Avian Biodiversity of Newly Established Bunjosa Game Reserve, District Poonch, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan: Implications for Conservation
Muhammad Umar khan1, Nausheen Irshad1, Muhammad Kabir2 and Muhammad Naeem Awan3*
1Department of Zoology, University of Poonch, Pakistan
2Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, University of Haripur, Pakistan
3Himalayan Nature Conservation Foundation, Pakistan
Submission: December 04, 2018; Published: January 29, 2019
*Corresponding author: Muhammad Naeem Awan, Himalayan Nature Conservation Foundation, Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan
How to cite this article: Md Umar k, Nausheen I, Md Kabir, Md Naeem A. Avian Biodiversity of Newly Established Bunjosa Game Reserve, District Poonch, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan: Implications for Conservation. Int J Environ Sci Nat Res. 2019; 16(5): 555947. DOI:10.19080/IJESNR.2019.16.555947
Abstract
Bunjosa game reserve lies in district Poonch of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. This game reserve is newly established so, avian fauna of this area was unexplored yet, so the present study was undertaken to determine the avian biodiversity, residential status and ecological threats. The findings of the bird’s surveys undertaken from October 2015 to November 2016. A total of n = 3137 birds belonging to 108 species, 25 families and 11 orders were identified with highest numbers in summer (n=1148) and lowest in winter (n=415). The seasonal Shannon Wiener diversity index was highest in summer (4.3), followed by autumn (3.99), winter (3.64) and spring (3.58), likewise the family wise diversity index was maximum for family Corvidae (0.26) and minimum for Remizidae, Phasianidae and Alcedinidae (0.006) respectively. The research findings revealed that habitat fragmentation and clearance through extensive deforestation, forest fires, livestock grazing, and collection of fire woods are recorded as the major threats to the avifauna. Development of conservation and management plan will be helpful in protecting the avian biodiversity and ecosystem of the game reserve.
Keywords: Abundance; Birds; Bunjosa; Diversity; Habitat; Richness
Introduction
Birds are among the most popular indicators of environmental changes and have been used to assess the environment throughout the history as bio-monitors. The changes in their population, reproductive ability and behavior patterns have most often been used to study the long-term effects of habitat fragmentation. Hence, they are the good indicators of ecological status of any specified ecosystem [1]. They also act as scavengers and pollinating agents and play a prominent role in the seed’s dispersal as well as in religion and culture. Besides they are also a main source of food for mankind and are very familiar to man since centuries [2].
It is an unpleasant fact that global diversity of birds is decreasing at an alarming rate primarily due to unhealthy anthropogenic activities and climatic changes [3-5]. The common threats associated with bird species today are destruction and degradation of their habitat which affects more than 93 percent bird species worldwide. Habitat loss is the most critical reason of destruction of biodiversity throughout the world [6]. Other important threats are rapid spread of agriculture, over hunting, deforestation, invasive species and climatic changes.
The diversity and abundance of avian fauna in a specific habitat could serve as a valuable indicator of the ecological status of that habitat. Therefore, the ornithological data might provide a soul basis to assess the effects of environmental changes on biodiversity. Bird indicators play a key role to form an important component of sets of indicators for biodiversity and habitats. The present climatic changes also had harmful effects in bird life and ecological balance. So, it is essential to save the bird species from the threats in order to maintain the biodiversity. By keeping this in mind the current study was planned to explore the avian diversity and to highlight major threats to the avian fauna of Bunjosa game reserve.
Materials and Methods
Study area
Bunjosa game reserve (BGR, 33°48`35.92”N, 73°48`58.80”E) is a protected area located 18km north of Rawalakot Azad Kashmir, Pakistan in foot hills of Himalayan region, covering almost 1385 hectares area at 1777.5-1966.8m elevation (Figure 1). There is a magnificent artificial lake alongside with reserve which is a permanent source of water for the wildlife particularly the avian fauna of this area. The lake is surrounded by dense pine forests all around and they provide an ideal habitat for several bird’s species. The forest type is moist temperate with dominant plants vegetation of Pinus roxburjii, Pinus wallichiana, Cidrus deodara and Berberies lyceum, while the most dominant mammalian fauna is Rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta), Common leopard (Panthera pardus), Black bear (Ursus amricanus), Red fox (Vulpes vulpes griffithi), Palm civet (Paguma larvata), Porcupine (Hystric indica), Squirrel (Suiarus carolinensis), Wild pig (Sus scrufa) and Wild dog (Canis lupis). The area lies under the influence of monsoon with March and April being the wettest months and is exposed to heavy snowfall during the winter. Maximum temperature is usually recorded to be 30°C while minimum is below 0°C.
