Abstract
Okhla Bird Sanctuary (OBS) is an Important Bird Area, which comes under the protected area network of Uttar Pradesh with one-third area lying in the state of Delhi (India). OBS has widest flood plains along the Delhi stretch of river Yamuna and is important in conserving the ecological wealth of floodplains of the river. Rapid urbanization and industrialization and discharge of untreated wastewater into the river have resulted in deteriorated water quality. The present study focused on assessment of water quality, aquatic flora and avifaunal diversity in the OBS. Water quality was analyzed following methods of APHA. For vegetation analysis, sub-merged and free-floating plants were scooped up from five randomly selected sites. Total bird counts were conducted for water birds and species richness, evenness and Shannon-Weaver species diversity indices were calculated. Results indicate that the organic load is very high in the wetland as evident from low levels of dissolved oxygen (2.26 ± 1.62 mg/l) and high Biological and Chemical Oxygen Demands (15.20 ± 3.75 mg/l, 44.60 ± 12.07 mg/l). Nine species of free-floating and submerged plants were recorded; Hydrilla verticillata, Vallisneria spiralis, Azolla pinnata and Ceratophyllum demersum dominated both deep and shallow water areas. 52 species of waterbirds including four near-threatened species viz., Anhinga melanogaster, Mycteria leucocephala, Threskiornis melanocephalus and Aythya nyroca were recorded. OBS provides opportunities for conservation in a metropolitan area, thus, appropriate measures should be taken to maintain its ecological integrity.
Highlights
Wetlands are ‘areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water, the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters’ (Ramsar Convention, 1971)
The Okhla Bird Sanctuary (OBS) in Noida is one such example with 302 bird species and 14,000-20,000 waterbirds recorded from the Sanctuary and its surrounding areas (Urfi, 2003)
Okhla Bird Sanctuary is located amidst the urban settlement and is a unique habitat providing opportunities for conservation in a metropolitan like Delhi; as a stopover for migratory water birds and home for several other taxa of fauna and flora
Summary
Wetlands are ‘areas of marsh, fen, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary with water that is static or flowing, fresh, brackish or salt, including areas of marine water, the depth of which at low tide does not exceed six meters’ (Ramsar Convention, 1971). Encroachment of wetland habitat, unsustainable harvesting of resources, industrial pollution, poisoning, agricultural runoff, siltation and introduction of exotic and invasive species put wetland biodiversity under threat (Baral and Inskipp, 2005; Kafle et al, 2008). This has severe consequences on water bird populations, leading to change in community structure of birds and population declines (Kloskowski et al, 2009). There are 67,429 wetlands in India, covering 4.1 million hectare area, out of these 2,175 are natural and rest are man-made, mangroves cover an additional 6,740 sq km area (Ramachandra, 2001). The wetland is facing threats because of rapid urbanization and pollution despite providing an example of conservation management of wetland amidst densely populated city
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