Spatial prioritization of dugong habitats in India can contribute towards achieving the 30 × 30 global biodiversity target.

Indian coastal waters are critical for dugong populations in the western Indian Ocean. Systematic spatial planning of dugong habitats can help to achieve biodiversity conservation and area-based protection targets in the region. In this study, we employed environmental niche modelling to predict suitable dugong habitats and identify influencing factors along its entire distribution range in Indian waters. We examined data on fishing pressures collected through systematic interview surveys, citizen-science data, and field surveys to demarcate dugong habitats with varying risks. Seagrass presence was the primary factor in determining dugong habitat suitability across the study sites. Other variables such as depth, bathymetric slope, and Euclidean distance from the shore were significant factors, particularly in predicting seasonal suitability. Predicted suitable habitats showed a remarkable shift from pre-monsoon in Palk Bay to post-monsoon in the Gulf of Mannar, indicating the potential of seasonal dugong movement. The entire coastline along the Palk Bay-Gulf of Mannar region was observed to be at high to moderate risk, including the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park, a high-risk area. The Andaman Islands exhibited high suitability during pre- and post-monsoon season, whereas the Nicobar Islands were highly suitable for monsoon season. Risk assessment of modelled suitable areas revealed that < 15% of high-risk areas across Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar, Tamil Nadu, fall within the existing protected areas. A few offshore reef islands are identified under high-risk zones in the Gulf of Kutch, Gujarat. We highlight the utility of citizen science and secondary data in performing large-scale spatial ecological analysis. Overall, identifying synoptic scale 'Critical Dugong Habitats' has positive implications for the country's progress towards achieving the global 30 × 30 target through systematic conservation planning.

Spatio-temporal analysis identifies marine mammal stranding hotspots along the Indian coastline.

Marine mammal strandings provide vital information on species' life histories, population health and status of marine ecosystems. Opportunistic reporting of strandings also serve as a powerful low-cost tool for monitoring these elusive mammals. We collated data over ~ 270 years available through various open access databases, reports and publications. Annual strandings along the Indian coast (mean = 11.25 ± SE 9.1) increased in the last two years of the study (2015-2017, mean = 27.66 ± SE 8.5 strandings /year). We found that stranding events spike during June-September along the west coast and during December-January along the east coast. We identified several sections of the coastline, such as Mumbai (0.38 strandings/km), Kozhikode (0.28 strandings/km),  Tuticorin (0.4 strandings/km), Rameswaram (1.82 strandings/km), Chennai (0.32 strandings/km) and Bhubaneshwar (0.26 strandings/km) with a higher number of stranded animals reported. Emerging Hotspot Analysis located new and consecutive hotspots along the north-west coast, and sporadic hotspots along the south-east coast. We recommend establishing regional stranding response centres at the identified hotspots coordinated by a National Stranding Centre with adequately trained personnel and central funding support. Regular stranding response training programs for field veterinarians, and frontline personnel of State Forest Departments near stranding hotspots would provide an improved understanding of marine mammal health and threats in Indian waters. Further, the suggested National Stranding Centre needs to maintain a 'National Stranding Database' for long-term marine mammal conservation planning in India.

Cross-species screening of microsatellite markers for individual identification of snow petrel Pagodroma nivea and Wilson's storm petrel Oceanites oceanicus in Antarctica.

Seabirds are important indicators of marine ecosystem health. Species within the order Procellariiformes are the most abundant seabird species group distributed from warm tropical to cold temperate regions including Antarctica. There is a paucity of information on basic biology of the pelagic seabird species nesting on the Antarctic continents, and long-term studies are required to gather data on their population demography, genetics and other ecological parameters. Under the 'Biology and Environmental Sciences' component of the Indian Antarctic programme, long-term monitoring of Antarctic biodiversity is being conducted. In this paper, we describe results of cross-species screening of a panel of 12 and 10 microsatellite markers in two relatively little studied seabird species in Antarctica, the snow petrel Pagodroma nivea and the Wilson's storm petrel Oceanites oceanicus, respectively. These loci showed high amplification success and moderate levels of polymorphism in snow petrel (mean no. of alleles 7.08 ± 3.01 and mean observed heterozygosity 0.35 ± 0.23), but low polymorphism in Wilson's storm petrel (mean no. of alleles 3.9 ± 1.3 and mean observed heterozygosity 0.28 ± 0.18). The results demonstrate that these panels can unambiguously identify individuals of both species (cumulative PIDsibs for snow petrel is 3.7 × 10-03 and Wilson's storm petrel is 1.9 × 10-02) from field-collected samples. This work forms a baseline for undertaking long-term genetic research of these Antarctic seabird species and provides critical insights into their population genetics.