Abstract
Opencast mining is one of the major reasons for the destruction of natural habitats for many wildlife including birds. The Kachchh region belongs to the arid part of India and is one of the rich areas of mineral resources in the country. In the recent time and after the 2001 earthquake, mining and other developmental activities are increased, and as a result, the natural habitats of birds are disturbed and fragmented. So, this study was conducted to assess the impact of mining and associated activities on the diversity and distribution of birds. Birds were studied by surveying 180 transects along 9 zones around three selected major mines, and each zone is made in every 2 km radius from the mine. Based on the record, it was found that the density and diversity of birds are highest in zone 5 and lowest in zone 1 and zone 2, respectively. The result indicates that the diversity and abundance of birds were less in zones which are located close to the mines in comparison to the zones far from the mines. In conclusion, mining and its associated activities have some impacts on the diversity and distribution of birds in Kachchh region in India.
Highlights
Mining and its related activities are one of the major causes for the destruction of natural habitats for wildlife
All the three mines are opencast mines results into that major loss of habitats by extraction of minerals and dumping of waste materials in open ground. These mines are situated in the westernmost part of Kachchh district, Gujarat, and are very close to the Narayan Sarovar Wildlife Sanctuary, which is the only habitat in Kachchh for Indian gazelle (Gazella benetti) and some other wildlife. This area falls in the arid zone of the country and is characterized by presence of an admixture of distinguishable habitats such as Acacia forest (AF), Euphorbia salvadora forest (ES), mixed thorn forest (MTF), Prosopis forest (PF), dense grassland (DG), and sparse grassland (SG)
Z1 recorded the least number of species and Z5 recorded the highest number of species of birds, while mean number of species/transects recorded its minimum value in Z2 and its maximum in Z7
Summary
Mining and its related activities are one of the major causes for the destruction of natural habitats for wildlife. As these activities increased in context of rapid use of natural resources to meet the demand of the market and the development of region and country, the pressure of threat to the wildlife is increasing day by day. The major impacts on avifaunal diversity by means of the above development in postearthquake period are not being studied and assessed. No studies were made on the status, distribution, and diversity of birds in relation to the impact of mining and other developmental activities
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