Eco-tourism

 

Eco-tourism 

India is a home to over 350 species of mammals and 1200 species of birds. It has 572 nature-endowed areas. In all India has 89 National Parks and 483 sanctuaries, of which 19 fall under the purview of Project Tiger. The total area of India’s protected wilderness is approximately 140,000 sq. km. This constitutes 4% of the country’s total land area. Each preserved natural habitat for wildlife varies from region to region and offers something unique, be it its flora, fauna, avi-fauna or aqua-fauna. Many of the species they harbour are rare and endangered. Along with preserving wildlife in forests, due attention has also been paid to areas where animals co-exist with humans.

 This is natural also, as diverse climate and landscape supports typical animals in each region. In fact, India’s flora and fauna are as diverse as its cultural fabric and offer many fascinating sights for nature lovers. Given the protection of identified ecosystems, we can see glimpses of the wildlife of India in places like Simplipal, Ranthambhore, Manas, Corbett etc. Every state of the Indian Union has a sanctuary which protects the special animals of the area.

 Woodlands – The forests of the Indian sub-continent, from the Himalaya to the Andamans, range from the tropical, moist evergreens to deciduous trees. In deciduous forests, what is striking is that all the animals and birds are smaller since the temperatures are higher. As we go up the mountains, there is quick change in weather and vegetation and increasing size of all the animals.

Himalayas – The chinkara stag, blackbuck and barking deer wander through evergreen forests of  lofty Himalaya and on the higher slopes we find the bear, which is friendly and easily taught tricks. Racoons and swamp buffaloes are also common here. The eastern Himalaya, being wetter, has exotic flying foxes and the oriental squirrel with three stripes on its back. The famous Indian mongoose also abounds in these forests. The treeless slopes of the northern mountains have moles, hares and the antelope or bharal. In Himalayan forests we also find the much-poached musk deer and the protected blue sheep. In the fir forests, lives the red panda but today is rarely seen. Snow leopard is also spotted in these landscapes.

 Plains – North Bengal and the slopes of the Assam Himalaya along the mighty Brahmaputra are the home of the deer and the water buffalo with swept-back horns. In the denser forests, the elephant and the single horned rhino roam, with the macaque occupying the green rain-forest canopy. In the dense undergrowth, we find the reptiles. The birds too are of a great variety, with teals, sarus cranes, swans nd ducks. The savannahs in the Gangetic plain support many grass eating animals like elephant, sambar deer, wild boar and specially the chital deer which can be seen grazing in herds at Kanha or in the chaurs of the Corbett.

 

Dry Lands - The drier parts of India are an open zoo. The Gir forest of Gujarat is the home of the yellow maned Indian lion. The tiger and panther are also common where there is some vegetation, such as at Sariska and Ranthambhore. Single-humped camels and spotted deer, wild monkeys and flamingos are common in the open grasslands with dry scrub.

 The Deccan Plateau – In the Nilgiris forests and Western Ghats one can see lion-tailed macaque, langur, brown mongoose, civet cat and spiny mouse. The higher slopes have exotic birds. In the deciduous forests extending from Jhansi to Orissa, westward upto Travancore in Kerala to the south and east of Nagpur in Central India, one can easily see elephants and tigers. In the denser forests of the wetter east, near Orissa, you can find lemur, pangolin, sloth bear, elephant, gaur, hyena and porcupine. These forests also have substantial population of cobra and other poisonous snakes. In Chilka Lake there is a wide variety of terms and kingfishers, and in the murky green waters lives the gharial.

In Bandipur and Nagarhole in Karnataka, the tall trees favour monkeys and snakes. The dense undergrowth hides tigers and provides food to elephants.

 Rain forests – Elephants, variety of snakes and exotic birds form the landscape of Arunachal

Pradesh and Mizoram. The Malabar civet cat and the stripe-necked mongoose are typical animals of

the west coast jungles.

Ecotourism

Ecotourism is a type of tourism to conserve and improve natural, rural areas. So this is quite different from a typical tour to a place. Instead, this type of tourism includes a keen focus on learning and developing that area and the people residing there. Around 1980, the concept of ecotourism took place officially in the Oxford Dictionary. The word ecotour was included in 1973. However, there’s still confusion about the classification of the proper ecotourists. Generally, it’s based on the sustainability and economic contribution of the place while maintaining its basic identity and natural properties.

