Bird fauna as an indicator to urban biodiversity in Thevara, Kochi

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.)

当前，印度城市正如同其他发展中地区一样，正经历着突如其来且快速的城市化转型。印度诸多城市——尤其是喀拉拉邦（Kerala）境内的城市——的开发活动大多缺乏规划，科钦（Kochi）亦不例外。由此，城市环境正以极快的速度恶化，给城市生活及其生物多样性带来了显著压力。生物多样性对于城市环境至关重要，它能够维持城市生活品质，并为城市居民提供多样化的环境与社会服务功能。然而，印度境内，尤其是喀拉拉邦，尚未妥善解决城市环境中的生物多样性现状问题，且支撑可持续保护规划的生态学知识储备极为匮乏。为评估科钦市人口稠密的城市中心特瓦拉（Thevara）的城市生物多样性，研究团队开展了为期一年的鸟类区系（avian fauna）监测工作。鸟类对城市生态系统的变化与压力极为敏感，是衡量城市生物多样性的成熟指示类群。近年来，该研究区域的土地利用格局发生了剧烈变化。本次调查于2013年2月至2014年1月期间采用样线法（line transect method）开展，每月进行一次。本研究共记录到隶属于13目、32科、56属的73种鸟类。研究人员通过计算各类生物多样性指数（biodiversity indices）对结果进行分析，并编制了所记录物种的名录。研究结果表明，该城市中心栖息有相当数量的鸟类，反映出区域整体生物多样性的丰富度。本研究成果可为该城市区域的生物多样性现状提供基准信息，据此可提出并实施生态可持续的城市保护规划策略，以保护城市环境。（引自：D. Cheruvat、P. Nilayangode与O. V. Oommen主编，《主流化生物多样性以促进可持续发展：2017年第三届全国生物多样性大会论文集》（第281-289页），特里凡得琅：喀拉拉邦生物多样性委员会，ISBN：978-81-934231-1-0。）