Methodology
The present study was carried out from October 2015 to November 2016 to record bird’s diversity and related conservation issues of Bunjosa game reserve by using point count surveys with unlimited radius [7,8]. Twelve survey points were positioned randomly approximately 0.5Km apart between 1777.5 and 1966.8m elevation which were representative of the altitudinal range and habitat covered by the reserve. Each of the twelve survey points were surveyed twice per month, in morning from 7.00am to 10.00am and in evening from 4.00pm to 6.00pm in the first week of each month. In total each plot was surveyed 24 times so the total survey efforts were 288. The bird fauna was observed using Binocular (12x a50xs) and identified using keys given by Grimmett [9] & Mirza [10].
Bird survey data were supplemented by information gathered from interviewed with local people about the importance of bird species in our environment and the impact of anthropogenic activities on the birds and their habitat. A total of 200 people was interviewed, and they were selected randomly from the village around the reserve.
The Shannon Wiener diversity index was analyzed for calculating relative abundance, species richness and encounter rate using following statistics./p>
H ' = −[ΣPi ln Pi] Where H’ is the diversity index,
Pi is the relative abundance (proportion of species relative to total number of species) and Log ln Pi is the natural logarithm of this proportion [11]
Relative abundance was calculated as
Relative abundance = Pi = ni / N
Where ni is the abundance (Number of individuals of a species) and N is the total population of birds. Species encounter rates were calculated based on number of birds recorded from all point surveyed and presented as numbers per hundred-point counts. Encounter rates were converted into ordinal categories of abundance as ≤ 5 birds per 100point count(abundant), 5.1-10(Uncommon), 10.1-20 (frequent), 20.1-40 (Common) and >40 (abundant) [12].
Results and Discussion
During the study n = 108 bird species belonging to n = 12 orders and n = 27 families were identified. Of these n = 52 species were resident, n = 39 were summer migrant, n = 15 were winter migrant and n = 2 were passage migrant. Three (n = 3) species were marked as abundant, n = 8 as common, n = 9 as frequent, n = 45 as uncommon and n = 43 as Rare (Table 1) [8]. The highest number of species was recorded in the family Turdidae of order Turdiformes while Shanon-Wiener Diversity Index was recorded (4.3) in summer followed by (3.99) in autumn, (3.64) in winter and (3.58) in spring respectively.
The Relative Abundance of some common bird species was observed and presented in Table 1 that predicts prominent birds of study area. The relative abundance recorded for Common myna (0.072), Yellow billed blue magpie (0.015), Himalayan laughing thrush (0.031), Yellow and Grey wagtails (0.006), Great tit (0.008), Yellow cheeked tit (0.004), Crested black tit (0.008), Red headed long tail tit (0.03) and Green backed tit (0.025). Mausad et al. [13] during the survey of Chinari district Hattian, Pakistan, found relative abundance of Common myna (0.055), Himalayan laughing thrush (0.002) and Yellow billed blue magpie (0.015). Awan et al. [14] recorded relative abundance of Yellow and Grey wagtails (0.16 percent and 0.24 percent) in Salkhala game reserve (SGR) Pakistan, whereas Awan et al. [15] reported five species of Tits from Machiara national park, Pakistan.
The families with number of species observed were Turdidae n = 15, Muscicapidae n = 11, Timalidae n = 11, Capitonidae n = 11, Passeridae n = 7 and Corviidae n = 7. In a study of bird of Muzaffarabad city, Awan et al., (2004) presented family wise analysis showing that family Turdidae (5 species) dominated the avian fauna followed by Corvidae, Sylviidae (4 species each) and Pycnonotidae (3 species), while minimum numbers were belonging to Passeridae, Campiphagidae, Catheridae and Zosteropodae (1 species each). Whereas one more study of Awan and Saleem (2007) revealed that family Turdidae was dominant (7 species) followed by Sylviidae (6 species) and Motacillidae and Columbidae (4 species each) in Recreational Park somewhere in same habitat around Muzaffarabad. Family wise Shannon Wiener diversity index was highest for family Corvidae (0.26) followed by Sturnidae, Sylviidae and Estrildidae (0.19) for each and lowest for Remizidae, Phasianidae and Alcedinidae (0.006) for each.
