Avifaunal diversity in unprotected wetlands of Ayodhya District, Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Nine unprotected wetlands of Ayodhya district, Uttar Pradesh, India were studied to assess the bird species composition and richness from March 2019 to February 2020 using point count method. A total of 105 species of birds belonging to 79 genera, distributed among 35 families and 12 orders were recorded. Passeriformes had the highest diversity with 25 species and 12 families. Anatidae was the most dominant family with 15 species, constituting 14.29% of the wetland bird community in the study area. These wetlands provided habitat for 62 residential species, 42 winter migrants and one vagrant. The carnivore guild was the most dominant with 46 species. The wetland sites under study were continuously used by humans mainly for land encroachment, fishing activities and livestock grazing apart from other minor uses. Out of the nine selected wetlands, three wetlands (˂2 ha) had very few bird species (≤3), therefore were excluded from further calculations. But the rest of the six selected wetlands (˃5 ha) provided habitat for 12 bird species of conservation importance (one Endangered species, five Vulnerable species, and six Near Threatened species) according to the IUCN Red list. These wetlands also supported 39 species of birds having a declining population trend globally. These findings highlight the role of medium and large-sized unprotected wetlands in providing critical habitat to the birds throughout the year in Ayodhya district. Future research must concentrate on understanding the key factors influencing the presence and absence of birds in such unprotected wetlands so that these wetlands can be managed effectively to secure the potential habitat of birds.

Assessing avian diversity and conservation status in Dighal Wetlands, Haryana, India

“…Among the documented bird families in the selected wetlands of Jhajjar District, Anatidae emerged as the most diverse. This observation aligns with prior studies demonstrating Anatidae as a prevalent bird family in various freshwater wetlands across India (Tak et al 2010;Kumar & Sharma 2018;Rai et al 2019;Kaur & Brraich 2021;Singh & Brraich 2022;Yashmita-Ulman & Singh 2022). The findings indicate that the majority of recorded species are residents, followed by winter and summer visitors, consistent with earlier reports on freshwater wetlands in Haryana (Kumar & Gupta 2013;Kumar et al 2016;Rai et al 2019).…”

“…Wetlands are dynamic ecosystems that link aquatic and terrestrial habitats (Zedler & Kercher 2005;Bassi et al 2014;Panda et al 2021;Rajpar et al 2022;Yashmita-Ulman & Singh 2022). They have specific ecological characteristics, functions, and values.…”

“…Birds occupy several trophic levels in the nutrient cycle of wetland ecosystems (Kumar & Sharma 2018;Chakraborty et al 2021;Rai & Vanita 2021;Rajpar et al 2022;Yashmita-Ulman & Singh 2022). Wetlands are important for both resident and migratory birds.…”

“…Wetlands are important for both resident and migratory birds. They are used by birds for various purposes such as foraging, breeding, roosting, and nesting habitats, and sometimes also as stopover sites (Ganbold et al 2018;Kumar & Sharma 2018;Panda et al 2021;Yashmita-Ulman & Singh 2022;Anand et al 2023;Muralikrishnan et al 2023). Birds are extremely sensitive to changes in their habitats such as human disturbance, poisoning, pollution, eutrophication, and siltation; therefore, they can be used as an excellent ecological indicator for assessing the quality, productivity, and stability of wetlands (Mistry et al 2008;Amat & Green 2010).…”

“…Of the 1,353 bird species reported from various habitats within the geographical limits of India (Praveen & Jayapal 2023), 310 are recognised to be dependent on wetlands (Kumar et al 2005). However, wetlands in India, as elsewhere, are facing anthropogenic pressures like conversion of wetlands into agricultural lands or for commercial fishing purposes, industrial pollution, fertilisers run-off from surrounding agricultural fields, hunting, unsustainable harvest of wetland resources, invasion of alien species, eutrophication, and draining of water for agricultural purposes (Ganbold et al 2018;Kumar & Sharma 2018;Mandal et al 2021;Panda et al 2021;Rashiba et al 2022;Yashmita-Ulman & Singh 2022). This threatens the existing avifaunal diversity of wetlands.…”