Wildlife is one of the most important resources provided by forest ecosystems all around the world. In the tropics alone, hunting is an ubiquitous activity on which 200- 300 million forest-dwelling people are directly dependent for part or all of their livelihood and food. In recent years, the abundance of wildlife has declined in many tropical forest areas as a result of increased commercialization and market integration, increased access to remote forest areas, growing human populations, increasing demand for wild meat from urban centers, more effective hunting technologies, and changes in hunting practices and settlement patterns of forest-dwelling people. The loss of wildlife jeopardizes the nutritional base on which local communities depend and can lead to the collapse of local economies. Moreover, it threatens the ecological integrity of the tropical forests. Given the importance of wildlife resources, the implementation of sustainable management approaches is thus an imperative issue.

Wildlife is also important in tourism. In tropical forests, rare, dangerous or colorful animals represent a major travel motive, even though the significance of forests for recreation, education and experiences is now growing in general. Mid-latitude forest resources in industrialized countries serve as buffer zones from daily urban life, and in countries such as Austria, Switzerland, Sweden or New Zealand, they are a central element of the landscapes that attract millions of foreign tourists each year. With increasing demand for outdoor recreation, visitors to natural areas put substantial stress on forest ecosystems. As both tourism and wildlife populations are ultimately dependent on intact forest ecosystems, the importance of maintaining their integrity is clearly rendered prominent. In the light of this, the article analyzes the development of tourism and the situation of wildlife resources from a socio-economic and ecological perspective. Suggestions for the sustainable use and conservation of forests are made. Focus is on the tropical forests, because these face rapid decline, while an increasing number of people continue to be directly dependent on the resources they provide.

Importance of Ecotourism

• Through ecotourism, it’s easier to reach out to the rural settlements and observe their conditions from close quarters. The significance of ecotourism lies in the interaction with the people, understanding their culture, and helping them develop their overall living conditions.
• Conserving the environment is another important application of ecotourism. Various sensitive natural areas require particular attention and effective management. Without the right observation and analysis, it is not possible to initiate the required operation.
• Similarly, for the well-being of the residents in the natural areas, it’s crucial to understand their community culture and lifestyle. That’s how systematic development can be done in all such areas.

·                  Also, ecotourism encourages a better understanding of the environment and the importance of its conservation.

Ecotourism examples in India

India has been widely supporting the concept of ecotourism. A few spots in the country include:

• Honey Hills- Thenmala Eco-tourism, Kerala
• Bandipur National Park, Karnataka
• Sunderbans National Park, West Bengal
• Tribal excursion in Chhattisgarh

 Impact on society

• Ecotourism is spreading a positive impact on society with the notion to observe natural places to develop their overall condition, maintaining their natural essence. Here, travellers are getting an opportunity to know more about sensitive places while travelling. Places like Nepal, Madagascar, and Ecuador are some of the beautiful natural places in improvised countries.
• Even after so many positive sides of ecotourism, there is some negative effect on the environment. The environmentalists want to promote ecotourism to upgrade the rural community and conserve nature. On the contrary, the tourism industry uses ecotourism as a business model to attract tourists.
• As a result, the rural places are getting congested, and the natural beauty is compromised gradually. So, instead of solely developing the area and community culture, it’s becoming a general tourist spot.

Unit- 3 Management of Habitat

 

Unit- 3  Management of Habitat

Habitat Management

The most critical aspect of wildlife conservation is habitat management. Habitat loss presents the greatest threat to wildlife.

Five essential elements must be present to provide a viable habitat:

1.      Food,

2.      Water

3.      Cover

4.      Space,

5.      Arrangement.

1.      The need for food and water is obvious.

2.      Cover is needed not only to provide shelter from the elements and predators but also to protect animals while they are feeding, breeding, roosting, nesting, and traveling. Cover can range from thick weeds and brush to a few rocks piled together.

3.      Space is necessary to avoid over-competition for food. Some animals also need a certain amount of territorial space for mating and nesting. When crowded, some species may develop stress related diseases.

