To Assess the Diversity and Abundance of Seasonal Migratory Waterbirds at Chashma Lake, Pakistan
To Assess the Diversity and Abundance of Seasonal Migratory Waterbirds at Chashma Lake, Pakistan
Ruqia Bibi1, Najam-un-Nisa1, Sania Komal1, Hafiza Nimra Ghani Qureshi1, Maryam Safdar1, Hafiza Hina Jameel1, Saman Gul1, Sania Saeed1 and Inam Ullah1,2*
ABSTRACT
The present study was conducted to estimate various species of Avifauna found at Chashma Lake during winters (2017-2018 and 2018-2019). As the birds are the best indicators for environmental changes, the migratory bird’s fauna was observed from September to March 2017-2019. The line-transect method was used to explore the avifauna diversity at the study site. 16371 individuals were observed belonging to 11 families belonging to approximately 38 species during the present study. The relative abundance was found to be 1, the Shannon-wiener diversity index (H´) was calculated as 3.43, the Simpson index (D) was 0.96, and the Evenness was 0.35. Little Cormorant (Microcarbo niger), Gadwall (Mareca streper), Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) were found as the dominant species with the relative abundance of 0.07, 0.07 and 0.06, respectively. As migratory birds indicate a freshwater ecosystem, healthy bird species indicate a healthy habitat, while declining bird populations indicate degraded habitat. Studies concluded that the diversity of migratory birds is decreasing at Chashma Lake due to deforestation and illegal hunting leading to habitat degradation, so there is a dire need to protect avifauna diversity for the proper functioning and stability of an ecosystem.
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