Avian diversity in Barna Wetland of Narmada basin in Central India

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Avian diversity in Barna Wetland of Narmada basin in Central India

Keywords:

Avian diversity, Barna wetland, Migratory birds.

ABSTRACT: Observations were made on the occurrence and diversity of waterbirds in Barna reservoir from March 2009 to February 2011. A total 63 species of water birds belonging to 7 order and 12 families were recorded from the wetland during the study. Migratory birds also visit the reservoir during winter season. Anatidae was the most dominant family recorded during winter, in terms of species richness and population. The present paper deals with various types of habitats available in the reservoir and its surrounding area. The mosaic of habitats makes it an unique avifaunal refuge. Protected catchment area is also a supportive feature for the conservation of bird species.

460-468 | JRB | 2012 | Vol 2 | No 5

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Authors:

Satish Balapure, Sumana

Dutta and Vipin Vyas.

Institution:

Department of

Environmental Science and

Limnology, Barkatullah

University, Bhopal- 462026,

India.

Corresponding author:

Vipin Vyas.

Email:

[email protected]

Web Address: http://jresearchbiology.com/

documents/RA0253.pdf.

Dates: Received: 06 Jun 2012 Accepted: 21 Jun 2012 Published: 02 Jul 2012

Article Citation: Satish Balapure, Sumana Dutta and Vipin Vyas. Avian diversity in Barna Wetland of Narmada basin in central India. Journal of Research in Biology (2012) 2(5): 460-468

Journal of Research in Biology

Original Research

Journal of Research in Biology

An International

Scientific Research Journal

An International Scientific Research Journal

INTRODUCTION

Wetlands are defined as lands transitional

between terrestrial and aquatic eco-systems where the

water table is usually at or near the surface or the land is

covered by shallow water (Mitsch & Gosselink 1986).

The various reservoirs, shallow ponds and numerous

tanks support wetland biodiversity and add to the

country’s wetland wealth. It is estimated that freshwater

wetlands alone support 10 percent of the known range of

biodiversity in India (Deepa & Ramachandra 1999)

including 2400 birds species and sub species of birds.

Wetlands in India occupy 58.1 million hectares,

including areas under wet paddy cultivation

(Prasad et al., 2002)

Wetlands and waterbirds are inseparable

elements and support a rich array of waterbird

communities (Grimmett and Inskipp, 2007). Waterbirds

are an important component of most of the wetland

ecosystem as they occupy several trophic levels in the

food web of wetland nutrient cycles. Activities of

waterbirds are considered as indicator of quality of the

wetland ecosystem and form the terminal links in many

aquatic food chains, and as a result they reflect changes

originating in several different ecosystem components

(Custer and Osborne, 1977). Parish and Prentice (1989),

suggested various direct and indirect factors that causes

deterioration of wetlands all over the world. Factors that

cause wetland deterioration like vegetation changes,

deterioration of water quality, siltation, cattle grazing and

poaching were recorded in India by Vijayan (1986),

Anjaneyulu (1991), Sampath (1993) and Trisal (l993).

No in-depth study of ecology of wetlands as

birds habitat has been conducted in Madhya Pradesh.

Some sporadic references are available that too limited

to check listing of birds. Wetland ecology has been

studied in isolation lacking avian ecology. Barna wetland

of Madhya Pradesh is an identified wetland under

National Wetland Conservation Programme by Ministry

of Environment and Forests (Govt. of India). No detailed

study has been conducted on the water birds of the Barna

reservoir, but a preliminary survey in the winter of

2001- 2002 revealed a huge congregation of more than

20,000 birds on the main water body

(Islam & Rahmani, 2004). This site has not been covered

during the Asian Waterfowl Census, and needs regular

monitoring of water birds.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Barna is one of the major irrigation projects of

Madhya Pradesh constructed by damming river Barna in

Raisen district near Bari village. This is located about

100 kms from Bhopal. Narmada basin is located at the

latitude 22°50’ 13.5” N and longitude 77°50’ 78.10” E.

This reservoir is an important source of fish production

in the area. Regular fish stoking is done in this reservoir

every year. The water of the reservoir is mainly used for

the fisheries and irrigation purpose. The reservoir

supports a rich biodiversity and provide habitat for

wildlife including migratory birds. A major part of the

reservoir basin falls under Singhori Wild Life Sanctuary.

