Biodiversity in Thar Desert and its Role in Sustainable Agriculture

Roy, M. M.; Roy, Sharmila

doi:10.33451/florafauna.v25i2pp103-120

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The Thar desert spanning 200000 sq kms is a vast arid region in the north western part of India and is a host to 682 species of flora, and 1195 (2.12 % of Indian fauna) species of fauna (Roy and Roy, 2019). As the world’s most densely populated desert, the Thar desert contends with on-going human-induced pressures, leading to various adaptations to support human and faunal habitation (ul Islam and Rahmani, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wastelands or Preferred-lands? Indicators for redefining Desert conservation

Mukherjee,

Banerjee,

Sharma

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Desert ecosystems though crucial in shaping global climate, are often perceived to have limited function and are frequently designated as wastelands due to low biotic diversity and abundance. We explore the functional properties of desert through assessment of spatio-temporal variations of avian species richness and insect abundance of the relatively understudied Thar in Rajasthan. The study was conducted across four contrasting ecoregions (Western Thar (WT), Eastern Thar (ET), Transitional Zone (TZ), and Cultivated Zone (CZ) spanning 33 counties of Rajasthan. Monthly avian diversity were obtained from crowdsourced eBird data. Insect diversity and abundance accross the ecoregions were curated from the annual surveys of ZSI, India. The leads were corroborated with five years feeding behaviour observational data recorded from a representative site spanning 852 acres. There was a significant seasonal differences in bird species richness between the ecoregions with the most pronounced variations between summer and winter and CZ exhibiting the highest spatial variability followed by WT. WT also recorded the highest insect diversity and abundance, especially the orders Orthoptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Lepidotera and Diptera. The correlation matrix between bird and insect abundance and Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) plot indicated the relation between diverse dietary preferences and migratory patterns. These observations challenge the conventional notion that resource-limited environments harbour lesser biodiversity especially in arid environments. The dominance of insectivory among winter migrants aligns with the higher density of resident arthropods and emphasizes the pivotal role of insects as a food source during the migratory period. The adaptability of resident species to varied food sources, particularly arthropods, provides a means to strategically navigate during resource constraints. This study thus provides a unique framework to (a) redefine the functional importance of desert using migratory birds as prominent ecological indicators. (b) include an ecological criteria during policy formulation for biodiversity conservation. It also emphasizes reevaluation of deserts during designation of wastelands especially in the unique WT eco-regions when evolving developmental as well as ecological restoration strategies.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wastelands or Preferred-lands? Indicators for redefining Desert conservation

Mukherjee,

Banerjee,

Sharma

et al. 2024

Preprint

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“…Though there are a number of protected areas like Desert National Park (DNP), Gajner Wildlife Sanctuary and Tal Chhapar Wildlife Sanctuary, there is an increased risk of habitat loss for its biota. Invasive species, anthropogenic activities, increased agrifarmlands, rapid urbanization, unplanned infrastructure, pollution, climate change, etc., are threats to its diversity (Bharadwaj and rafi Rahmani, 2020) and abundance of original species (Roy and Roy, 2019) Some of the critically endangered species of Thar like the Great Indian Bustard are rapidly dwindling in numbers and have faced fragmented population, possibly due to cumulative effect of anthropogenic effects and climate change. Though geographically diverse and distinct with respect to natural communities, this has been defined as 'one' ecoregion by Olson et al (2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biotic Assessment of Crowdsourced Data Defines Four Ecoregions in Thar: A Novel Approach for Citizen Engagement in Conservation

Mukherjee¹,

Paul

Mukerji

2023

Preprint

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Distinct ecosystems have representative biota that can allow delineation of ecoregions. Despite being one of the most populated desert ecosystems in the world with extreme climatic conditions, Thar has been classified as a single ecoregion by WWF. The present study aimed to test this on the basis of biotic assessment using a citizen science-based crowdsourced data from ebird (492 species of birds through 50,000 checklists of 4000 birders). Unsupervised clustering (k=4) and mathematical validation using cosine similarity revealed the presence of four distinct ecoregions- Eastern Thar (ET), Western Thar (WT), Transitional Zone (TZ) and Cultivated Zone (CZ) in Thar. Most strikingly, these ecoregions when overlaid on geographical regions of Thar show that the CZ ecoregion was split between three distant and distinct geographic regions. Further spatial diversity estimates show CZ had the least α diversity (273) and highest β diversity (1.8) indicating the least similarity between the districts that comprised this ecoregion. The results suggest CZ as an evolving ecoregion or a consequence of habitat fragmentation due to anthropogenic effects. The presence of least number of exclusive species in CZ (0.2%) and TZ (0.8%) including the near-threatened species like Laticilla burnesii (Rufous-vented grass babbler) and Pelecanus philippensis (Spot-billed pelican) and an endangered species Athene blewitti (Forest Owlet) highlights the need for restoration of these threatened biota and ecoregions. This study for the first time proposes crowd-sourced bird data as an important biota-based tool to understand (a) established ecoregions in an ecosystem, (b) anthropogenic effects of agri-farmlands and (c) relation between geographic regions and biota.

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An Overview of World Deserts with Special Reference to Thar Desert

Varghese

2023

Natural Resource Management in the Thar Desert Region of Rajasthan

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Biodiversity in Thar Desert and its Role in Sustainable Agriculture

Cited by 7 publications

References 19 publications

Wastelands or Preferred-lands? Indicators for redefining Desert conservation

Wastelands or Preferred-lands? Indicators for redefining Desert conservation

Biotic Assessment of Crowdsourced Data Defines Four Ecoregions in Thar: A Novel Approach for Citizen Engagement in Conservation

An Overview of World Deserts with Special Reference to Thar Desert

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