4.      Arrangement refers to the placement of food, water, cover, and space in a habitat. The ideal arrangement allows animals to meet all of their needs in a small area so that they minimize the energy they use traveling from food to cover to water. Most animals can be found where food and cover meet, particularly near a water source. This is called edge effect.

 

Setting Back Succession: .

Ecological Succession - Definition

The most widely accepted definition of ecological succession is as follows “ecological succession is a sequence of changes that occur in an ecological system over time.” In simpler terms, it can be defined as the sequence of colonization of species in an ecosystem from a barren or an unfertile region of land.

Types of Ecological Succession

As mentioned above primary and secondary succession are the two main types of ecological succession. The following stages of ecological succession are discussed below:

1.      There are 2 types of succession,

·         Primary

·         Secondary.

Primary succession begins in environments that lack organic matter and have not been altered by living organisms.

An example of primary succession would be areas of glacial retreat or newly formed volcanic islands.

Secondary succession which is what we will focus on in this course, begins in environments that have already been modified by the occupancy of living organisms.

Plant communities consisting of a diverse mixture of grasses, forbs, and scattered shrubs are required by a variety of wildlife species. Early seral stages follow some form of disturbance but can become dominated by shrubs and trees rather quickly, especially in areas with abundant rainfall and relatively long growing seasons, such as the southeastern United States. In the absence of natural disturbance regimes, the quality and maintenance of these plant communities for wildlife is largely dependent upon management.

Following practices are carried out for early succession

1.      Prescribed fire,

2.      Disking,

3.      Herbicide applications,

4.      Mowing Trimming/ cutting

 

. Prescribed fire consumes vegetative debris, provides open structure at ground level, and facilitates travel and foraging for wildlife throughout the field.

Burning during the dormant season may promote cool-season grasses if they are present in the field. Burning in late March or early April generally promotes warm-season grasses and forbs.

Late growing-season fire (September) will reduce woody encroachment and may encourage additional forb cover.

Disking promotes vegetation decomposition, provides open structure at ground level, and generally promotes annual plant species. Disking in the fall and winter stimulates more forb growth than disking in the spring, which will stimulate undesirable nonnative warm-season grasses if present in the seed bank. Selective herbicides can influence plant composition and can be used to encourage grasses where forbs dominate, to promote forbs where grasses dominate, and to reduce woody cover.

Mowing during midsummer encourages additional grasses in fields dominated by forbs but is not recommended for field maintenance because mowing produces thatch, which limits the ability of several wildlife species to travel and forage through the field, suppresses the seed bank, and destroys nests and young wildlife. Several practices can be used in combination to meet specific objectives.

 Succession should be set back every 2 to 4 yr, depending on plant response and focal wildlife species. It is important to intersperse disturbance in space and time, so that a variety of cover types are always available, even to those animals with small home ranges.

Climax community

Succession can be viewed in several stages called seral stages. Each seral stage makes up a different type of plant community. These stages if allowed to progress will eventually result in a climax stage. A climax stage is a self-perpetuating community that is relatively stable over several generations of the dominant plant species.

A climatic climax is regulated primarily by climate. An Edaphic climax is regulated largely by soil conditions. Some vegetation is vulnerable to catastrophic events and this is called a Catostrophic climax. Chaparral vegetation in California is a good example of this due to its propensity for wildfires. A disclimax community is held in a stable, early successional condition by humans or other animals. In a subclimax community, succession proceeds but is arrested permanently or for a long period of time at the stage preceding the climax stage. A good example of this is a fire climax, longleaf pine forest. If not for period fires the longleaf forest would eventually give way to a hardwood dominated forest.

7. Over time, several theories of succession have been put forth. Let’s discuss 3 of them which include Monoclimax,

·         Polyclimax,

·         Climax pattern.

The monoclimax theory  the theory was formulized by Clements in the early 1900s. Clements view the community as a superorganism where species composition and structure is determined by regional macroclimate. Clements viewed succession as deterministic, predictable and unidirectional, ending in 1 possible climax community.

The polyclimax theory was developed by Tansley in the 1920s.  it suggests that there may be more than 1 type of stable end point or climax community. The theory suggests that local factors such as soil, climate and disturbance greatly impact the composition and structure of the climax community.