Wetland habitats:

Study of avifaunal diversity of Barna wetland

was conducted between March, 2009 and February,

2011. Seasonal observations were made during the study

but they were clubbed into four observations for further

analysis. Birds were observed within the transect of

300m. Nikon Binoculars of 10×50 were used for

observations. The field book of Ali and Ripley (1986),

Ali (1996) were used to identify bird species. The

checklist was prepared using the standardized common

and scientific names of the birds of the Indian

subcontinent by Manakkadan and Pittie (2001).

Data analysis:

The statistical analysis was carried out using

software Paleontological Statics (PAST) version 2.04

(Hammer et al., 2001) to find out the significance of

spatial variation on biological parameters. Margalef’s

species richness (d), Shannon-Wiener diversity (H’) and

Balapure et al., 2012

461 Journal of Research in Biology (2012) 2(5): 460-468

Simpsons index (D) was calculated. Jaccard’s similarity

cluster was constructed based on bird species richness.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

In the present study 63 bird species were

recorded from Barna reservoir belonging to 12 families

and seven orders (Table: 1). Das and Saikia 2011

recorded 39 species of water birds from 16 different

families from Deepor beel (Ramsar site) of Assam.

Family Anatidae was found to be the most dominant

family represented by 16 species followed by Ardeidae

with nine species and Charadriidae with eight species

(Fig:1). Family Recurvirostridae had only one species

Himantopus himantopus commonly known as Black

winged stilt. Rathore and Sharma (1999) also reported

Anatidae to be dominating family with 11 species in

Sarsai Nawar in UP. Surana (2007) recorded Anatidae to

be most dominant family with 11 species, Ardeidae with

nine species and Charadriidae with eight species in

Chimdi lake of Nepal. Tak et al., (2010) reported 31

water birds from Hathnikund wetland of Haryana with

maximum richness of Anatidae (35%) followed by

Ardeidae (19.6%). Rajashekara and Venkatesha (2011)

recorded Ardeidae to be the most dominating family

having nine species followed by Anatidae family having

five species from Bangalore lake.

Site-1, Site-4 and Site-7 harbored maximum bird

species richness compared to the other sites. The


Journal of Research in Biology (2012) 2(5): 460-468 462

Map of Barna reservoir in Narmada basin of central India were as study sites are

located zone wise

maximum diversity of water birds was noted at Site-4 as

47 species followed by Site-7 having 45 bird species,

Site-1 with 31 species (Fig:2). These sites were

characterized as shallower zones of the reservoir.

Minimum water bird assemblage was noted at Site-8,

Site-9 and Site-2. Family Anatidae, Phalacrocoracidae,

Rallidae and Alcedinidae were the abundant families of

Barna reservoir which were observed at all the sites

comprised of both shallower zone as well as deeper zone.

Family Ardeidae, Ciconiidae, Threskiornithidae,

Gruidae, Recurvirostridae, Charadriidae and Laridae

were restricted only in shallower zone of the reservoir.

Kurup (1991) attributed it to the larger mudflat areas

which attract shorebirds in large numbers. Cormorants

were noted both in shallow and deeper zone of the

reservoir. Waders were restricted to only shallow waters

having a depth of 2 mt. Deep water has been reported to

reduce the availability and accessibility of invertebrates

to feeding waders (Murkin and Kadlec, 1986).

Murkin et al., (1997) found that diving ducks as a group

selected habitat that consisted of deeper water and less

vegetation.

There was a temporal variation in bird diversity

(Fig:3). The maximum diversity of birds was noted in

winter season. Similar observation was noted by

Rajashekara and Venkatesha (2011) in 15 major lakes of

Bangalore during 2008. Chinchkhede and Kedar (2012)

reported 76 species belonging to 15 orders in and around

Koradi lake of Nagpur among which 54 species were

recorded as resident; 09 species as seasonal local migrant

and 13 species as winter migrant. There was a gradual

decline in species richness in the reservoir as the weather

condition changes from colder to warmer. A sharp

decline was recorded during summer 35 species of water

birds in the reservoir belonging to 12 families and 7

orders. With the onset of monsoon in June and July, the

field conditions are unsuitable for birds and the bird

occurrence was significantly low in all the study areas.

