Synthesizing habitat connectivity analyses of a globally important human-dominated tiger-conservation landscape

As ecological data and associated analyses become more widely available, synthesizing results for effective communication with stakeholders is essential. In the case of wildlife corridors, managers in human-dominated landscapes need to identify both the locations of corridors and multiple stakeholders for effective oversight. We synthesized five independent studies of tiger (Panthera tigris) connectivity in central India, a global priority landscape for tiger conservation, to quantify agreement on landscape permeability for tiger movement and potential movement pathways. We used the latter analysis to identify connectivity areas on which studies agreed and stakeholders associated with these areas to determine relevant participants in corridor management. Three or more of the five studies’ resistance layers agreed in 63% of the study area. Areas in which all studies agree on resistance were of primarily low (66%, e.g., forest) and high (24%, e.g., urban) resistance. Agreement was lower in intermediate resistance areas (e.g., agriculture). Despite these differences, the studies largely agreed on areas with high levels of potential movement: >40% of high average (top 20%) current-flow pixels were also in the top 20% of current-flow agreement pixels (measured by low variation), indicating consensus connectivity areas (CCAs) as conservation priorities. Roughly 70% of the CCAs fell within village administrative boundaries, and 100% overlapped forest department management boundaries, suggesting that people live and use forests within these priority areas. Over 16% of total CCAs’ area was within 1 km of linear infrastructure (437 road, 170 railway, 179 transmission line, and 339 canal crossings; 105 mines within 1 km of CCAs). In 2019, 78% of forest land diversions for infrastructure and mining in Madhya Pradesh (which comprises most of the study region) took place in districts with CCAs. Acute competition for land in this landscape with globally important wildlife corridors calls for an effective comanagement strategy involving local communities, forest departments, and infrastructure planners

Identifying umbrella species for connectivity conservation in Europe

The viability of many species depends on the potential of successful dispersal between populations across broad landscapes. This is particularly true for terrestrial large mammals, many of which are sensitive to the impacts of habitat fragmentation and isolation. Climate and land-use change further necessitate proactive management and conservation of areas that facilitate animal dispersal. Connectivity conservation is therefore one of the most widely-applied conservation measures, but needs to mapped at large scales with the potential of being used by multiple species. We conducted an analysis to map connectivity between protected areas for large terrestrial mammals in Europe. We simulated multiple-paths for 20 species in Europe to map the potential connectivity at species-specific scales using four different methods based on ecological assumptions. We then identified the paths that were most common amongst the different species, and suggested multi-use corridors. We also identified the suite of species that best represent the connectivity needs for other species, and therefore best suited to serve as umbrella species for connectivity conservation in continental Europe. Further, we related the connectivity characteristics for each species with its life-history traits, conservation status, and habitat characteristics to get an understanding of general characteristics that explain connectivity patterns. Our results provide a coarse-representation of important areas for potential dispersal of multiple species and support the development of management strategies to enhance connectivity conservation in Europe.peerReviewe

Phytochemistry, antioxidant activity and traditional uses of Ipomoea aquatica Forssk among the people of Lower Assam, India

Naturopathy has gained popularity in recent years for the treatment of various health diseases, due to the numerous adverse side effects of synthetic medications. Assam in North-Eastern part of India is a great treasure of bio-resources, particularly for plant diversity and animal diversity, and has become a source of hundreds of medicinal herbs. Different tribal and non-tribal inhabitants of this area have knowledge about using of various plants as well as their products to heal a variety of health illnesses. Among these, Ipomoea aquatica Forssk is widely used among the Lower Assam ethnic groups. A survey study was conducted to validate the traditional therapeutic uses of Ipomoea aquatica Forssk in treating various health related disorders among the native people of Lower Assam. Further, an investigation in the laboratory was performed to examine the phytochemical components and the antioxidant activity of Ipomoea aquatica Forssk using standard methods. As the methanolic extract showed the best results, a GC-MS analysis was also performed in attempt to identify the bioactive component of the methanolic extract. This confirms their traditional use as food and medicinal.

Targeting restoration sites to improve connectivity in a tiger conservation landscape in India

