Bird Diversity on an Under-Constructed Educational Campus: A Case Study of Nalanda University, Rajgir, India

Abstract

Bird species have been critically impacted by increasing anthropogenic activities such as infrastructural construction. Academic institutions with dedicated semi-natural landscapes may provide shelter to high bird diversity. However, assessing the bird diversity of an under-construction campus becomes critical for future comparison. This study was conducted at Nalanda University Campus, India, for five months, as the campus was at the fag-end of the construction phase with diverse land use changes. 91 bird species were found on campus primarily dominated by insectivores and omnivores. Occurrence, and migratory status of the species revealed that 47% were resident, primarily occupying aquatic habitats. Despite presence of Least Concern IUCN status bird species in the campus, substantial number of them had a declining abundance index at the national level. Sites with high land conversion showed a low number of bird species. The overall dominance and evenness highlighted a good bird diversity, contrary to altered sites where both these attributes were high. Data for the documented bird species on citizen science platforms highlighted limited information on species interactions. This study attempted to bring attention to the unchecked impact of construction activities on bird diversity and regular monitoring in the widely discussed emerging semi-natural shelters, i.e., academic campuses.