Unraveling the mystery of confiscated "jackal horns" in India using wildlife forensic tools.

Internationally, illegal wildlife trade involves highly prized and charismatic species and their derivatives. At the same time, common or less known species and their parts are also encountered but receive less attention than charismatic species. Given the increasing demand for wildlife products in many parts of the world, profit, and short supply, many fake articles derived from domestic or wild animals are frequently encountered in the wildlife trade. Jackal horn (locally known as "Siyar or Gidar singhi") is one such fake item widely used in sorcery and other occult practices available through offline and online trading platforms within India. We used a combination of morphological, microscopic hair, and molecular approaches (Cyt b and 16 s rRNA genes) to reveal the true identity of confiscated "jackal horns" (n = 342). Detailed morphological study of the jackal horns showed that it varied in size, shape, color of hair, attachment material, and filling material. The microscopic hair and molecular approaches revealed that all the items sold as jackal horns were fake and made up of protected wild species and domestic animals. Our results confirm the use of the biological samples from few wild species protected under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, of India. Therefore, the law enforcement agencies are cautioned to get forensic opinions while dealing with such counterfeit items.

Methane emissions respond to soil temperature in convergent patterns but divergent sensitivities across wetlands along altitude.

Among the global coordinated patterns in soil temperature and methane emission from wetlands, a declining trend of optimal soil temperature for methane emissions from low to high latitudes has been witnessed, while the corresponding trend along the altitudinal gradient has not yet been investigated. We therefore selected two natural wetlands located at contrasting climatic zones from foothill and mountainside of Nepal Himalayas, to test: (1) whether the optimal temperature for methane emissions decreases from low to high altitude, and (2) whether there is a difference in temperature sensitivity of methane emissions from those wetlands. We found significant spatial and temporal variation of methane emissions between the two wetlands and seasons. Soil temperature was the dominant driver for seasonal variation in methane emissions from both wetlands, though its effect was perplexed by the level of standing water, aquatic plants, and dissolved organic carbon, particularly in the deep water area. When integrative comparison was conducted by adding the existing data from wetlands of diverse altitudes, and the latitude-for-altitude effect was taken into account, we found the baseline soil temperatures decrease whilst the altitude rises with respect to a rapid increase in methane emission from all wetlands, however, remarkably higher sensitivity of methane emissions to soil temperature (apparent Q10 ) was found in mid-altitude wetland. We provide the first evidence of an apparent decline in optimal temperature for methane emissions with increasing elevation. These findings suggest a convergent pattern of methane emissions with respect to seasonal temperature shifts from wetlands along altitudinal gradient, while a divergent pattern in temperature sensitivities exhibits a single peak in mid-altitude.

Equilibrium in soil respiration across a climosequence indicates its resilience to climate change in a glaciated valley, western Himalaya.

Soil respiration (SR), a natural phenomenon, emits ten times more CO2 from land than anthropogenic sources. It is predicted that climate warming would increase SR in most ecosystems and give rise to positive feedback. However, there are uncertainties associated with this prediction primarily due to variability in the relationship of SR with its two significant drivers, soil temperature and moisture. Accounting for the variabilities, we use a climosequence in Himalaya with a temperature gradient of ~ 2.1 °C to understand the variations in the response of SR and its temperature sensitivity to climate change. Results indicate an equilibrium in SR ranging from 1.92 to 2.42 µmol m-2 s-1 across an elevation gradient (3300-3900 m) despite its increased sensitivity to temperature (Q10) from 0.47 to 4.97. Additionally, moisture reduction towards lower elevation weakens the temperature-SR relationship. Finally, soil organic carbon shows similarities at all the elevations, indicating a net-zero CO2 flux across the climosequence. The findings suggest that as the climate warms in this region, the temperature sensitivity of SR reduces drastically due to moisture reduction, limiting any change in SR and soil organic carbon to rising temperature. We introduce an equilibrium mechanism in this study which indicates the resilient nature of SR to climate change and will aid in enhancing the accuracy of climate change impact projections.

