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Assessment of bias in morphological identification of carnivore scats confirmed with molecular scatology in north-eastern Himalayan region of Pakistan.
Akrim, Faraz; Mahmood, Tariq; Max, Tamara; Nadeem, Muhammad Sajid; Qasim, Siddiqa; Andleeb, Shaista.
Afiliación
  • Akrim F; Department of Wildlife Management, University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
  • Mahmood T; Department of Wildlife Management, University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
  • Max T; College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA.
  • Nadeem MS; Department of Zoology, University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
  • Qasim S; Department of Wildlife Management, University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
  • Andleeb S; Department of Wildlife Management, University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
PeerJ ; 6: e5262, 2018.
Article en En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30038872
Scats are often used to study ecological parameters of carnivore species. However, field identification of carnivore scats, based on their morphological characteristics, becomes difficult if many carnivore species are distributed in the same area. We assessed error rates in morphological identification of five sympatric carnivores' scats in north-eastern Himalayan region of Pakistan during 2013-2017. A sample of 149 scats were subjected to molecular identification using fecal DNA. We used a confusion matrix to assess different types of errors associated with carnivore scat identification. We were able to amplify DNA from 96.6% (n = 144) of scats. Based on field identification of carnivore scats, we had predicted that out of 144 scats: 11 (7.6%) scats were from common leopard, 38 (26.4%) from red fox, 29 (20.1%) from Asiatic jackal, 37 (25.7%) from yellow throated martin, 14 (9.7%) from Asian palm civet and 15 (10.4%) from small Indian civet. However, molecular identification revealed and confirmed nine were scats (6.24%) from common leopard, 40 (27.8 %) from red fox, 21 (14.6%) from Asiatic jackal, 45 (31.25%) from Asian palm civet, 12 (8.3%) scats from small Indian civet, while 11 scats (7.6%) were found from Canis lupus Spp., three (2%) from dog, one (0.7 %) scat sample from porcupine, and two (1.4%) from rhesus monkey. Misidentification rate was highest for Asian palm civet (25.7%), followed by red fox (11.1%) and Asiatic jackal (9.7%) but least for common leopard scats (4.2%). The results specific to our study area concur with previous studies that have recommended that carnivore monitoring programs utilize molecular identification of predator scats. Using only morphological identification of scats can be misleading and may result in wrong management decisions.
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Texto completo: 1 Colección: 01-internacional Base de datos: MEDLINE Tipo de estudio: Diagnostic_studies / Prognostic_studies Idioma: En Revista: PeerJ Año: 2018 Tipo del documento: Article País de afiliación: Pakistán Pais de publicación: Estados Unidos
Texto completo
Añadir a Mi BVS
Imprimir
XML
PubMed Links
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Texto completo: 1 Colección: 01-internacional Base de datos: MEDLINE Tipo de estudio: Diagnostic_studies / Prognostic_studies Idioma: En Revista: PeerJ Año: 2018 Tipo del documento: Article País de afiliación: Pakistán Pais de publicación: Estados Unidos