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© Springer International Publishing AG 2017
R. Díaz-Delgado et al. (eds.), The Roles of Remote Sensing in Nature Conservation,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-64332-8_12
Coupling Field Sampling with Earth
Observation Increases Understanding
of Tiger Movement and Behaviour
Sonali Ghosh and Richard Lucas
Abstract Tigers (Panthera tigris) are critically endangered worldwide, with the
geographical range of native populations reduced to less than 7% in the last hundred
years. Currently, there are only 6 subspecies residing in thirteen range countries.
The main causes of their decline are habitat loss and fragmentation, prey depletion
and poaching for the illegal wildlife trade. Addressing these issues has been severely
constrained by inadequate spatial information on tiger distributions, movements,
habitat preferences and behaviour. Focusing on the Indo-Bhutan Manas Tiger
Conservation Landscape (IBMTCL) in the Indian subcontinent (India and Bhutan),
this study sought to demonstrate the use of field-based camera traps for providing
ground-based observations of tigers and other large cats, namely leopards (Panthera
pardus) and clouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosa), and their prey. These observations were also coupled with classifications of land cover, elevation data and fire
observations from Landsat TM and the Terra ASTER and MODIS respectively. The
study indicated a large but variable range for individual tigers, a preference of tigers
for forest cover and proximity to burned areas (attributed to greater access to prey),
and a spatial separation from populations of other large cats. The study illustrates
how earth observation data can provide some of the elements needed to better
understand how large cats utilise the landscapes they inhabit thereby contributing to
efforts aimed at long-term conservation of these endanged species across their
range.
Keywords C12 • Tiger • Panthera tigris • Carnivores • Royal Manas National Park
• Manas National Park • Camera trap • Earth observation • Fire • Topography • Land
cover
S. Ghosh (*)
Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, P.O.Box.18, Dehradun 248001, Uttarakhand, India
e-mail: ghoshsonali@gmail.com
R. Lucas
Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences,
The University of New South Wales, High Street, Kensington (Sydney), NSW 2052, Australia
e-mail: richard.lucas@unsw.edu.au
© Springer International Publishing AG 2017
R. Díaz-Delgado et al. (eds.), The Roles of Remote Sensing in Nature Conservation,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-64332-8_12
Coupling Field Sampling with Earth
Observation Increases Understanding
of Tiger Movement and Behaviour
Sonali Ghosh and Richard Lucas
Abstract Tigers (Panthera tigris) are critically endangered worldwide, with the
geographical range of native populations reduced to less than 7% in the last hundred
years. Currently, there are only 6 subspecies residing in thirteen range countries.
The main causes of their decline are habitat loss and fragmentation, prey depletion
and poaching for the illegal wildlife trade. Addressing these issues has been severely
constrained by inadequate spatial information on tiger distributions, movements,
habitat preferences and behaviour. Focusing on the Indo-Bhutan Manas Tiger
Conservation Landscape (IBMTCL) in the Indian subcontinent (India and Bhutan),
this study sought to demonstrate the use of field-based camera traps for providing
ground-based observations of tigers and other large cats, namely leopards (Panthera
pardus) and clouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosa), and their prey. These observations were also coupled with classifications of land cover, elevation data and fire
observations from Landsat TM and the Terra ASTER and MODIS respectively. The
study indicated a large but variable range for individual tigers, a preference of tigers
for forest cover and proximity to burned areas (attributed to greater access to prey),
and a spatial separation from populations of other large cats. The study illustrates
how earth observation data can provide some of the elements needed to better
understand how large cats utilise the landscapes they inhabit thereby contributing to
efforts aimed at long-term conservation of these endanged species across their
range.
Keywords C12 • Tiger • Panthera tigris • Carnivores • Royal Manas National Park
• Manas National Park • Camera trap • Earth observation • Fire • Topography • Land
cover
S. Ghosh (*)
Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, P.O.Box.18, Dehradun 248001, Uttarakhand, India
e-mail: ghoshsonali@gmail.com
R. Lucas
Centre for Ecosystem Science, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences,
The University of New South Wales, High Street, Kensington (Sydney), NSW 2052, Australia
e-mail: richard.lucas@unsw.edu.au