Species richness and abundance
The species richness was estimated to be highest in summer (n=78), followed by autumn (n=72), winter (n=53) and spring (n=49) (Figure 2). Mausad et al. [13] also recorded it to be highest in summer (n=54), followed by autumn (n=46) and spring (n=40) in Chinnari district Hattian, Pakistan within a similar habitat in Kashmir Himalaya. Abundance of birds was also calculated which revealed highest during summer (n = 1148), followed by autumn (n = 863), spring (n = 711) and winter (n = 415) (Figure 2). The availability of fruits and flower nectar in summer may be the reasons of higher abundance in summer. The significant difference in species abundance between different seasons has been recorded (p = 0.05, F = 6.50372).
The seasonal changes in the species abundance of birds caused due to divergent seasonality of rainfall and seasonal variation in availability of food resources [16]. The abundance of many bird species is mainly determined by the composition of the vegetation that forms a major element of their habitats. Some changes in vegetation along with biological and environmental gradients causes changes in habitat and a particular bird species can appear, increase or decrease in number and vanish [17].
The highest seasonal Shannon index (4.3) of bird species was recorded in summer followed by autumn (3.99), winter (3.64) and spring (3.58) (Figure 3), while its overall value was recorded to (3.9). Faiz et al. [18] surveyed Toli pir national park, district Poonch, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan and calculated overall diversity index (2.22), while Raza et al. [19], reported the avian diversity of Lahore zoo safari, overall diversity index was recorded to be (1.93). Sidra & Ali [20] during the survey of new campus Punjab university estimated it to be (2.548).
A wide variety of biotic and abiotic factors greatly influenced the diversity and density of bird species. The availability of food might be the main reason for the difference in Population of bird among different seasons during the study duration. As summer is the Prominent breeding season, this might be another reason for high diversity during autumn or early winter the bird species migrates towards lower altitudinal ranges hence the diversity index decreases. The area got heavy snow while fall in winter which prevails during almost half of the spring season, hence a reasonable decrease in diversity index during spring.
Conservation Issues
The important conservation issues within the Bunjosa game reserve include habitat loss, through collection of timber and firewood, unlawful hunting, overgrazing and pollution.
There is an unlawful falling of trees, as many trees particularly of Pinus wallichiana and Pinus roxburji were recorded cut down by people for fuel wood or construction purpose specially in lower elevation areas of the reserve alongside with residential areas. Indiscriminate deforestation is not merely affecting the habitat of those birds particularly associated with those elevations throughout the year but also those undergo seasonal migration during winter months. To reduce the impacts of harvesting forests it is suggested to clearly marked and monitor the boundaries of the reserve and facilitate local people with some alternate fuel resources [21,22].
The area lies along with residential areas so there is a strong negative interaction of human population with wildlife. People are dependent on natural resources so extensive grazing of domestic animals in forest and grasslands cause destruction and fragmentation of habitats of vital birds’ species. In addition, as this area has many grazing lands and remain very attractive for herdsmen and their seasonal migration towards it along with their herds cause considerable damage.
There is a beautiful artificial lake in the center of the reserve which is a famous picnic point as well as a permanent water source for birds. The extensive tourist’s activities particularly during summer season badly pollute the lake water and surrounding areas because of the lack of proper sanitation facilities. As there is a healthy influx of migratory bird species during summer towards the lake area so they are badly affected by water pollution. In addition to this the area is along with road side and there is a continuous flow of traffic which is considered as a permanent source of disturbance for birds.
As the reserve lies along with road side so it is easily accessible. The fluctuations in habitat and general trends in species richness would be monitored easily to support effective site management. The present study might provide a soul basis to design a bird monitoring scheme in Bunjosa game reserve. In this regard the ordinal categories of relative abundance established previously by Awan et al. [8] in Salkhala game reserve may also be helpful to detect large scale fluctuations in abundance of individual species within the BGR in future. Development of the Conservation Management plan of the game reserve is very important to help protect the biodiversity of the protected area long with unique avian fauna of the area.
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