Human interference and avifaunal diversity of two wetlands of Jalpaiguri, West Bengal, India

Abstract

Avifaunal diversity and abundance were studied in two wetlands of Jalpaiguri District, West Bengal, India, in relation to eight wetland characteristics supposedly directly or indirectly affected by human activities. Although the climatic and geophysical conditions of both the wetlands are almost similar, a total of 80 bird species were recorded from one wetland and the other supported only 42 species. The relationship between habitat characteristics and community structure varied throughout the year, suggesting that the birds respond differently to one or other habitat characteristic depending on the season. Larger wetland size supported higher bird diversity and abundance as far as resident and local migrants are concerned. Winter migrant density and diversity, however, reached higher values in structurally more heterogeneous wetlands having fewer submerged aquatic vegetation. All these habitat characteristics become highly influenced by intense agricultural practices in the wetland with fewer bird diversity and density.

Temporal and environmental drivers of fish-community structure in tropical streams from two contrasting regions in India

“…The region is well known for its tea plantations and agriculture. Anthropogenic pressures range from forest fragmentation [47], sand mining [48], unplanned river obstruction/diversion and dependence on river water for bathing and washing [49], [50].…”

Present status and diversity of avian fauna in Purbasthali bird sanctuary, West Bengal, India

“…Several studies on local and migratory water-bird population and the effects of bird aggregation on the physicochemical conditions of lake water and vice versa have been conducted in the state West Bengal of India by many workers (Patra et al 2010;Datta, 2011;Singha Roy et al 2011 andBhattacharya and Roy, 2013). A few research works have been carried out in Purbasthali bird sanctuary concerning the ecology, environmental threat and socioeconomic issues (Ganesan and Khan, 2007;Ganguly, 2015;Biswas Roy et al 2016).…”

Impact of Urban Threats and Disturbance on the Survival of Waterbird Communities in Wetlands of Bengaluru City, India

“…Each lake was divided into four imaginary quadrants with the help of landmarks. In each quadrant, water and aquatic macrophyte coverage on the lake was visually estimated as a percentage of the total lake area, and thus mean percent of open water and macrophyte coverage of whole lake was assessed (Froneman et al 2001;Thakur and Bhattacharjee 2008;Datta 2011;Rajashekar 2011). Water depth was measured at each lake with a measuring stone (Datta 2011;Rajashekar 2011).…”

“…Human activities, which predominate in urban areas, have been shown to decrease the foraging (Rees et al 2005) and breeding success of waterbirds (Beale and Monaghan 2004), change their distributions (Thiollay 2007), and lower species richness (Palacio-Núñez et al 2007) and thus alter the composition of waterbird communities (De Boer 2002;Palomino and Carrascal 2007;Venkatesha 2010, 2014). Although natural and man-made threats to lakes and wetlands of oriental India have been addressed since the 1990s in over 25 studies (e.g., Bharucha and Gogte 1990;Reddy et al 1993;Nagarajan and Thiyagesan 1998;Jayson 2001;Mukherjee et al 2002;Chari et al 2003;Sivaperuman and Jayson 2003;Gupta 2004;Islam 2006;Kumar 2006;Raghavaiah and Davidar 2006;Bhatnagar et al 2007;Malkanna et al 2007;Mazumdar et al 2007;Patankar et al 2007;Raghavaiah and Davidar 2007;Surana et al 2007;Hussain and Pandav 2008;Verma 2008;Bhat et al 2009;Khan 2010;Kumar and Choudhary 2010;Datta 2011;Bhattacharjee and Bargali 2012;Hussain et al 2012;Gulzar and Kant 2015;Kanaujia et al 2015;Kupekar et al 2015;Mistry and Mukherjee 2015), quantification of the magnitude of threats and their effects on ...…”