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Hunting or habitat? Drivers of waterbird abundance and community structure in agricultural wetlands of southern India

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Abstract

The relative impacts of hunting and habitat on waterbird community were studied in agricultural wetlands of southern India. We surveyed wetlands to document waterbird community, and interviewed hunters to document hunting intensity, targeted species, and the motivations for hunting. Our results show that hunting leads to drastic declines in waterbird diversity and numbers, and skew the community towards smaller species. Hunting intensity, water spread, and vegetation cover were the three most important determinants of waterbird abundance and community structure. Species richness, density of piscivorous species, and medium-sized species (31–65 cm) were most affected by hunting. Out of 53 species recorded, 47 were hunted, with a preference for larger birds. Although illegal, hunting has increased in recent years and is driven by market demand. This challenges the widely held belief that waterbird hunting in India is a low intensity, subsistence activity, and undermines the importance of agricultural wetlands in waterbird conservation.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Department of Science and Technology (DST) (Government of India), the International Crane Foundation (ICF) (via Program SarusScape), the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) (via the Cranes and Wetlands Programme) and the Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and Learning (FERAL) for supporting this project through the National Center for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Center for Wildlife Studies (CWS) and Wildlife Conservation Society – India Program (WCS – India). The authors further thank J. Ratnam and N. Lakshminarayanan for commenting on an earlier draft of the manuscript; and C. Gurusrikar for providing administrative support. The authors also thank four anonymous reviewers for providing us feedback to improve the manuscript. The assistance provided by H.R. Arun, S.A. Varsha, A N. Joshi, B.B. Shetty, S. Kishore, B. Nandan, D. Naveen, B.V. Nitesh, S. Izlancherian, S. Sivakumar, V. Babu, and V. Raj is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Post-Graduate Programme in Wildlife Biology and Conservation, Wildlife Conservation Society- India Program, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, GKVK Campus, Bangalore, Karnataka, 560 065, India

    Ramesh Ramachandran & Ajith Kumar

  2. Center for Wildlife Studies, 1669, 31st Cross, 16th Main, Banashankari 2nd Stage, Bangalore, 560070, India

    Ajith Kumar

  3. Cranes and Wetlands Programme, Nature Conservation Foundation, 3076/5, 4th Cross, Gokulam Park, Mysore, 570002, India

    Ramesh Ramachandran & Kolla S. Gopi Sundar

  4. Program SarusScape, International Crane Foundation, E 11736, Shady Lane Road, Baraboo, WI, 53913, USA

    Kolla S. Gopi Sundar

  5. Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and Learning, 170/3, Morattandi, Aurovile Post, Tamil Nadu, 605101, India

    Ravinder Singh Bhalla

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  1. Ramesh Ramachandran
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Correspondence to Ramesh Ramachandran.

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Ramachandran, R., Kumar, A., Gopi Sundar, K.S. et al. Hunting or habitat? Drivers of waterbird abundance and community structure in agricultural wetlands of southern India. Ambio 46, 613–620 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-017-0907-9

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