An Ecosystem Approach to Study Biodiversity of Talchhapar Wildlife Sanctuary With Assessment of Threats and Ecotourism Potential

Abstract

newline newline Protected Areas (PA) are the foundation stone of biodiversity conservation (Coetzee et al. 2014; Wuerthner et al. 2015). These PA s help in maintaining important habitats, support a remarkable floral and faunal diversity, allowing species movement and migration, and also safeguarding various ecological and natural processes across the landscape. Each PA is governed by a conservation/management plan with clear goals and objectives, set conservation practices, and a vital framework for periodic evaluation (Shukla 2016). However, Protected Areas are not spared from the natural and anthropogenic challenges, leading to destabilization of these natural ecosystems. newlineBiological diversity can be effectively sustained only if it is understood in association with the ecosystem while taking into consideration the multitude of its interactions with humans living in and subsisting on ecosystems (World Resources Institute 2000). As a result, more holistic and integrative concepts of ecological monitoring were needed (Geist 2011, 2015) wherein several indicator groups from different trophic levels were considered concurrently (Ecosystem Approach, EA). Keeping this in mind, the present study was undertaken at Tal Chhapar Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS), Churu, Rajasthan, where the absence of any large carnivore led to an increasing population pressure of two dominant herbivore species i.e. blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) and Indian spiny-tailed lizard (Saara hardwickii). The pressure was to such an extent that, every year the Forest department had to arrange fodder from outside to support blackbucks, particularly in summer. To handle such a situation, from 2013 onwards, State Forest Department adopted a management strategy that favored only blackbucks with the complete wipeout of the population of the Indian spiny-tailed lizard from the Sanctuary. So, to understand the implications of the present management strategy and its long-term effect on the entire ecosystem, it is necessary to understand the ecosystem dynamics...