Modern Himalayan marmot faeces analyses: Implications for palaeodietary, palaeoecological, and palaeoclimate analysis

Pollen and nutrient analyses of the faeces of the Himalayan marmot (Marmota himalayana) were made to understand its preferred dietary plants and ecology. Pollen preserved in the faeces accurately reflected its diet as a mixed feeder including Artemisia, Caryophyllaceae, Asteroideae, and Ephedra, characteristic plants of the Alpine steppe vegetation under a cold and arid climate in the higher Himalaya. Pollen ratio values between Artemisia/Chenopodiaceae, Artemisia/Cyperaceae, and Artemisia/Ephedra are identified from the Pensilla Pass and Rimkhim regions, as useful tools that characterize the Alpine steppe vegetation and climate in the higher Himalaya. Principal Component Analysis of the pollen taxa indicated only a slight difference in the relative abundance between the two localities sampled, Pensila Pass and Rimkhim areas. Coprophilous fungal spores, Sporormiella and Saccobolus, were abundant and considered useful for understanding the interrelationship between vegetation and the marmot's preferred habitat. Fifteen nutritional elements were recorded, and the high concentration of carbon, nitrogen, calcium, silicon, and, phosphorous is considered significant with a direct dietary relationship with the preferred plants consumed. This study provides a modern analogue and a baseline for coprolite and palaeoecological analyses in marmot inhabited regions and to observe the species future response to vegetation and climate change resulting shifts in altitude in the higher Himalaya.