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Ecology of Small Mammals of Desert and Montane Ecosystems

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Ecology of Small Mammals of Desert and Montane Ecosystems ECOLOGY OF SMALL MAMMALS OF DESERT AND MONTANE ECOSYSTEMS Ishwar Prakash Ph.D., D.Sc. Emeritus Professor of Eminence Desert Regional Station, Zoological Survey of India Jodhpur - 342 005 (India) and Partap Singh M.Phil, Ph.D. Department of Zoology, Govt. Dungar College, BIKANER - 334 001 (India) SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHERS (INDIA) P.O. BOX 91 JODHPUR Published by: PAWAN KUMAR SCIENTIFIC PUBLISHERS (INDIA) 5-A, New Pali Road, P.O. Box 91 JODHPUR - 342 001 (Raj.) E-mail: [email protected] www.scientificpub.com © Prakash & Singh, 2005 ISBN: 81-7233-401-X Laser typeset : Rajesh Ojha Printed in India …. a note With great humility and submission I take this opportunity to thank Prof. Prakash for imparting knowledge and training to me in the field of ecology and ethology. Prof. Prakash, popularly known as IP among friends and colleagues, was an eminent scientist, great academician and above all a prefect gentleman. When he selected me for "Aravallis Project", I had confused state of mind as I had cytogenetics background in M.Sc. and M.Phil. Will I be able to justify change of subject, and will it be feasible for me to carry out arduous fieldwork were a few questions boggling my mind. After discussing the things with scientists of Zoological Survey of India, where Prof. Prakash was working as Senior Scientist of Indian National Science Academy, I was convinced to join the project. While trapping small mammals in the jungles of Aravallis, he asked us to keep our eyes open and make notes of what so ever animal we come across. It was here that I fall in love with nature and while leaving ZSI, I promised him that my passion for wildlife would never die. I am happy to announce that I kept my promise. Our discussions, especially during field tours, on classical Zoology, Taxonomy, Zoogeography, Ecology and of course Ethology added lot to my knowledge. He was a living encyclopedia of Thar! He started his carrier as lecturer in Zoology and later joined Central Arid Zone Research Institute (CAZRI) as an animal ecologist against wishes of his family members and friends. He served CAZRI for three long decades and had proud privilege of establishing rodentology in India. He studied every aspect of rodents whether it may be Physiology, Ecology, Taxonomy, Zoogeography, Ethology or Toxicology. His research on desert gerbil, Meriones hurrianae has iv Ecology of Small Mammals of Desert and Montane Ecosystems made this species most studied mammalian species of India. His passion for Thar was unremitting. He was a prodigiously talented writer and had over 500 research papers and 20 books to his credit. "Publish or Perish" was his popular proverb, which he kept on telling to his fellow researchers. During his professional career he received many prestigious awards–Rafi Ahamad Kidwai Award, Har Swarup Memorial Award, INSA fellowship, Professor of Eminence Chair–to name a few. Because of his ill health and later sudden demise he could not complete his last work “Ecology of Small Mammals of Desert and Montane Ecosystems” It is a matter of great privilege that I was given opportunity to complete it. Due to many unforeseen reasons, the book got delayed but is finally seeing the light of day. I thank Mr. Pawan Kumar of Scientific Publishers (India) for providing me opportunity to complete the last work of Prof. Prakash as homage to that great researcher and human being. Partap Singh PREFACE It is almost half a century that I went to Birla College of Science, Pilani for my Masters degree in Zoology. Leaving the Capital of the State (Jaipur) and shifting to a very small, solitary, under-developed village was nothing less than a punishment. From the luxury of parents' house to a single room in the hostel without a fan or any other amenity had to be tolerated. Our hostel was about 5 kms away from the college if we go through the road but was half the way if we traverse through the thorny desert. We usually preferred the short cut and the 3 km travel four to five times a day provided me an opportunity to be with the nature in the desert. Early in the morning, flocks of partridges, quails and desert courser criss-crossing the narrow desert path were a great attraction. The common sandgrouse Kut-roing in large flocks over the bright sky was amazing for a city dweller who had seen only crow, kite, pigeon, dove at Jaipur. The abundant desert gerbil looked so charming, popping its head in and out of its burrow openings. In 1950-51, we were only four students in M.Sc. previous and we had to stay in the lab at night for microtomy work as