Dynamics of Farmland Birds in Traditional Agroecosystems: The Value of Countryside Elements in Avian Conservation
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Proc Zool Soc https://doi.org/10.1007/s12595-020-00333-7
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Dynamics of Farmland Birds in Traditional Agroecosystems: The Value of Countryside Elements in Avian Conservation Manjula Menon1 • Mohanraj Rangaswamy1
Received: 12 July 2019 / Revised: 20 April 2020 / Accepted: 12 June 2020 Ó Zoological Society, Kolkata, India 2020
Abstract In India, urbanization and growth of cities have fragmented farmlands and the area under cultivation is dwindling. This study examined the ecological characteristics of rice fields, the inherent value of countryside elements and the relative occurrence of four species of farmland birds Dicrurus macrocercus, Turdoides affinis, Pavo cristatus, and Psittacula krameri along the Cauvery delta region, widely known as the granary of Tamil Nadu. The abundance and distribution of birds were analyzed at 30 sampling points for a year using the unlimited-radius point-counts. Among the four species recorded, D. macrocercus utilized more heterogeneous farmlands, while P. krameri was recorded in more intensively cultivated regions of the farmland. Pre-harvested rice fields predominantly supported species abundance and richness and exhibited a greater value for farmland birds than plowed, flooded or post-harvested fields. The abundance and richness of birds in agroecosystems increased with native vegetation cover and woody shelterbelts. D. macrocercus displayed greater tolerance towards monoculture plantations and elements within the mosaics like cable poles and power lines. Bird abundance in farmlands also correlated positively with decreasing distance from the mainland for D. macrocercus and T. affinis and showed a negative correlation for P. cristatus and P. krameri. D. macrocercus also displayed specialized resource utilization foraging techniques coinciding with cultivation activities resulting in bird-farmer mutualism. Cross-validation of the AIC
& Manjula Menon [email protected] 1
Department of Environmental Science and Management, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu 620024, India
models also showed that rice fields margined by greater amounts of vegetation cover and retention of speciesspecific modified elements supported the greatest abundance of farmland birds. Keyword Abundance Agriculture Cauvery delta region Farmland
Introduction In India, agriculture is the primary source of sustenance for about 58% of the population (Kumar 2011). Approximately 60.3% of India’s land area is agricultural land, with the largest proportion under rice cultivation (World Bank Data 2016). Despite the huge demand for food crops, 44% of India’s land area is degraded (Mythili and Goedecke 2016). A recent report from the Indian Space Research Organization shows that nearly 30% of India’s agricultural land is turning into a desert, increasing the rate of soil degradation (Graham 2016). In several parts of India, farmlands are being abandoned (Estel et al. 2015), due to loss of revenue from agriculture and due to unreliab
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