Assessment of Avifaunal Status, Diversity, and Conservation Implications in and around the Wetlands of Dharwad, Karnataka, India

The study shows an overall avifaunal diversity and status of selected wetlands in Dharwad district and conveys the presence/absence of bird species on habitat changes caused due to varying water levels (exposure/submergence of mudflats) and destruction of riparian vegetation such as the reed species. These wetlands have attracted bird species from local to migratory to forage, roost and breed in the area. The avifaunal diversity was found to fairly vary across the different wetlands. The data portrayed here are from the surveys during wintering months of 2017-18 and 2021-22. Line transects, point count and total count methods were used for surveying. Diversity indices (Beta, Shannon, Simpson, Evenness) and similarity matrices (Bray-Curtis cluster) were calculated using Past 4 package. The Pearson correlation, beta diversity and Bray-Curtis’s clustering were used to compare the wetlands for the similarity/dissimilarities in species composition. Overall, Shannon and Simpson diversity of the wetlands were H’=4.67 & D= 0.98 with total of 177 species, which portrays high degree of diversity. There were around 46 species of migrant birds and 133 resident species. The work also reports a few rare and coastal birds. The study suggests the management plans for the conservation of avifauna in and around the wetlands to prevent human disturbances and also considering the importance of faunal habitats before adopting lake developmental plans.