22 Eyl 2025 Pazartesi
Wetlands and wings: Assessing avian diversity between natural and constructed wetland of anand, Gujarat
Abstract : Wetlands provide habitat, food, and water, which in turn support a vast array of plants and animals. In times of drought and flooding, they serve as a natural sponge to replace and purify water. Therefore, a study comparing three natural and three artificial wetlands was conducted in Anand city to raise awareness about the importance of preserving natural wetlands and their biological value instead of turning them into artificial (constructed) wetlands. The current study focuses on avian diversity and Physico-chemical parameters of water, this study will help to understand water quality of wetland that is being preferred by the birds. A total of 1,505 individuals from 46 water bird species, belonging to 8 orders and 14 families were recorded. Of these, 33 species were residential and 13 were migratory. According to the IUCN classification, 41 were classified as least concerned (LC), 3 as near threatened (NT), and 2 as vulnerable (VU). A substantial percentage of the detected species were carnivores (65.2%) and omnivores (28.3%), according to feeding behavior study. Order Charadriiformes displayed the highest species richness with 14 species (30.43% of total), followed by Pelecaniformes (23.91%) and Anseriformes (15.21%). Family Scolopacidae was the most dominant with 9 species, closely followed by Ardeidae (8 species) and Anatidae (7 species). Other prominent families included Rallidae, Ciconiidae, Threskiornithidae, Phalacrocoracidae, and Alcedinidae, each contributing 3 species. Despite being impacted by a variety of human activities, we found during the research that natural wetlands continue to be a popular destination for a significant number of migratory and resident bird species.