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Calibration of a burrow count index for the Indian desert jird, Meriones hurrianae

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Population Ecology

Abstract

Population estimates, often difficult to acquire, warrantee the use of an index as an economical substitute for rapid assessments of populations. We estimated population size of the little known social, semi-fossorial Indian desert jird (Meriones hurrianae) in Kachchh, Gujarat, India under closed population capture-mark-recapture (CMR) framework to calibrate a burrow count index for the species. A total of 147 individuals were trapped in 16 colonies using baited Sherman traps and the number of burrow entrances at each colony was recorded. Data from colonies with low number of captures were pooled to estimate capture probability using Huggins heterogeneity models with gender, site, body weight and age category as covariates in Program MARK. Colony sizes ranged from 2 to 46 individuals. The number of burrow entrances was calibrated against CMR-based population estimates using least squares regression (n = 16, adjusted R 2 = 0.96, t = 18.18, P < 0.001). The index was further validated using Jackknife (JK) analysis where JK-predicted population estimates strongly correlated with CMR estimates (r = 0.96, P < 0.001). In habitats and climatic conditions similar to Kachchh and within the range of colony sizes sampled, our calibrated index can be a valuable and effective tool for large scale surveys of the desert jird, which occupies a keystone trophic level in the semi-arid ecosystem.

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Acknowledgments

The project was funded by the Grant-in-aid allocations to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). The authors thank the Director and Dean of WII for facilitation. The academic and technical support provided by I. P. Bopanna, Sutirtha Dutta and Kamlesh Maurya along with sincere field efforts by Azharuddin, L. S. Negi, Ishaq bhai are greatly appreciated.

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  1. Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, 248001, India

    Divya Ramesh, Chandrima Home, Yadvendradev V. Jhala & Qamar Qureshi

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  1. Divya Ramesh
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  2. Chandrima Home
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  3. Yadvendradev V. Jhala
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  4. Qamar Qureshi
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Correspondence to Divya Ramesh.

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Ramesh, D., Home, C., Jhala, Y.V. et al. Calibration of a burrow count index for the Indian desert jird, Meriones hurrianae . Popul Ecol 55, 241–245 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10144-012-0340-7

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