Data from: An expedition to Narcondam: observations of marine and terrestrial fauna including the island-endemic hornbill
Creators: name: Raman, T. R. Shankar
name: Mudappa, Divya
name: Khan, Tasneem
name: Mistry, Umeed
name: Saxena, Ajai
name: Varma, Kalyan
name: Ekka, Naveen
name: Lenin, Janaki
name: Whitaker, Romulus
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Narcondam Hornbill
oceanic islands
wildlife protection
Rhyticeros narcondami

description: Oceanic islands, known for their ecologically sensitive ecosystems and endemic species, are of high conservation significance. The volcanic island of Narcondam in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Indian Ocean, is a prime example and the only home of the endemic and globally endangered Narcondam Hornbill. Despite its ecological and evolutionary significance, there has been limited biological exploration and research on the island over the last century. Here, we report on a 2010 expedition to Narcondam, presenting results of our rapid survey of island invertebrates, herpetofauna, mammals and birds (especially the endemic hornbill), and marine life in adjoining waters. The survey recorded dense coral growth in the surrounding waters, and identified 17 fish, 2 sea cucumber, 8 reptile, 28 bird, and 2 mammal species and 13 spider and 8 butterfly taxa. Of these, 4 spiders, 3 butterflies and 6 birds identified to species are new records for the island. The Narcondam Hornbill was frequently encountered and we report trail-based estimates of encounter rate and density, which can serve as a baseline for future monitoring. Both despite its isolation and because of it, Narcondam has faced a number of recent and serious conservation threats, including feral goats, poaching, habitat degradation around the police camp, and proposed installations. While efforts have been made by the Government authorities to stave-off various threats, we highlight the need for further scientific research and monitoring, while according primacy to strict protection and conservation.
description: This dataset corresponds to the following publication: Raman, T. R. S., Mudappa, D., Khan, T., Mistry, U., Saxena, A., Varma, K., Ekka, N., Lenin, J. &amp; Whitaker, R. 2013. An expedition to Narcondam: observations of marine and terrestrial fauna including the island-endemic hornbill. <em>Current Science</em> 105: 346–360. Available here: https://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/105/03/0346.pdf Geographical scope: Narcondam Island, Indian Ocean, India <strong>Files included:</strong> README.txt: File indicating dataset files and explanation of columns within each CSV dataset file TransectSurveys.csv: Line transects surveyed on Narcondam Island for Narcondam Hornbill TransectData.csv: Line transect data Flocks.csv: Narcondam Hornbill flocks seen or flying (subset of TransectData.csv, with supplementary observations) and age-sex classification KML files: Four KML files of transect trails walked on Narcondam Island Ravine Trail.kml -- Transect 1 Lighthouse Trail.kml -- Transect 2 Hillslope Trail.kml -- Transect 3 Peak Trail.kml -- extra trail covered See file README.txt for more explanation of columns in different CSV files.
description: Methods are explained in detail in the following open access manuscript: Raman, T. R. S., Mudappa, D., Khan, T., Mistry, U., Saxena, A., Varma, K., Ekka, N., Lenin, J. &amp; Whitaker, R. 2013. An expedition to Narcondam: observations of marine and terrestrial fauna including the island-endemic hornbill. <em>Current Science</em> 105: 346–360. Available here: https://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/105/03/0346.pdf