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Heronry distribution and site preference dynamics of tree-nesting colonial waterbirds in Tamil Nadu

Anthropogenic disturbance and climate change have significantly affected the distribution of wetlands globally and particularly in Asian countries. Various types of wetlands are harboured across all the biogeographic zones in India. These wetlands provide vital ecological services and are rich in bi...

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Autores principales: Frank, Sadrack Jabaraj Dhanaraj, Gopi, Govindan Veeraswami, Pandav, Bivash
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8502450/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34707938
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12256
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author Frank, Sadrack Jabaraj Dhanaraj
Gopi, Govindan Veeraswami
Pandav, Bivash
author_facet Frank, Sadrack Jabaraj Dhanaraj
Gopi, Govindan Veeraswami
Pandav, Bivash
author_sort Frank, Sadrack Jabaraj Dhanaraj
collection PubMed
description Anthropogenic disturbance and climate change have significantly affected the distribution of wetlands globally and particularly in Asian countries. Various types of wetlands are harboured across all the biogeographic zones in India. These wetlands provide vital ecological services and are rich in biodiversity. However, anthropogenic pressures continue to be a threat to these wetlands by affecting the flora and fauna that depend on them. Tree-nesting colonial waterbirds are vulnerable to these pressures as their colonies are typically located in wetlands and associated areas. Disturbances to these areas have resulted in the loss or shifting of many heronries. The present study was conducted in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu during the period of 2017–2019 to document the existing and previously unknown heronries of the landscape. A total of 101 heronries were documented in 22 districts. The Little Cormorant was the most dominant species, occurring in 79% of the sites, with relative abundances of 24% and 26% during 2017–2018 and 2018–2019, respectively. A total of 23 tree species were utilized by the birds for nesting and Vachellia nilotica trees were used for nesting in about 25% of the heronries. 19% of the heronries were situated inside protected areas and 81% were located outside protected areas. Out of the 58 active nesting sites reported in 2005, 43 have been lost or are no longer active. Species distribution modelling with presence only data indicated that the sites with a high probability of occurrence were confined to the major waterbodies and rivers. Spatial correlation showed that the heronries were dispersed randomly across the landscape. The population dynamics within heronries and colonial nesting waterbirds’ response to various environmental factors must be monitored continuously to conserve these heronries.
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spelling pubmed-85024502021-10-26 Heronry distribution and site preference dynamics of tree-nesting colonial waterbirds in Tamil Nadu Frank, Sadrack Jabaraj Dhanaraj Gopi, Govindan Veeraswami Pandav, Bivash PeerJ Biodiversity Anthropogenic disturbance and climate change have significantly affected the distribution of wetlands globally and particularly in Asian countries. Various types of wetlands are harboured across all the biogeographic zones in India. These wetlands provide vital ecological services and are rich in biodiversity. However, anthropogenic pressures continue to be a threat to these wetlands by affecting the flora and fauna that depend on them. Tree-nesting colonial waterbirds are vulnerable to these pressures as their colonies are typically located in wetlands and associated areas. Disturbances to these areas have resulted in the loss or shifting of many heronries. The present study was conducted in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu during the period of 2017–2019 to document the existing and previously unknown heronries of the landscape. A total of 101 heronries were documented in 22 districts. The Little Cormorant was the most dominant species, occurring in 79% of the sites, with relative abundances of 24% and 26% during 2017–2018 and 2018–2019, respectively. A total of 23 tree species were utilized by the birds for nesting and Vachellia nilotica trees were used for nesting in about 25% of the heronries. 19% of the heronries were situated inside protected areas and 81% were located outside protected areas. Out of the 58 active nesting sites reported in 2005, 43 have been lost or are no longer active. Species distribution modelling with presence only data indicated that the sites with a high probability of occurrence were confined to the major waterbodies and rivers. Spatial correlation showed that the heronries were dispersed randomly across the landscape. The population dynamics within heronries and colonial nesting waterbirds’ response to various environmental factors must be monitored continuously to conserve these heronries. PeerJ Inc. 2021-10-07 /pmc/articles/PMC8502450/ /pubmed/34707938 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12256 Text en © 2021 Frank et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Biodiversity
Frank, Sadrack Jabaraj Dhanaraj
Gopi, Govindan Veeraswami
Pandav, Bivash
Heronry distribution and site preference dynamics of tree-nesting colonial waterbirds in Tamil Nadu
title Heronry distribution and site preference dynamics of tree-nesting colonial waterbirds in Tamil Nadu
title_full Heronry distribution and site preference dynamics of tree-nesting colonial waterbirds in Tamil Nadu
title_fullStr Heronry distribution and site preference dynamics of tree-nesting colonial waterbirds in Tamil Nadu
title_full_unstemmed Heronry distribution and site preference dynamics of tree-nesting colonial waterbirds in Tamil Nadu
title_short Heronry distribution and site preference dynamics of tree-nesting colonial waterbirds in Tamil Nadu
title_sort heronry distribution and site preference dynamics of tree-nesting colonial waterbirds in tamil nadu
topic Biodiversity
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8502450/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34707938
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12256
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