Uneven Knowledge of South Asian Canids: Quantifying Taxonomic and Geographic Biases in Three Decades of Research

Globally the scope of research on wild canids has increased significantly. However, the distribution of research on wild canids is not uniform across different taxonomic groups and geographical locations. Here, we present the first PRISMA-based overview of the research on South Asian wild canids. Using the PRISMA framework, we conducted a systematic review of 241 peer-reviewed articles on wild canids from the Web of Science Core Collection from 1995 to 2024. We quantified the temporal trend, thematic focus, taxonomic coverage, and geographical distribution of research on wild canids in South Asia. We also quantified inequality in research on wild canids using the Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient. Research on wild canids in South Asia increased significantly in the last three decades, with a strong rise in the last decade. Research on wild canids in South Asia is highly slanted towards ecological and baseline research (75%), while disease ecology, genetics, evolution, and behavior comprise 60% of the total publications, and research from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka is negligible. Overall, our results show that geographical inequality in research on wild canids is much higher than taxonomic inequality in research on wild canids in South Asia. Therefore, the generation of a balanced research base on wild canids in South Asia is a prerequisite for the development of robust conservation strategies for wild canids in the region. Keywords: Systematic synthesis, South Asian Canids, Conservation, Research bias, PRISMA, Ecology