during day it was so hot that wax-section cutting was not possible. So we had to walk through the desert at dusk and during night. These nocturnal strolls were a great adventure. The hedgehogs were plentiful and we used to collect and release them in the hostel courtyard – a great fun for non-zoology students. We knew the venomous saw-scaled viper which was very abundant. The Indian gerbil with a bushy-tail was so active searching for insects and also digging rhizomes. During the two years at Pilani, I turned into a desert lover. Luckily, soon after, I was engaged in a UNESCO Project to study the ecology of desert vertebrates as a Senior Research Fellow with Dr. Daya Krishna, vi Ecology of Small Mammals of Desert and Montane Ecosystems Professor of Zoology at Jaswant College, Jodhpur. During the next three years I surveyed the unknown Thar desert on foot, on camel back and on bullock cart and collected a large number of animals. As the luck would be, after a few years, I was appointed as the Animal Ecologist in the newly established Central Arid Zone Research Institute at Jodhpur. So my life was sealed in the arid zone. During the next 32 years, we did considerable and probably pioneering work on various aspects of all mammalian groups, especially pertaining to bait preference and rodent pest management. We also worked on taxonomy, functional morphology, ecology of vertebrates, physiological aspects, wildlife census and conservation, olfactory communication among rodent, scent-marking and shyness behaviour and so on. In this monograph, however, I am briefly collating and compiling our work on the ecology of small mammals (insectivores and rodents) that we encountered in the desert during the past 40 years. I was a student of High School at Mount Abu (1944-46) and as a young explorer I knew every rock of this archaic mountain, I knew the mango trees which provided sweetest fruits, I knew when the figs would ripen and which paths should be avoided to evade dangerous animals. We had several encounters with leopard and sloth bear. We used to chase the jungle fowl which were so abundant on the rocky slopes every where. The Aravallis became my second love and after superannuation (1991), I decided to study the ecology of small mammals of Aravalli mountain ecosystem, a subject about which nothing was known. Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi and Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, New Delhi supported my projects for 10 long years and we were able to carry out a satisfactory work on the ecology of small mammals of Aravalli ranges for the first time in the country. The Desert Regional Station of Zoological Survey of India at Jodhpur provided extremely helpful and conducive environment for carrying out the work. Without the cooperation of DRS, ZSI, I could never have achieved my innate desire to study the Aravallis. This work is also summarised in this compendium and has been compared with the species composition found in the desert ecosystem. At CAZRI, Dr. A.P. Jain, Dr. B.D. Rana, Dr. R.P. Mathur, Dr. Mohana Rao were my colleagues in the ecology section; Dr. S.P. Goyal, Dr. Harish Bohra carried out the physiology of desert rodents under the supervision and guidance of Dr. Pulak K. Ghosh, the Principal Animal Physiologist. I have profusely quoted their work in this Preface vii compilation. Dr. Saroj Kumari and Dr. Mohammed Idris were my Research Associates during the Professor of Eminence Project. Prof. M.M. Bhandari and Dr. R.K. Gupta came forward to help me in identifying the vegetation for correlation purposes. During the Aravalli work Dr. Himmat Singh was our Research Fellow and he provided me excellent help in very arduous field work. Kailash and Rajendra Singh our Field Assistants did an excellent job throughout the course of projects. It is my duty to express my gratitude to all my fellow colleagues. During the course of 50 years of my research work in the desert and montane ecosystems of Rajasthan, I received guidance from eminent zoologists; Dr. Sunder Lal Hora, Director, ZSI, Dr. B. Biswas of ZSI, Dr. Salim Ali of Bombay Natural History Society, Dr. A.K. Ghosh, Director, ZSI, Mr. W.D. Fitzwater, UNESCO Expert at CAZRI, Prof. S.A. Barnett of Australian National University, Canberra. At CAZRI, Directors Dr. P.C. Raheja and Dr. H.S. Mann gave me unstinted help in carrying out work. Dr. Pulak K. Ghosh has been my “consultant” in all the matters since 1961. I am so grateful to them and to all the colleagues and students at CAZRI. Dr. A.P. Jain and Dr. B.D. Rana spared coloured slides and photographs of most rodent species. Shri Vipin Chowdhury of CAZRI was of great help to me in field activities. During the last 10 years at Desert Regional Station of ZSI, Dr.
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