On a dhole trail: examining ecological and anthropogenic correlates of dhole habitat occupancy in the Western ghats of India.
- Arjun Srivathsa
- Krithi K Karanth
- Devcharan Jathanna
- N Samba Kumar
- K Ullas Karanth
DOIAbstract
Although they play a critical role in shaping ecological communities, many threatened predator species are data-deficient. The Dhole Cuon alpinus is one such rare canid with a global population thought to be <2500 wild individuals. We assessed habitat occupancy patterns of dholes in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, India, to understand ecological and anthropogenic determinants of their distribution and habitat-use. We conducted spatially replicated detection/non-detection surveys of dhole signs along forest trails at two appropriate scales: the entire landscape and a single wildlife reserve. Landscape-scale habitat occupancy was assessed across 38,728 km(2) surveying 206 grid cells of 188-km(2) each. Finer scale habitat-use within 935 km2 Ba...
Add to ORKG