The diversity of birds vary according to the weather

conditions like rainfall, temperature, relative humidity

and precipitation changes have a profound effect on

water level, cover ratio and the quality of the habitat for

the water birds (Rao et al., 1997). Anatidae family which

was the most dominant family during winter period was

represented by sixteen species. This indicates that most

of the wintering water birds belong to Anatidae family.

Vyas et al., (2010) observed that Anatidae was the most

dominating family in Bhoj wetland. The second most

dominating family was Charadriidae represented by 10

species followed by Ardeidae represented by nine

species. Vijayan (1988) while working on Bharatpur

wetland also recorded similar observations. Members of

Anatidae family were found to dominate among the

winter migratory birds. Coot was the only dominant

migratory bird belonging to family Rallidae which could

not be recorded after Monsoon season in Barna reservoir.



0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Sp

ecie

s

S-1 S-2 S-3 S-4 S-5 S-6 S-7 S-8 S-9

Alcedinidae

Laridae

Charadriidae

Recurvirostridae

Rallidae

Gruidae

Anatidae

Threskionithidae

Ciconidae

Ardeidae

Phalacrocoracidae

Podiciptidae

Fig 1: Family wise percentage composition of

wetland birds in Barna reservoir

Fig 2: Spatial variation in species richness of

wetland birds in Barna reservoir

Family Ardeidae comprised of Egrets and herons showed

an increasing population trend from the beginning of the

summer season. Vijayan (1987, 1988) recorded increase

in egret’s population during monsoon period due to their

breeding season.

The various diversity indices for water birds are

shown in Figure 4. The higher value for Shannon’s index

was observed at Site-4 (2.554) followed by Site-5 (2.4).

Simpson’s diversity index was highest at Site-6 followed

by Site-5 and Site-4. Species richness was highest at

Site-4 (6.14), followed by Site-7 (5.87) and Site-1 5.05).

Lowest species richness was recorded at Site-3, Site-6

and Site-9 having a depth of 4-6 mt.

The dendogram constructed showed the

similarity of the sites according to the species richness of

the water birds present at nine sites of Barna reservoir

(Fig: 5). Two main clusters were formed; first cluster

was formed with Site-1, Site-4 and Site-7. Among the

first cluster Site-4 and Site-7 forms a subgroup. These

two sites exhibit maximum species diversity as compared


0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Winter Summer Monsoon Post Monsoon

Sp

ecie

s p

erc

en

tag

e

Alcedinidae

Laridae

Charadriidae

Recurvirostridae

Rallidae

Gruidae

Anatidae

Threskionithidae

Ciconidae

Ardeidae

Phalacrocoracidae

Podiciptidae

Fig 3: Temporal variation in species composition of

wetland birds of Barna reservoir.

Fig 4: Variation in site specific diversity and richness

indices among sites at Barna reservoir.


Fig 5: Cluster analysis showing similarity in species richness of different sites of Barna reservoir.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

0.24

0.32

0.4

0.48

0.56

0.64

0.72

0.8

0.88

0.96

Similarity

S-5

S-6

S-9

S-8

S-2

S-3

S-4

S-7

S-1


Table 1: List of birds recorded in Barna reservoir during March 2009- February 2011

S. No Zoological Name Common Name Scientific Name

1.Order : Podicipediformes

1 1. Family- Podiciptidae Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis

2 Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus

2. Order: Pelecaniformes

3 2. Family - Phalacrocoracidae Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo

