Bird fauna as an indicator to urban biodiversity in Thevara, Kochi
Description
Cities in India are encountering a sudden and rapid transition to urbanization nowadays similar to any other part of the developing world. The developmental activities occurring in many of the Indian cities especially in Kerala are mostly unplanned. Kochi is not an exception. Consequently the urban environment is deteriorating at a fast rate generating significant stress on urban life and its biodiversity. Biodiversity plays an important role in urban environment by maintaining the quality of urban life and providing a wide range of environmental and social functions to urban dwellers. The status of biodiversity in urban environment is not yet properly addressed in India particularly in Kerala and availability of ecological knowledge for a sustainable conservation planning is scarce. In an attempt to assess urban biodiversity in Thevara, a densely populated urban centre in Kochi city, a year-long monitoring of avian fauna was conducted. Birds are well-established indicators of urban biodiversity as they are sensitive to changes and stresses in urban ecosystems. The study area witnesses a drastic change in its land-use pattern in recent years. The survey was carried out by line transect method during February 2013 to January 2014, once in a month. The study provided a total of 73 species of birds belonging to 56 genera, 32 families and 13 orders. Various biodiversity indices were computed to analyse the result and a checklist of recorded species was also prepared. From the result it can be concluded that this urban centre supports a reasonable number of birds indicating the richness of the overall biodiversity. The outcome of this study provides a baseline information on the present status of biodiversity of an urban area based on which strategies for an ecologically sustainable urban conservation planning can be proposed and implemented for safeguarding urban environment. (In D. Cheruvat, P. Nilayangode & O. V. Oommen (Eds.), Mainstreaming Biodiversity for Sustainable Development: Proceedings of the 3rd National Biodiversity Congress 2017 (pp. 281-289). Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala State Biodiversity Board. ISBN: 978-81-934231-1-0.)