Dynamic wetland mosaic environments and Asian openbill habitat creation in peri-urban Bangkok

Abstract

This study examined the spatial relationships between various types of wetland and the distribution of Asian openbills (Anastomus oscitans) as an indicator species in a peri-urban industrial area of Bangkok. We (1) mapped the study area by using a time series of aerial photographs combined with field validations, (2) conducted a 2-year line census of Asian openbills in the field, (3) interviewed local farmers and residents about Asian openbill populations and spatial distributions, and (4) conducted an overlay analysis to statistically identify land-use factors related to spatiotemporal changes in the Asian openbill population and distribution. We found that the number of ponds increased from 1980 to 1999 and then decreased from 1999 to 2010, but the remaining ponds were relatively temporally stable in their numbers and volumes. Paddy fields were primarily replaced by aquaculture ponds, and excavated soil was used as fill in adjoining built-up areas. The number of coconut, banana, mango and other trees planted around the ponds increased during the period, providing Asian openbill habitat. The openbills fed in the remaining paddy fields, and the simultaneous existence of various rice cultivation stages in the area provided a stable year-round source of food. Overall, the results indicated that this expanding urban-rural mosaic landscape could include further spatial distribution of Asian openbills in the future. This study of Asian openbills reveals just one example of the ecosystem services provided by developments creating pond-fill landscapes, and the methods used may be applicable in other similar continental delta regions.

<b>Land Use Transition and Possibility of Climate Change Adaptation by Rice Farmers around the Industrial Estate in Bangkok's Urban Fringe</b>

“…Farmlands in the suburbs can be expected to provide resilience against floods as they perform the high-level function of water storage and regulation of floodwater (Shinya et al, 2013). Paddy fields, the typical farmland in the flood plain, in particular perform the function of water storage and provide a habitat for wetland birds such as Asian Openbills (Hara et al, 2015).…”

Assessing the habitat suitability of paddy fields for avian indicators based on hydropedological parameters of the wet agricultural soil along the Cauvery delta basin, India

“…Over the past few decades, there has been a steep decline in farmland birds due to agriculture intensification (Hill et al 2014;Belden et al 2018), pesticide use (Gibbons et al 2015;Stanton et al 2018) and extensive farmland abandonment (Traba and Morales 2019). A recent report suggests that 87% of the world's wetlands have disappeared since 1700 AD (Davidson 2018), consequently resulting in major records of wetland bird declines (Sievers et al 2018) and the urgent need for alternate feeding and breeding grounds for birds (Hara et al 2018). Birds adapt to alternate feeding grounds like paddy fields depending on the type of crop, landscape composition, and agricultural intensification activities (Wretenberg et al 2006).…”

“…However, the birds that inhabit and forage these landscapes are given minimal attention (Sundar and Kittur 2013). Hence, understanding their ecology is pivotal for developing conservation strategies as loss of their breeding sites may result in the loss of their entire population, and in this regard, indicator species often synchronize the responses of other species that directly or indirectly depend on these habitats (Hara et al 2018;Kajzer-Bonk et al 2019).…”

Village Level Provisioning Ecosystem Services and Their Values to Local Communities in the Peri-Urban Areas of Manila, The Philippines

“…Studies in peri-urban landscapes of the global south show that peri-urban landscapes can be vital biodiversity conservation areas [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40] giving us a chance to maintain and protect the numerous and unaccountable ES benefits biodiversity provides to mankind [27,41,42]. In the Philippines, the majority of the ES related studies include traditional rice-based systems and their watershed services [43][44][45], mangroves [46,47], and indigenous agriculture-based systems in ancestral land [48].…”