Background: Maintaining and restoring connectivity between source populations is essential for the long term viability of wide-ranging species, many of which occur in landscapes that are under pressure to meet increasing infrastructure needs. Identifying barriers in corridors can help inform conservation and infrastructure development agencies so that development objectives can be achieved without compromising conservation goals. Here, we use the tiger landscape in central India as a case study to identify barriers, associate them with existing infrastructure, and quantify the potential improvement by restoring or mitigating barriers. Additionally, we propose an approach to categorize linkages based on their current status within and between Protected Areas (PAs). Methods: We generated a hybrid landuse-landcover map of our study area by merging datasets. We used least-cost methods and circuit theory to map corridors and generate linkage metrics. We mapped barriers and used the improvement score (IS) metric to quantify potential improvement by restoring or mitigating them. Based on criteria that represent the status of corridors between-PAs and populations within-PAs, we ranked linkages into one of four categories: Cat1—linkages that currently have high quality and potential for tiger connectivity and should be maintained, Cat2W—linkages where focus on habitat and tiger populations may improve connectivity, Cat2B—linkages where focus on reducing barriers between PAs may improve connectivity, and Cat3—linkages where effort is needed to both reduce barriers between PAs and improve tiger populations and habitat within PAs. We associated barriers with infrastructure and present maps to show where restoration or mitigation measures can be targeted to have the highest potential impact. Results: We mapped 567 barriers within 30 linkages in this landscape, of which 265 barriers intersect with infrastructure (694 km of roads, 150 km of railway, 48 reservoirs, 10 mines) and 302 barriers are due to land-use or gaps in forest cover. Eighty-six barriers have both roads and railways. We identified 7 Cat1, 4 Cat2w, 9 Cat2b, and 10 Cat3 linkages. Eighty surface mines and thermal power plants are within 10 km of the least-cost paths, and more coal mines are closer to connectivity areas where linkages are narrow and rank poorly on both axes. Discussion: We present spatial and quantitative results that can help conservation practitioners target mitigation and restoration efforts. India is on the path to rapid economic growth, with infrastructure development planned in biodiversity-rich areas. The mitigation hierarchy of avoiding, minimizing, and offsetting impacts due to proposed development projects can be applied to corridors in this landscape. Cross-sectoral cooperation at early stages of project life-cycles to site, design, and implement solutions can maintain connectivity while meeting infrastructure needs in this rapidly changing landscape

A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON EFFECTIVENESS OF OPEN VERSUS CLOSED KINETIC CHAIN EXERCISES TO IMPROVE GAIT IN SPASTIC DIPLEGIC CEREBRAL PALSY

Background: Cerebral Palsy (CP) describes a non- progressive but not unchanging disorder of movement and posture due to an insult to or anomaly of the developing brain. People with spastic diplegia typically walk slowly and have difficulties in performing activities such as walking running or jumping. Children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy are relied more on cadence to increase speed. Hence, the purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of open and closed kinetic chain (OKC and CKC) exercises in improving gait in spastic diplegic cerebral palsy. Methods: 30 children with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy of both genders with age 4-12 years was taken. Cadence and distance covered in 1Minute Walk Test was calculated before and after the test. The intervention for group A was CKC exercises and group B was OKC exercises for 3 days a week for 6 weeks and each session lasted for 30-45 minutes was given for both the groups. Results: Paired t-test was performed to find effectiveness of CKC and OKC improving gait in spastic diplegic CP to see the difference of means of 1minute walk, t = 10.789 which is significant (p = 0.000) and for cadence, t = 3.37 which is highly significant (p = 0.00) implying that cadence and distance covered in1minute walk was more with CKC exercises. Conclusion: Based on the result it is concluded that CKC exercises are effective in improving gait than OKC exercises in spastic diplegic cerebral palsy

Scrub Typhus Leading to Acute Encephalitis Syndrome, Assam, India

To determine the contribution of Orientia tsutsugamushi, the agent of scrub typhus, as a cause of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) in Assam, India, we conducted a retrospective study of hospital patients with symptoms of AES during 2013–2015. Our findings suggest that O. tsutsugamushi infection leads to AES and the resulting illness and death

GAPeDNA: Assessing and mapping global species gaps in genetic databases for eDNA metabarcoding

Aim Environmental DNA metabarcoding has recently emerged as a non‐invasive tool for aquatic biodiversity inventories, frequently surpassing traditional methods for detecting a wide range of taxa in most habitats. The major limitation currently impairing the large‐scale application of eDNA‐based inventories is the lack of species sequences available in public genetic databases. Unfortunately, these gaps are still unknown spatially and taxonomically, hindering targeted future sequencing efforts. Innovation We propose GAPeDNA, a user‐friendly web interface that provides a global overview of genetic database completeness for a given taxon across space and conservation status. As an application, we synthetized data from regional checklists for marine and freshwater fishes along with their IUCN conservation status to provide global maps of species coverage using the European Nucleotide Archive public reference database for 19 metabarcoding primers. This tool automatizes the scanning of gaps in these databases to guide future sequencing efforts and support the deployment of eDNA inventories at larger scale. This tool is flexible and can be expanded to other taxa and primers upon data availability. Main conclusions Using our global fish case study, we show that gaps increase towards the tropics where species diversity and the number of threatened species are the highest. It highlights priority areas for fish sequencing like the Congo, the Mekong and the Mississippi freshwater basins which host more than 60 non‐sequenced threatened fish species. For marine fishes, the Caribbean and East Africa host up to 42 non‐sequenced threatened species. By presenting the global genetic database completeness for several primers on any taxa and building an open‐access, updatable and flexible tool, GAPeDNA appears as a valuable contribution to support any kind of eDNA metabarcoding study