The climax pattern theory was developed by Whittaker in 1953. This theory viewed the landscape as consisting of environmental gradients and the vegetation that develops will be different at each point along these gradients.  Climax vegetation will be a spatial pattern of vegetation that reflects the spatial variation of the physical environment.

 

2.       Grazing, Logging  mechanical treatment

The primary role of grazing in a wildlife management program is to reduce the quantity of old-growth grass monocultures, allowing sunlight to reach the lower growing forbs (weeds) which are important wildlife foods. In turn, this process also creates structural diversity for nesting, brood rearing, and escape cover.The primary role of grazing in a wildlife management program is to reduce the quantity of old-growth grass monocultures, allowing sunlight to reach the lower growing forbs (weeds) which are important wildlife foods. In turn, this process also creates structural diversity for nesting, brood rearing, and escape cover.

Prescribed grazing/browsing couples the use of foraging livestock that are selective in what they feed on with land management. It is a method of improving pasture forage production and livestock performance, and maintaining quality wildlife habitat by subdividing large areas of pastureland into smaller areas (paddocks) and grazing those areas in a flexible rotation when the plants are ready (mainly indicated by height). In this way, high quality forage is rationed out to meet livestock needs, while plants already grazed are protected from being eaten again until they have adequately recovered. It is the animals in these systems that are acting the same as equipment or fire to affect the vegetation in a plant community. When wildlife habitat enhancement is the planned objective, ruminants can be a very effective and rewarding management tool.

Logging:

Logging, process of harvesting trees, sawing them into appropriate lengths (bucking), and transporting them (skidding) to a sawmill. The different phases of this process vary with local conditions and technology.

In mechanized modern logging, trees are felled by crosscut saw or power-driven chain saw or, for trees of relatively young plantations, by a machine that cuts the entire tree in one bite. Trees are then cut into standard lengths and skidded to the mill by truck or tractor or conveyed to a central point by cable, either high above ground (high-lead and overhead skidding) or along the ground (groundline skidding). Helicopters and balloons are also used to transport logs.

Local conditions may dictate uncommon logging methods. In India, teakwood trees are killed by girdling (making a circular cut around the tree through the outer bark and cortex to interrupt the circulation of water and nutrients) and harvested several years later. Then, as is also common in Nigeria, they may be floated down the river by raft. In several Asian countries, timber may be transported by elephant.

 

3.      Advancing the succession

Succession is a periodic process from nudation to climax community in a particular area. It depends upon various abiotic factors to achieve the colonization stage. The colonise species is called ‘Pioneer’ species. Suppose a species invasion is occured in existing one and if that alien species reached to climax by defending the early existing pioneer species then it would be in advanced stage of succession process and it considered that existing environmental condition favoured or facilitate the invade species to reach in its advance stage of succession, because the new alien species is much advanced than pioneer by utilising existing species’s environment.

 

4.      Cover construction

Cover is the essential elements which provides space for living. All types of vegetation and any other physical entities present in habitat may considered as cover, through which the requirement of shelter for animals fulfilled.

The position, height and shape may influence the habitat quality wheather it is more suitable or not. Cover is different for different species in wildlife, so according to the species types the cover would be specific. To maintain the wildlife with balanced equilibrium cover construction is necessary.

There are various ways through which cover construction can be made easy.

i) Permanent Openings:

These are the area where ground is covered with grasses as well as herbaceous plants that are helpful for escape, nesting and brood rearing. These area provides food for birds and mammals like cottontail rabbits, turkey and songbirds. Silviculture is one of the technique which create the openings by planting annuals or perennials accordingly with the soil character and need of wildlife.

ii) Brush Piles:

After logging, placing the wooden log having 6-10 inches diameter and 6-8 feet long placed parallel to each other with 8-12 inches gap between them, then by placing more poles above it perpendicularly, loose stems can also be placed on second layer. Making dense at middle by twigs and looser near edge became piles last longer.

