Skip to content

Northern Barasingha Preferred Mixed Grasslands and Avoided Heavily Disturbed Pure Saccharum Patches

Two barasingha males standing in grass in India
Research · Ecology

A 2026 preprint on northern barasingha (Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii) found that grassland structure and human disturbance were closely related to habitat use along the upper Ganges in northern India. A preprint is a research manuscript made public before formal peer review, so the findings should still be considered preliminary. The study covered Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve, Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary and surrounding unprotected grasslands.

Researchers combined field vegetation surveys with satellite-derived NDVI data and classified the grasslands into four main structural types shaped by Saccharum, Phragmites and Typha. NDVI is a satellite-based greenness index that uses differences in how vegetation reflects light to map broad variation in vegetation cover and condition across a landscape. Signs of human disturbance were recorded in about 77% of surveyed grassland plots. Pure Saccharum grasslands had the highest disturbance levels, while Phragmites–Typha patches had the lowest.

Survey records and movement data from two radio-collared barasingha showed more consistent use of mixed vegetation, particularly Saccharum-dominated mixtures and Phragmites–Typha mixtures, while heavily disturbed pure Saccharum patches were avoided. The two collars provided detailed movement information, but such a small number of tracked animals cannot by itself represent all habitat choices in the wider population.

Habitat use also changed seasonally, with vegetation structure, hydrology and disturbance jointly shaping which grassland patches were used. The authors emphasise the value of maintaining structurally diverse grassland mosaics and reducing human pressure, particularly in unprotected parts of the Gangetic floodplain.

Sources and image credit

  1. Paul, S., Saha, S., Page, N. V., Pandav, B., & Mondol, S. (2026). Landscape-scale grassland structural heterogeneity and disturbance regimes influence swamp deer habitat utilisation across the upper Gangetic plains, India. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.20.719689Primary preprint first posted 23 April 2026. Field vegetation surveys and NDVI-based remote sensing across Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve, Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary and surrounding unprotected grasslands classified four grassland types. About 77% of plots showed human disturbance. Survey data and two radio-collared northern swamp deer indicated preference for mixed vegetation, especially Saccharum-dominated and Phragmites–Typha mixes, and avoidance of heavily disturbed pure Saccharum patches.

Image: Davidvraju / Wikimedia Commons — two barasingha males in India, 18 October 2018; representative species image, source does not identify the subspecies; cropped to 16:9 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

About this content: This story was produced with AI assistance within an editorial workflow developed by Wildlife Vagabond. Editorial responsibility remains with Wildlife Vagabond.How AI is used

Ecology

SPECIES IN THIS STORY

Species in this story

Barasingha Rucervus duvaucelii Explore species

Independent research and conservation news archive

Did you find this information useful?

Wildlife Vagabond is independently built and maintained. Voluntary support helps cover source verification, hosting and continued work on research and conservation news.

Support Wildlife Vagabond

The news archive will remain freely available.