Faunal diversity of Ghotnimbala Wetlands in India

As such, a detailed study of avifauna as well as their ecology is crucial to safeguard them. This investigation was carried out in order to document the avifauna diversity in and around the wetlands of Lake Ghotnimbala near Bhadrawati town. Numerous species of birds were documented from diverse orders and families. Among the recorded species, some were resident migrant while others were migrant common. Diversity of avifauna is one of the most significant ecological indicators that can be used to assess the equality of habitats. There are aquatic birds, such as waterfowl that have specialized needs of the habitats and any disruptions in their environment caused by human activity may cause them to react. For instance, the human activities in the wetlands under study led to a decline in the population and migration of migratory waterfowls.

Aim The aim of this report is to examine the diversity of aquatic birds and waterfowls of Ghotnimbala Lake located near Bhadrawati in Chandrapur, Maharashtra State in India from October 2012 to January 2018. Research Question To what extent did pollution around waterbodies affect the growth and population of aquatic birds and waterfowls in Ghotnimbala, India between October 2012 and January 2018?  Hypothesis The faunal diversity of Ghotnimbala wetlands will likely decrease in January 2018. Image 1. The observation was conducted through the use of a field binocular with a magnification capacity of 7x 25x during the morning hours from 6 AM to 10 AM and in the evening from 4 to 7 PM. The identification of species was undertaken through the assistance of pre-existing literature on bird species. Method Used The avifaunal diversity is usually highest during the month of December and the first week of January and this necessitated that the survey be carried out in the first week of January 2018.

There are two wetlands that are located around Ghotnimbala Lake and the methodology employed was total count to take the census of aquatic birds present in the wetlands. The wetlands was stratified using virtual blocks in order to facilitate the accurate counting of birds per strata for easy identification of the species and their number. Ciconiformes Ardeidae Casmerodius albus Large Egret RM 3. Podicipediformes Podicipedidae Tachybaptus ruficollius Little Grebe R 4. Ciconiformes Ardeidae Bubulcus ibis Cattle Egret R 5. Ciconiformes Scolopacidae Gallinage gallinago Common Snipe R 6. Ciconiformes Threskiornithidae Pseudibis papillosa Black Ibis RM 7. Charadriformes Scolopacidae Tringa ochropus Green Sandpiper R 18. Charadriformes Charadridae Vanellus indicus Red wattled Lapwing R 19. Charadriformes Scolopacidae Tringa totanus Common Redshank R 20. Charadriformes Scolopacidae Limosa limosa Black Tailed Godwit R 21. Charadriformes Scolopacidae Philomachus pugnax Ruff R 22.

Coraciformes Meropidae Merops orientalis Small Green Bee Eater R 33. Coraciformes Upupidae Upupa epops Common Hoopoe R 34. Coracifomes Alcedinidae Ceryle rudis Pied Kingfisher R 35. Passeriformes Lanidae Lanius schach Rufousbacked Shrike R 36. Passeriformes Dicrudidae Dicrurus macrocercus Black Drongo R 37. Moreover about 25 avian orders are recognized according to taxonomists (Joshi & Shrivastava 50). As observed in the Ghotnimbala wetlands, it has become evident that the avifaunal diversity has significantly reduced over the past few years and they are expected to reduce even more. Similarly, over the past six years, the Ghotnimbala wetlands have witnessed a massive increase of human settlement and activity and the region around the lake has experienced rapid urbanization as evident in the satellite image. The wetlands is utilized by the surrounding community as their source of livelihood and, as such, fishing is a common practice here.

As a result of this, the number of aquatic animals present in the waterbody has been on the decline and this affects the balance of the food chain in the wetlands. All the counts were taken at the beginning of the years during when the wetlands avifaunal diversity is at its peak. Weaknesses: 1. Not all the organisms were accounted for at the wetlands since the study only relied on observation. Also, some organisms may have been counted twice. This is because the birds are mobile and they look the same, hence they might have moved from one strata to another during the counting process without being noticed. As it was evident that human beings are the key factors in the destruction and degradation of the natural habitats of the avifauna, these agencies should encourage the conservation of the habitats in order to improve the quality of the avifauna’s natural environment (Kanwate et al.

However, it may not be possible to completely eliminate the negative impacts of human encroachment in the wetland areas since most of them depend on them for their livelihood. Thus, through this research the members of the surrounding community should be educated in order to mitigate the negative effects since they are destroying the water quality that they depend on (Harney et al. Conclusion The research has indicated that the avifaunal diversity of Ghotnimbala wetlands varies between 2012 and 2018 simply because of the human activity near the wetlands. Also, it has been shown that the diversity has sharply declined since the total number of organisms in this habitat has decreased considerably and they are more likely to decrease in the coming years.