Ageratina adenophora and Lantana camara in Kailash Sacred Landscape, India: Current distribution and future climatic scenarios through modeling.

The Himalayan region is one of the global biodiversity hotspots. However, its biodiversity and ecosystems are threatened due to abiotic and biotic drivers. One of the major biotic threats to biodiversity in this region is the rapid spread of Invasive Alien Species (IAS). Natural forests and grasslands are increasingly getting infested by IAS affecting regeneration of native species and decline in availability of bio-resources. Assessing the current status of IAS and prediction of their future spread would be vital for evolving specific species management interventions. Keeping this in view, we conducted an in-depth study on two IASs, viz., Ageratina adenophora and Lantana camara in the Indian part of Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL), Western Himalaya. Intensive field surveys were conducted to collect the presence of A. adenophora (n = 567) and L. camara (n = 120) along an altitudinal gradient between 300 and 3000 m a.s.l. We performed Principal Component Analysis to nullify the multi-colinearity effects of the environmental predictors following MaxEnt species distribution model in the current and future climatic scenarios for both the species. All current and future model precision (i.e., Area Under the Curve; AUC) for both species was higher than 0.81. It is predicted that under the current rate of climate change and higher emission (i.e., RCP 8.5 pathway), A. adenophora will spread 45.3% more than its current distribution and is likely to reach up to 3029 m a.s.l., whereas, L. camara will spread 29.8% more than its current distribution range and likely to reach up to 3018 m a.s.l. Our results will help in future conservation planning and participatory management of forests and grasslands in the Kailash Sacred Landscape-India.

Experimental warming increases ecosystem respiration by increasing above-ground respiration in alpine meadows of Western Himalaya.

Alpine ecosystems in the Himalaya, despite low primary productivity, store considerable amount of organic carbon. However, these ecosystems are highly vulnerable to climate warming which may stimulate ecosystem carbon efflux leading to carbon-loss and positive feedback. We used open-top chambers to understand warming responses of ecosystem respiration (ER) and soil respiration (SR) in two types of alpine meadows viz., herbaceous meadow (HM) and sedge meadow (SM), in the Western Himalaya. Experimental warming increased ER by 33% and 28% at HM and SM, respectively. No significant effect on SR was observed under warming, suggesting that the increase in ER was primarily due to an increase in above-ground respiration. This was supported by the warming-induced increase in above-ground biomass and decrease in SR/ER ratio. Soil temperature was the dominant controlling factor of respiration rates and temperature sensitivity of both ER and SR increased under warming, indicating an increase in contribution from plant respiration. The findings of the study suggest that climate warming by 1.5-2 °C would promote ER via increase in above-ground respiration during the growing season. Moreover, net C uptake in the alpine meadows may increase due to enhanced plant growth and relatively resistant SR under warming.

Landscape predictors of human-leopard conflicts within multi-use areas of the Himalayan region.

Conflict with humans is a significant source of mortality for large carnivores globally. With rapid loss of forest cover and anthropogenic impacts on their habitats, large carnivores are forced to occupy multi-use landscapes outside protected areas. We investigated 857 attacks on livestock in eastern Himalaya and 375 attacks in western Himalaya by leopards between 2015 and 2018. Multivariate analyses were conducted to identify the landscape features which increased the probability of livestock depredation by leopards. The risk of a leopard killing livestock increased within a heterogeneous landscape matrix comprising of both closed and open habitats (very dense forests, moderate dense forests, open forests, scrubland and non-forests). We used the results to map potential human-leopard conflict hotspots across parts of the Indian Himalayan region. Our spatial risk maps indicate pockets in the eastern, central and western part of eastern Himalaya and the central, northern part of western Himalaya as hotspots of human-leopard conflicts. Most of the attacks occurred when livestock were grazing freely within multi-use areas without supervision of a herder. Our results suggest that awareness about high risk areas, supervised grazing, and removing vegetation cover around human settlements should be initiated to reduce predation by leopards.