Bird Assemblages in a Peri-Urban Landscape in Eastern India

Abstract

Urbanization plays an important role in biodiversity loss across the globe due to natural habitat loss in the form of landscape conversion and habitat fragmentation on which species depend. To study the bird diversity in the peri-urban landscape, we surveyed four habitats—residential areas, cropland, water bodies, and sal forest; three seasons—monsoon, winter, and summer in Baripada, Odisha, India. We surveyed from February 2018 to January 2019 using point counts set along line transects; 8 transects were established with a replication of 18 each. During the survey, 6963 individuals of 117 bird species belonged to 48 families and 98 genera in the study area, whereas cropland showed rich avian diversity. Based on the non-parametric multidimensional scale (NMDS) and one-way ANOVA, bird richness and abundance differed significantly among the habitats. Cropland showed higher species richness than other habitats; however, water bodies showed more abundance than others. The similarity of bird assemblage was greater between residential areas and cropland than forest and water bodies based on similarity indices. Among seasons, we observed the highest bird species richness in winter and the highest similarity of species richness in monsoon and summer. In conclusion, our study reported that agricultural and degraded landscapes like cropland play important roles in conserving bird diversity in peri-urban landscapes. Our findings highlighted and identified the problems that affect the local biodiversity (e.g., birds) in the peri-urban landscape. It can assist the local government in urban planning and habitat management without affecting the local biodiversity, including birds.

Impact of Urban Landscape on Relative Abundance of Invasive Bird Species

“…Retaining established native trees has also been reported to be effective in maintaining higher bird diversity in new urban centres (Barth et al 2015). Karjee et al (2022) conducted a study in a peri-urban area of east India and found that agricultural fields and degraded croplands helped maintain bird diversity. Increase in road cover, green cover and tree count had a positive impact on invasive species while tree species richness decreased the abundance of invasive bird species.…”

Bird communities in the tropical peri-urban landscape of Bogor, Indonesia

“…Urban land expansion, infrastructure development, and population growth have destroyed habitats and natural habitat loss (Laurance et al 2015;Simkin et al 2022). However, despite the threat of urbanization, peri-urban areas remain crucial in preserving biodiversity, particularly bird species (Karjee et al 2022). It has been widely asserted that peri-urban areas support diverse bird species, including remnant natural habitats, green belts, and reservoirs (Evans and Evans 2007).…”

“…Peri-urban areas frequently provide various habitat types, including farmlands, urban parks, and forests, which can support various bird species (Canedoli et al 2017;Canedoli et al 2018;Karjee et al 2022). However, rapid urbanization and environmental changes seriously challenge bird populations (Sol et al 2014).…”