International audienceIn spatial ecology, detailed covariance analyses are useful for investigating the influences of landscape properties on fauna and/or flora species. Such ecological influences usually operate at multiple scales, involving biological levels from individual to group, population or community and spatial units from field to farms and regions. The aim of this work was to analyze possible multiscale influences of some landscape properties on elephant distribution in the Western Ghats, India, by applying a recent and simple mathematical method to quantify such ecological relationships across space and scales. This method combines a moving window with various correlation indices to investigate the relationship between two mapped variables. Maps of landscape heterogeneity (quantified here at all locations of the landscape with a modified Shannon index) and Asian elephant presence (a two-dimensional presence probability) were significantly correlated. This correlation systematically decreased with increasing scales (i.e. sizes of the reference moving window). Yet, this global relationship includes both positive and negative correlations located at distinct places. We documented a positive feedback (reinforcement) because elephants appeared to seek greater habitat heterogeneity, in heterogeneous areas, such as along the interface between natural and a human-disturbed habitat or in the natural part of the studied landscape. In parallel, we observed a negative feedback (compensation) making elephants seeking more homogeneous places in some relatively heterogeneous zones. Such negative feedbacks corresponded to higher than average probabilities of elephant presence. Finally, when elephant density varied according to landscape heterogeneity (corresponding to significant correlations), it pointed towards swamps and grasslands, but not towards semi-evergreen or secondary forests (as it may have been expected). Land cover information appeared to be less relevant than an integrated heterogeneity index computed at all scales

We present a catalogue of herpetological specimens collected from select community reserves of Meghalaya, northeastern India. The collection comprises a total of 75 species of the herpetofauna, including 29 species of amphibians from 20 genera in seven families and 46 species of reptiles from 30 genera, in 10 families. We provide the details on number of examples, sex, museum numbers, and collection details including location and collector along with the relevant remarks where applicable. A total of five species of amphibians and four species of reptiles remain to be resolved systematically since no precise name could be attributed to them.

In this paper we present an updated checklist of mammals found in Meghalaya.  Using online databases and search engines for available literature, we provide the scientific names, accepted English names, conservation status as per IUCN Red List, Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act schedules, appendices in CITES, local distribution status, endemism, last reported sighting, an account of previous studies carried out relative to mammals and a tentative bibliography of the mammalian species found in Meghalaya.  A total of 162 species were found to be existing in the state with Chiropterans forming the largest group and 27 species found to be threatened, seven Near Threatened and seven Data Deficient.

Acknowledgements: This study emanates from a larger study supported by Panthera Corporation, New York. We thank Director, SACON for facilitating and supporting the work. We thank IISER, Pune for laboratory space and chemicals, the Forests and wildlife Department of Kerala for permits, logistic help and discussions; Mahatma Gandhi University, School of Environmental Sciences, Kottayam and IISER, Trivandrum for accommodation in their guest houses. We thank M. Ravi, our driver during the field survey. Several people we interacted with, provided information on locations of sites, especially Ajay, Ayyapan, Chacko, Charan, Christopher, Prasanth, Rajeevan, Subramany and Toms for providing information and accompanying us to various sites. We also thank Ginson, Subin and Thangappan for information on the wild cats they had seen. We are grateful to Hema for facilitating accommodation at Trivandrum. We thank Mansi, Gouri and many others in the laboratory at IISER, Pune for helping us through stressful troubleshooting as well as making our stay and work enjoyable. We are grateful to Velumani and Prachi who helped enormously with troubleshooting as well as with ordering and suggesting various DNA extraction kits when we needed them urgently. We thank the editor and reviewers of the manuscript for their comments.