4 Indian Shag Phalacrocorax fuscicollis

5 Little Cormorant Phalacrocorax niger

6 Darter Anhinga melanogaster

3. Order : Ciconiformes

7 3. Family – Ardeidae Large Egret Casmerodius albus

8 Little Egret Egretta garzetta

9 Median Egret Mesophoyx intermedia

10 Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis

11 Grey Heron Ardea cinerea

12 Purple Heron Ardea purpurea

13 Little Green Heron Butorides striatus

14 Black-Crowned Night-Heron Nycticorax nycticorax

15 Indian Pond Heron Ardeola grayii

16 4. Family – Ciconidae Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala

17 Asian Openbilled Stork Anastomus oscitans

18 White-Necked Stork Ciconia episcopus

19 5. Family – Threskionithidae Black Ibis Pseudibis papillosa

20 Oriental White Ibis Threskiornis melanocephalus

21 Eurasian Spoonbill Platalea leucorodia

4. Order : Anseriformes

22 6. Family – Anatidae Greyleg Goose Anser anser

23 Bar headed Goose Anser indicus

24 Brahminy Shelduck Tadorna ferruginea

25 Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna

26 Comb Duck Sarkidiornis melanotos

27 Lesser Whistling -Duck Dendrocygna javanica

28 Northern Pintail Anas acuta

29 Common Teal Anas crecca

30 Spottbill Duck Anas poecilorhyncha

31 Gadwall Anas strepera

32 Eurasian Wigeon Anas penelope

33 Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata

34 Red carested Pochard Rhodonessa rufina

35 Common Pochard Aythya ferina

36 Tufted Pochard Aythya fuligula

37 Cotton Teal Nettapus coromandelianus

5. Order : Gruiformes

38 7. Family- Gruidae Common Crane Grus grus

39 Sarus Crane Grus antigone

40 8. Family- Rallidae Whitebreasted Waterhen Amaurornis phoenicurus

41 Watercock Gallicrex cinerea

42 Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus

43 Purple Moorhen Porphyrio porphyrio

44 Common Coot Fulica atra

6. Order : Charadriiformes

45 9. Family- Recurvirostridae Black-winged Stilt Himantopus himantopus


to the other sites having shallow depth (0-2 mt) with rich

marophytic vegetation which serves food for water

birds. According to Mitchell & Prepas (1990) and

Clifford (1991) shallow lakes with broad littoral zones

and abundant macrophytes and macroinvertebrates

provide excellent habitat for aquatic birds. Second

cluster was formed with Site-2, Site-3, Site-5, Site-6,

Site-8 and Site-9. In the second cluster, Sites 6 & 9

formed sub cluster because of low richness of bird

species may be due to their similar depth profile. These

sites come under deeper zone having a depth of 4-6

meters. Maximum depth was the another morphometric

feature that showed strong correlations with guild

composition and richness of water birds (Paszkowski and

Tonn, 2006).

CONCLUSION:

It is revealed that overall, 63 species belonging to

12 families and 7 orders were documented which

included 36% residents, 35% local migrants and 29% as

migratory species. Among these 24.5% were considered

to be common, 23.81% fairly common, 31.75%

uncommon and 19.05 % rare species. From the present

study it was revealed that existence of various patterns of

spatial and temporal segregation among the water bird

reflected the different requirements that are met by these

limnologically variables. Higher values of Shannon’s and

Margalef indices indicated rich water bird occurrence

and species richness at Site 1, Site 4 and Site 7. Water

bird abundance status was calculated according to Kumar

& Gupta (2009). Sarus Crane which was declared as

vulnerable species in Important Bird areas of India

(Islam & Rahmani, 2004) recorded with a total

number of 25 from the shoreline of the wetland. Three

near t hreat ened spec ies name ly Dar t er

( A nh inga me lano ga s t e r) , P a int e d S to r k

(Mycteria leucocephala) and Oriental white Ibis

(Threskiornis melanocephalus). We have recorded nearly

57 Darter, 53 Painted stork and 12 Oriental white Ibis

during the entire study period from the wetland.

Conservation of this wetland is very essential to sustain

migratory bird populations along with the threatened and

vulnerable birds of that area.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

The authors are thankful to Dr. Pradeep

Shrivastava, Professor, Department of Environmental

Science and Limnology, Barkatullah University, Bhopal



46 10. Family – Charadriidae Red-wattled Lapwing Vanellus indicus

47 River Lapwing Vanellus duvaucelii

48 Little Ringed Plover Charadrius dubius

49 Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus

50 Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis

51 Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola

52 Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos

53 Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea

54 Little Stint Calidris minutus

55 Dunlin Calidris alpine

56 11. Family – Laridae Brown-headed Gull Larus brunnicephalus

57 Yellow-Legged Gull Larus cachinnans

58 Common Tern Sterna hirundo

59 River Tern Sterna aurantia

60 Little Tearn Sterna albifrons

7. Order : Coraciiformes

61 12. Family – Alcedinidae Whitebrested Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis

62 Small Blue Kingfisher Alcedo atthis

63 Lesser Pied Kingfisher Ceryle rudis

(India) for his support and encouragement throughout the

study period.

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Avian diversity in Barna Wetland of Narmada basin in Central India

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