Thesis subject

MSc thesis topic: Studying space use of Humpback Mahseer in theCauvery river basin in Karnataka India

The Humpback Mahseer (Tor reamdevii) is a type of fish that is endemic to the Cauvery River basin in South India. It was once found abundantly across several upper and middle sub-basins, but the populations have declined with over 90% since the early 2000’s. In an effort to save this species from going extinct, the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary started a species recovery program with the future vision to re-populate areas where the species has already gone extinct.

The Sanctuary has the largest breeding population and the largest contiguous habitat (117 Km) that is protected on both banks. A part of the recovery project is to assess and possibly adapt areas that might be suitable for reintroducing this species based on fish behaviour and habitat use of individuals that are still living in the wild.

Background

For the habitat use study as described above, 8 adult fish (between 6 – 23 Kilograms) are fitted with very high frequency (VHF) radio transmitters.. Additionally, in previous studies, 9 habitat types have been identified in the area where the fish are still present. In a previous thesis land cover maps covering these 9 habitat types are mapped. To characterise the suitability or identify necessary changes to be made in other areas, it is essential to study the habitat use and variation in movement patterns of the fish. Additionally the above mentioned classification can be used to classify the suitability of other river stretches.

Possible Objectives and Research questions

  • How do humpback Mahseer use habitats?
  • What are suitable branches of the cauvary river to repopulate with Humpback Mahseer?

Requirements

  • Spatial temporal analysis for Earth and Environment
  • Geoscripting
  • Spatial modelling and statistics

Literature and information

Theme(s): Modelling & visualisation