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Ecological correlates of giant squirrel (Ratufa bicolor) microhabitat use in a lowland tropical forest: implications for matrix management

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Abstract

Giant squirrels are imperilled across their distributional range as a result of anthropogenic disturbances; converting tropical landscapes into mosaics of small habitat patches interspersed within an inhospitable matrix of agricultural land, plantations and human settlement. With limited understanding of Ratufa bicolor’s habitat relations in the lowland tropical forests, this study aimed to understand the correlates of habitat use from an isolated habitat patch and its adjoining matrix in the Brahmaputra valley which represents the northern distribution limit of the species. The ecological dataset comprised of grid-based spatial occurrence data summarized as average squirrel encounter rate (4 temporal replicate transect surveys in each grid), as well as a range of fine spatial scale ecological covariates (14 habitat attributes). We used generalized linear models and principal component analysis to characterize relationships between squirrel abundance and habitat variables representing different aspects of forest, i.e., structure, composition and food availability, anthropogenic disturbance and edge influence. Our study revealed giant squirrels’ selection of habitat patches to be based on concentrated areas of critical habitat attributes with strong support for the influence of canopy connectivity, canopy density, overall tree density and availability of food tree. Further, a quantitative model for habitat use was evaluated using GLM linking squirrel abundance to the predictive parameters representing different forest aspects, with the best fit model highlighting the positive interaction effects of forest structure and forest composition. The findings from the study provide insights into the necessity of maintaining associated habitat matrix to serve as complimentary space, ensuring future survival of arboreal mammals in human-modified landscapes.

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The raw data and the codes used are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financed in part by WWF small grants programme (2013) and UGC-BSR fellowship (2013–16) during the period of first author’s (SS) doctoral research work at Assam University, Silchar (registration no. Ph.D/2094/2012). Field work at the study site was authorized by Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Chief Wildlife Warden of Assam (vide permission letter no. WL/FG.31/Pt/2013, dated 14.08.2013). We thank Dr. Anukul Nath (Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India) and Dr. Narayan Sharma (Cotton State University, Guwahati, India) for suggesting valuable reference material and also for providing crucial analytical insights. We would also like to thank Mr. Nilutpal Mahanta and our field assistants Dilip Boruah and Late Noren Bhuyan for accompanying us during the field surveys. We are also highly grateful and appreciate the time and effort that the two anonymous reviewers have dedicated to provide the valuable suggestions on our manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Debraj Roy College, Golaghat, Assam, 785621, India

    Samrat Sengupta

  2. Centre for Biodiversity and Natural Resource Conservation, Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Assam University, Silchar, Assam, 788011, India

    Samrat Sengupta, Panna Deb & Hilloljyoti Singha

  3. Department of Zoology, A.V.C. College, Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu, 609305, India

    Subhasish Arandhara

  4. Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248001, India

    Shravana Goswami

  5. Department of Zoology, Bodoland University, Kokrajhar, Assam, 783370, India

    Hilloljyoti Singha

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Sengupta, S., Deb, P., Arandhara, S. et al. Ecological correlates of giant squirrel (Ratufa bicolor) microhabitat use in a lowland tropical forest: implications for matrix management. Mamm Biol 103, 107–119 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-022-00329-0

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