Below the piles, there having a plenty of space for quail, rabbit, turkey etc, the tunnel present in piles helps them to escaping from predators.

iii) Shrub:

Allowing the tress and shrubs to grow more densely which will ultimately helps in cover construction.

iv) Edge:

Edges are the areas where two vegetations coincides and provide food resources. This type of cover can be construct by planting in area having 20 feet wide, which should contain taller plants near to other small vegetation. Near to the meeting site of two vegetation trees are gets dropping down by hinge cutting where the droped trees provide escape points or shelter for animals and songbirds, deer, turkey etc.

Other methods of cover construction includes nest cavities for birds in trees, dead branch sites, dead portions of trees, artificial best sties like nest boxes which can be placed in trees or around ponds and marshes; travel corridors provide securely travel of animal which requires large habitat for inhabiting in search of food, the travel corridors may be streams, drains or rivers and over fence line.

 

5.      Preservation of general genetic diversity

 6.      Restoration of degraded habitat :

The cause of habitat loss such as over exploitation, grazing, logging and through natural disaster like forest fire. Restoration is refers to gaining of suitable habitat more compatible like before of existing degraded habitat.

Before we think of habitat restoration, we must think about two root aspects of habitat i.e. vegetation and it’s linked part called soil. During the time of restoration it is necessary to avoid the reuse of habitat by any means wheather it may be logging, grazing and other intervention. Engagement of local people to the targeted area which is going to be restore should be done with proper planning. Priority should given to local people in scheme like replanting and reseeding. As we discussing about the importance of soil quality and vegetation, furthermore soil chemistry is very much vital i.e. soil moisture, it’s mineral content, presence of microorganism and it’s typology. After considering this we must choose proper vegetation which infact very much compatible for the area. In terms of this suitable vegetation, local people should provided with reseeding knowledge to increase the production of specific type of plants. Local people should aware about the protection method i.e. which plants is to given how much care and priority and what plant is for what purpose.

Though during the regaining of lost habitat, there been a sort of restrictions for local people and due to this restrictions local people will loose to getting necessary products like fuel, food, and fibre for thier use and for thier livestock too. So alternate provision must accomplish for compensation by giving benifit or access from nearby area.

 

 

Animals to Identify by Their Fecal Mater

Animals to Identify by Their Characteristic Poop or Fecal Mater

There are actually a wide variety of terms used for animal poop. This will vary from location to location and between professions.

For scientists, the technical term is feces, for example. Other common terms include dung, excrement, animal droppings, spoor, and scat (though usually for carnivores only -- though not always).

Farmers will also tend to refer to cow or chicken poo specifically as manure. As you are probably aware such droppings tend to be used as fertilizer.

Human poo tends to be called stool by medical professionals -- though we are confident you have an entire lexicon of slang or swear words for it too.

Which animal produces the biggest poops?

So, which animal drops the largest poop? An elephant? A giraffe? A hippo?

Actually it is none of these. The largest animal poop in the natural world belongs to that of the blue whale.

Each bowel movement of these enormous, magnificent creatures can be in excess of several hundred liters of excrement at a time!

"The blue whale is the largest animal on the planet. Its poo is described as smelling like a dog's, with the consistency of bread crumbs. A blue whale can excrete up to 200 liters of poo in one bowel movement."

Are there any animals that don't poop?

•           Tardigrades - These little alien-like critters only excrete when they molt. So any "fecal" matter produced it not really pooped out as we would really describe it.

•           Demodex mites (face mites) - These little stowaways lack any form of an anus. They simply store up any and all waste in special large cells in their intestines. This waste is stored for their entire life until they eventually die.

•           Jellyfish - Jellyfish is yet another animal that lacks an anus. Though they do excrete waste, they don't technically poop like most animals.

How do you identify animals from their poop?

So, without further ado, here is how to identify 7 animals from their poop. Given the enormous diversity of animals in the world, trust us when we say this list is far from exhaustive.

It is also, funnily enough, in no particular order -- it would seem a bit odd to rank animal poo. Perhaps that's just us?

1. Deer droppings are pretty characteristic

Deer feces or fewmets (as it is sometimes called) is a very characteristic animal dropping. They tend to look like Raisinets or pellet-shaped pieces that are usually either dark brown or sometimes black in color.

They also tend to be scattered in neat piles around a deer's habitat. During summer and fall (autumn) their droppings can be found clumped together when their diet tends to consist of high-moisture foods like berries, apples and succulent plants.

