Predator-Prey Relations Between Martes flavigula and Pheasants in Taktsang-Bumdra Region of Bhutan

Abstract

Camera trapping research of predator-prey relationships often focuses on the roles of apex species, leaving mesopredators underrepresented in research. This study aimed to fill this knowledge gap by studying the yellow-throated marten (Martes flavigula), a species native to the Bhutan Himalayas, and its predatory interactions with pheasants such as the Himalayan monal (Lophophorus impejanus), kalij pheasant (Lophura leucomelanos), blood pheasant (Ithaginis cruentus), and satyr tragopan (Tragopan satyra). To understand this relationship, we collected camera traps and environmental data from 30 sites within the Taktsang-Bumdra region of the Paro Valley. RStudio was used to run Kruskal-Wallis and Chi-squared analysis on the relationships between yellow-throated martens and pheasants both as individual species and as a group with respect to variables such as elevation, distance to agriculture, distance to urban areas, time of day, and habitat type. GIS was used to create graphs and visual models of the data to interpolate the species ranges in order to provide valuable insight into the efficacy of future conservation efforts. The results indicate urban areas have a greater effect on marten and pheasant distribution than agricultural areas. There is a difference in marten and pheasant habitat preferences, with pheasants preferring mixed conifers overwhelmingly, while martens were divided between mixed conifers and blue pine forests. Both martens and pheasants were active most in the afternoon, co-occurring at similar times temporally but were found at different elevations, ultimately meaning that martens are not entirely responsible for the size of the pheasant populations in the Taktsang-Bumdra region.