Abundance and diversity of water bird assemblages in relation to village ponds in Punjab

Abstract

The present study was designed to look into the abundance and trophic groups of birds inhabiting in and around the ponds of village Karamgarh (location I) and Sanghera (location II) of district Barnala, Punjab from January to December, 2017. The study results revealed a total bird count of 4108 individuals of 35 bird species belonging to 13 orders at location I and 2284 individuals of 24 bird species belonging to 8 orders at location II. The relative abundance (%) of water dependent birds was 70.44% and 37.30% at location I and II respectively. Detailed analysis showed significant difference between the water-dependent birds at both the locations (Student’s t-test, t = 2.66, P = 0.05). The higher tree diversity and absence of weeds in and around the ponds at location I seemed to support higher avian species richness and abundance. Involvement of local community might help to check the anthropogenic activities for pond management and water bird conservation.