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Ecological association of pheasants to predators, habitat, and disturbances in southern India

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Abstract

Resource availability, predator-prey interaction, anthropogenic disturbances, climatic and topographic factors often determine the ecological association of a species with its environment. We measured the ecological association of Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus), and grey junglefowl (Gallus sonneratii), with predator, habitat, and human disturbance using camera traps, following an occupancy modelling framework at the Male Mahadeshwara Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, Karnataka. We collected single-season data from 172 camera trap stations during 30 days. Site occupancy for junglefowl was found to be 0.40 ± 0.08, whereas for peafowl it was 0.31 ± 0.06. The detection probability for junglefowl was 0.06 ± 0.006, and for peafowl, it was 0.08 ± 0.007. Junglefowl occupancy was negatively associated with tiger (Panthera tigris) abundance because of the difference in the habitat preferences. Contrastingly, relative abundance of leopard (Panthera pardus) and jungle cat (Felis chaus) positively influenced the occupancy of pheasants due to similar habitat preferences and predator-prey interactions. Elevation and tree density were positively associated to Junglefowl occupancy due to the availability of good foliage and climatic conditions. However, occupancy probability of peafowl and detection probability showed negative relationship with tree density and goat-sheep abundance respectively. This indicates that peafowls rely on the undergrowth in open forests, scrub jungles, and cultivation areas, and require understory vegetation for nesting, roosting, and feeding. Our study helps to fill the knowledge gap to understand the ecological interaction of less studied ground-dwelling birds.

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Data availability

The datasets used during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Director, SACON (Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History) and Central University of Gujarat for providing us all logistic and administrative support for conducting our research. We are grateful to Karnataka Forest Department for providing us camera traps and manpower for field data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Conservation Ecology, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641108, India

    Kuldeep Chouhan, K. Ashish, Bharti Arora, D. Milda & T. Ramesh

  2. School of Environment and Sustainable Development, Central University of Gujarat, Sector-29, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, 382030, India

    Kuldeep Chouhan & R. Y. Hiranmai

  3. Karnataka Forest Department, Conservator of Forests & Field Director, Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Mysore, Karnataka, 571126, India

    P. Ramesh Kumar

  4. Karnataka Forest Department, Conservator of Forests, Mysore Circle, Mysore, Karnataka, 57008, India

    M. Malathi Priya

  5. Centre for Functional Biodiversity, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, 3209, South Africa

    T. Ramesh & Riddhika Kalle

  6. Division of Environmental Impact Assessment, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641108, India

    Riddhika Kalle

  7. Division of Avian Physiology and Genetics, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641108, India

    Ashutosh Singh

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  1. Kuldeep Chouhan
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Chouhan, K., Kumar, P.R., Priya, M.M. et al. Ecological association of pheasants to predators, habitat, and disturbances in southern India. Ornithol. Res. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43388-024-00183-3

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