From Traditional to 360-Degree Feedback in Performance Evaluation of Bhutan

Performance evaluation of tutor is important at universities and colleges. At College of Science and Technology, Royal University of Bhutan, all tutors receive feedbacks of performances from the students of which they are teaching and the feedback results are too vague to serve the purpose of performance evaluation. 360-degree feedback concept is useful for performance evaluation in which the tutor is evaluated from different points of view (subordinate, students, peer, supervisor and beneficiary). Thus, to identify the clear evaluation, it is important to build web-based 360-degree feedback system in performance evaluation. In this paper, we introduce web-based application titled “Feedback Analytic System” in the college to realize 360-degree feedback concept. It also presents the current working of traditional feedback system in Bhutan and problem associated with it, methodology, design and the implementation. The proposed system was created using Laravel 5.3 framework, PHP 7.0.1, SQL (Structure Query Language), Bootstrap, CSS (Cascading Stylesheet) and JQuery

Abundance, Distribution and Association of <i>Paphiopedilum fairrieanum</i> (Lindl.) Stein with Site Factors in Brongshing, Samdrup Jongkhar District

The long-lived and attractive flower of Paphiopedilum fairrieanum (Lindl.) Stein has made it one of the most commercialized flowers in the world, and its distribution is restricted to small areas. Thus, it was listed as a critically endangered orchid species by the IUCN in 2015. Therefore, the aim of this study was to generate information on the abundance and distribution of Paphiopedilum fairrieanum and assess the relationship between the abundance and distribution of Paphiopedilum fairrieanum with site factors in the study area. A systematic sampling method was followed for the data collection, with a 200 m distance between the plots. A total of 34 sample plots with 5.64 m radii were established. In total, 1004 individuals of orchid species were recorded. The abundance and distribution of the Paphiopedilum fairrieanum showed statistically significant associations with the elevation (r = −0.350, p = 0.042), slope (r = 0.666, p = 0.000), precipitation (r = −0.630, p = 0.000) and temperature (r = 0.371, p = 0.031). A southeast aspect was found to have the highest number of Paphiopedilum fairrieanum, and a northwest aspect had the least. The findings of this study would help researchers to find suitable sites and the distribution of Paphiopedilum fairrieanum in unexplored areas

Population abundance and distribution of the endangered golden langur (Trachypithecus geei, Khajuria 1956) in Bhutan

Reliable population estimates are lacking for many South Asian primate species, including the golden langur (Trachypithecus geei), which is endangered and restricted to Bhutan and northeast India. Although well studied in India, few studies exist on this species in Bhutan. In November 2017, we undertook a nationwide survey of golden langurs in Bhutan using double observers along trail-based transects in 17 blocks within its habitat, and modeled its distribution using MaxEnt. A total of 2439 golden langurs in 222 groups were collectively encountered by 17 teams of double observers, from which, an overall population of 2516 ± SE 363 individuals and 236 ± SE 9 groups were estimated. Group sizes varied from 2 to 35 individuals with a mean of 11 ± SD 0.38 individuals. A total of 468 adult males (19%), 924 adult females (38%), 649 juveniles (27%), and 398 infants (16%) were counted. Adult male-to-female sex ratio was 1:1.97 and adult female-to-infant ratio was 1:0.43. We determined 2848 km² of suitable area for golden langurs in Bhutan and estimated a density of 0.88 individuals/km². Our population estimate of golden langurs in Bhutan is much lower than the current IUCN estimate of 4000 individuals for Bhutan, necessitating a reassessment of its current conservation status due to threats from road kills, electrocution, and development activities like road construction, hydropower, and electrical transmission lines. We further recommend our refined double-observer survey method to reliably estimate primate populations in rugged terrain

Conservation threats to the endangered golden langur (Trachypithecus geei, Khajuria 1956) in Bhutan

Threat assessment is critical to species conservation and management planning, because prior identification and assessment of key threats to conservation planning can assist in developing appropriate interventions or strategies. Comprehensive threat assessments are currently lacking for many threatened primates. In this paper, we classify and rank all direct threats to the endangered golden langur (Trachypithecus geei) in Bhutan in order to provide a practical guide to future conservation of the species. Information on threats was based on interviews with local people, discussion with field forestry staff, and social media interaction. We classified threats to golden langur habitats and populations, and ranked them using Miradi™, an analytical software for the adaptive management of conservation projects. We identified five habitat threats: (1) hydropower development, (2) road development, (3) housing development, (4) resource extraction, and (5) agricultural expansion. We also identified seven population threats: (1) electrocution, (2) road kill, (3) road injury, (4) dog kill, (5) retaliatory killing, (6) illegal pet keeping, and (7) hybridization with capped langurs. We rated the overall threat to golden langurs in Bhutan as 'medium'. Hydropower, road, and housing development constituted 'high' impact, while agricultural expansion, resource extraction, electrocution, and road kill had 'medium' impact; the remaining threats had 'low' impact. To immediately mitigate threats to golden langurs, we recommend: (a) installing speed limit signage and speed breakers with strict enforcement of speed limits; (b) installing insulated electric cables and fencing around power transformers; and (c) reducing and restraining domestic dog populations