@article {129159, title = {Citizen science facilitates first ever genetic detection of wolf-dog hybridization in Indian savannahs.}, journal = {Ecol Evol}, volume = {13}, year = {2023}, month = {2023 May}, pages = {e10100}, abstract = {

Human demographic expansion has confined wildlife to fragmented habitats, often in proximity to human-modified landscapes. Such interfaces facilitate increased interactions between feral or domesticated animals and wildlife, posing a high risk to wild species. This is especially relevant for free-ranging dogs () and wild canids like gray wolves () and golden jackals (). Wolf-dog hybridization may lead to a significant reduction of specific adaptations in wolves that could result in the decline of wolf populations. Detection and genetic discrimination of hybrids between dogs and wolves are challenging because of their complex demographic history and close ancestry. Citizen scientists identified two phenotypically different-looking individuals and subsequently collected non-invasive samples that were used by geneticists to test wolf-dog hybridization. Genomic data from shed hair samples of suspected hybrid individuals using double-digest restriction-site-associated DNA (ddRAD) sequencing resulted in 698 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. We investigated the genetic origin of these two individuals analyzed with genetically known dogs, wolves, and other canid species including jackals and dholes (). Our results provide the first genetic evidence of one F2 hybrid and the other individual could be a complex hybrid between dogs and wolves. Our results re-iterate the power of next-generation sequencing (NGS) for non-invasive samples as an efficient tool for detecting hybrids. Our results suggest the need for more robust monitoring of wolf populations and highlight the tremendous potential for collaborative approaches between citizens and conservation scientists to detect and monitor threats to biodiversity.

}, issn = {2045-7758}, doi = {10.1002/ece3.10100}, author = {Tyagi, Abhinav and Godbole, Mihir and Vanak, Abi Tamim and Ramakrishnan, Uma} } @article {116185, title = {Mapping the distribution and extent of India{\textquoteright}s semi-arid open natural ecosystems}, journal = {JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY}, year = {2022}, month = {08/2022}, abstract = {

Aim Non-forested open natural ecosystems (ONEs) support high biodiversity as well as livelihoods of millions of pastoralists, but are highly threatened due to land conversion. To improve the recognition of their value, we generated a high-resolution (30 m) map of ONEs in the low elevation arid and semi-arid regions of India. Location Indian subcontinent. Taxon Open natural ecosystems, consisting of a range of non-forested habitats. Methods We used public datasets in the Google Earth Engine catalogue to identify and mask out pixels with non-ONE land-cover types, and biophysical attributes outside the environmental envelopes of ONEs. We used 181,812 ONE and 116,447 non-ONE training points along with the input composite image to train random forest classifiers to estimate the probability of a pixel being an ONE. We developed a series of local classifiers for each of eight regions of interest and created a mask of pixels with \>= 50\% probability of being an ONE. Results The overall classification accuracy for this map was 85\%, with a Kappa statistic of 0.70. We find that ONEs cover approximately 320,000 km(2) (10\%) of India{\textquoteright}s land surface, but \<5\% of ONEs are covered under the existing protected area network of India. ONE areas vary greatly by region, from 6 km(2) in New Delhi (0.4\% area) to 115,069 km(2) in Rajasthan (33\% area). Main Conclusions A large proportion of India{\textquoteright}s geographical area represents an ecosystem that is un-recognized and under-protected. This open data source can be used by policy makers and planners to exclude these habitats when considering the location of renewable energy, tree planting for carbon sequestration and other development projects that negatively impact ONEs. We encourage further refinement of ONE maps in India, incorporating vegetation and floristic characteristics, as well as further consideration of these vulnerable neglected ecosystems in other regions of the world.

}, doi = {10.1111/jbi.14471}, author = {Madhusudan, M. D. and Vanak, Abi Tamim} } @article {90237, title = {Securing biodiversity, securing our future: A national mission on biodiversity and human well-being for India}, journal = {BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION}, volume = {253}, year = {2021}, month = {01/2021}, abstract = {

Highly populated tropical countries face tremendous pressures in reconciling the needs for improved economic security and the protection of declining biodiversity. India is no exception and its biodiversity is under severe pressure due to complex interactions among land use change, other human economic activities, and climate change. Preservation and restoration of biodiversity is perhaps the cheapest and least risky way to mitigate the impacts of threats such as climate change, diminishing food and nutritional security, declining economy, absence of affordable healthcare, rising zoonotic diseases and lack of capacity to address these issues. Here we describe a framework for biodiversity conservation - the National Mission on Biodiversity and Human Well-Being (NMBHWB) for India - which integrates biodiversity, ecosystem services, climate change, agriculture, health, bio-economy and capacity building in the realm of biodiversity science. We provide an overview of the seven Programs of the Mission which make it interdisciplinary, integrative, and comprehensive in its approach. The Mission explicitly links research with policy-making and implementation for effective management of biodiversity with sustainable development. With its emphasis on convergence and synergies among various goals, themes and project sites, the Mission will further develop new models for stakeholder consultations and co-production of knowledge. We posit that the NMBHWB will enable India to realize the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and Targets while advancing India{\textquoteright}s commitments to the Paris Agreement on climate change and other international environmental conventions and treaties.

}, doi = {10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108867}, author = {Bawa, Kamaljit S and Sengupta, Asmita and Chavan, Vishwas and Chellam, Ravi and Ganesan, R. and Krishnaswamy, Jagdish and Mathur, Vinod B. and Nawn, Nandan and Olsson, Shannon B and Pandit, Nitin and Quader, Suhel and Rajagopal, Prabhakar and Ramakrishnan, Uma and Ravikanth, G. and Sankaran, Mahesh and Shankar, Darshan and Seidler, Reinmar and Shaanker, R. Uma and Vanak, Abi Tamim} } @article {84573, title = {Health Heatmap of India: An Open Data Platform.}, journal = {J Indian Inst Sci}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 Oct 18}, pages = {1-16}, abstract = {

Health Heatmap of India is an open data platform built for bringing together data from diverse sources and facilitating visualization, analysis, and insight building from such data. In this paper, we describe the context and need for such an open data platform and describe the technical aspects of building it. The beta site of the portal is available at https://healthheatmapindia.org.

}, issn = {0970-4140}, doi = {10.1007/s41745-020-00196-z}, author = {Dinesh, Akshay S and Mathur, Varnita and Ansil, B R and Chandru, Vijay and Chellam, Ravi and Vanak, Abi Tamim and Ramakrishnan, Uma and Rajagopal, Prabhakar} } @article {83636, title = {Opinion: Envisioning a biodiversity science for sustaining human well-being.}, journal = {Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 Sep 30}, issn = {1091-6490}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.2018436117}, author = {Bawa, Kamaljit S and Nawn, Nandan and Chellam, Ravi and Krishnaswamy, Jagdish and Mathur, Vinod and Olsson, Shannon B and Pandit, Nitin and Rajagopal, Prabhakar and Sankaran, Mahesh and Shaanker, R Uma and Shankar, Darshan and Ramakrishnan, Uma and Vanak, Abi Tamim and Quader, Suhel} }