESENCE ver. 3.0. We estimated a minimum of 17 groups of macaques in these hills. Low detection and occupancy probabilities indicated a low density of lion-tailed macaques in the study area. Height of the tallest trees correlated positively whereas human disturbance and proportion of evergreen forest correlated negatively with occupancy in grid cells. We also used data from earlier studies carried out in the surrounding Anamalai Tiger Reserve and Nelliyampathy Hills to discuss the conservation status in the large Anamalai Hills Landscape. This landscape harbors an estimated population of 1108 individuals of lion-tailed macaques, which is about one third of the entire estimated wild population of this species. A conservation plan for this landscape could be used as a model for conservation in other regions of the Western Ghats