During colder months, their droppings will tend to be lighter in color and are usually harder than during the summer. This is because their diet at this time of year tends to consist of woody fibers.

The larger the pile of deer poop the larger the animal who made them. Interestingly, if you find larger, shiny piles in heavy cover this usually indicates it came from a buck deer's bedding area.

2. Brown and Black Beer poop is pretty gross, to be honest

Brown and black bear poop are pretty similar with brown bear droppings tending to be larger. If you are out and about in areas where these magnificent animals roam and you find a big pile of poo, it's probably made by a bear.

Bear poo is very similar to human poo -- it is tubular (usually), but is obviously usually larger. Depending on what the bear has eaten, the poo will usually be tubular in shape, with a blunt end and a slight taper.

While bears tend to prefer eating meat and carrion, their poos can also include grass, roots, and fruits. It is also possible to find poos with the remains of ants, pine nuts and berries.

If the bear has been gorging on other animals, expect to find bones, hair and other fibers present.

If the bear has just been eating strawberries or fish, their poos can be more semi-liquid than normal. On this occasion, their poo will tend to resemble a cow pile or pat.

3. Mountain lion poop is quite obvious too

Mountain lion poop or scat is another characteristic kind of animal droppings. Pieces tend to be about 5 inches long (12.7 cm) and 1.25 inches in diameter (3.1cm).

Careful examination should reveal the presence of bones and hair. Mountain lions will tend to scratch out area of leaf litter or soil before "doing their business" too.

Their droppings are usually also partially or completely covered in order to cover their scent from larger predators. This is similar to the habits of domestic cats.

The characteristic combination of location, size and contents is a pretty good indicator of the origin.

4. Wild turkey poo is also very obvious

Source: camdavis/Flickr

Wild turkeys are actually quite an interesting animal when it comes to their poop. Male and female members of the species actually produce very different droppings.

A female turkey's poop tends to look like a kind of spiral blob about 3/8 inch (1 cm) in diameter. They sort of look like a snail shell with one white end (this is uric acid).

The males' are very different. It tends to form an approximate J-shape.

This is because the males have the so-called “rudimentary internal sex organs.” In circumstances where you find a lot of similar droppings associated with feathers under a tree, you've probably stumbled on a roost site.

5. Raccoon poop is "interesting"

Raccoon poo is fairly characteristic in shape and location. These little critters tend to habitually defecate in so-called raccoon "latrines" for extended periods of time.

These tend to be found at the bases of trees, in tree forks, raised areas or fallen trees; to name but a few.

The poops themselves tend to range from black to reddish in color, however, they will bleach and turn white over time. This is owing to their omnivorous lifestyle.

Poops are often granular-looking, tend to be segmented and roughly tube-shaped and can be between 2 inches (5 cm) and 3 inches (7.5 cm) long.

Raccoon poop tends to break down very easily when disturbed and can resemble dog poo at times. However, it will tend to contain undigested food like seeds and hair.

A word of warning about raccoon droppings, however. Do not touch them or go near them -- they often contain parasitic roundworms and eggs.

6. Rat poop is very unpleasant

Rat poop is another pretty characteristic animal poop. It tends to be brown or shiny-black in color, and solid in texture.

They usually measure about half an inch in length (1.25 cm). Rat droppings are roughly oval-shaped and may taper to a point at one or both ends.

Mice droppings are similar, but as they are smaller animals their poop tends to be smaller and is usually smoother with pointed ends.

If you find rat droppings in your home, it is usually a good indicator you have a rat infestation or regular "visitors". Places to look for them are in the attic, under floorboards or under furniture -- especially in the kitchen.

7. Snake poop is also very obvious 

And lastly, but by no means least, is the poop of snakes. These tend to be oblong, liquid droppings that can have a white cap of urea.

You should be able to see obvious bits of bone and hair remains of their prey in them too. As snakes have one external opening (cloaca) to get rid of their solid and liquid waste, their poop is usually a mixture of white urea and the remains of their last meal.

Snake poo can be hard to find as they can go for weeks on end without eating. If you find large quantities of it, it is unlikely it has come from a snake -- unless you happen to have an Indiana Jones-style dungeon somewhere.