Uva-DARE (Digital Academic Repository)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Community structure and habitat associations of lowland grassland birds in Nepal. Baral, H.S. Publication date 2001 Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Baral, H. S. (2001). Community structure and habitat associations of lowland grassland birds in Nepal. UvA/Cardiff University. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:26 Sep 2021 CHAPTERR 2 STUDYY AREAS AND METHODS 2.1.. Description of the study areas Nepal'ss tall grasslands are found in the fertile Gangetic plain in the southern part of the country (Figuree 1.1). Formerly they were more or less continuous from west to east. At present five protectedd areas are located in this region, all of them lying within more or less the same subtropical ecologicall zone. Together these protected areas comprise a total of 272 900 ha of land, of which roughlyy 50 000 ha is estimated to be grasslands in various forms (Table 2.1). One of these areas, Parsaa Wildlife Reserve (hereafter 'Parsa'), can be taken as the continuation of the Royal Chitwan Nationall Park (hereafter 'Chitwan', 27°15' - 27°35/N / 83°45' - 84°58'E). Parsa does not have extensivee grasslands. Two of the protected areas, Chitwan and Royal Sukila Phanta Wildlife Reserve (hereafterr 'Sukila Phanta', 28°49' - 28°57' N / 80°07' - 80° 15' E), were chosen for the execution of myy study. These both reserves have a diverse assemblage of grasses representing most lowland grasslandd types (Peet et al. 1999). In addition, I have also made some observations in the east at Koshii Tappu Wildlife Reserve (hereafter 'Koshi Tappu', 26° 35' - 26° 40' N / 86° 56' - 87° 04' E) inn 1996 and 1997. Sukilaa Phanta lies in the extreme southwest of the terai and is the smallest of the protected areas coveringg 15 500 ha, ranging in altitude from 90 m to 270 m (IUCN 1993, Figure 2.1). Some 54.7% of thee reserve is covered by mixed deciduous forest, grassland and marsh in the southwest where soils aree of recent alluvium. The rest is moist deciduous forest and savannah, supported by better-drained soilss on higher terrain in the northeast (IUCN 1993). The reserve possesses the largest grassland phantass in Nepal. A plan to extend the reserve on its eastern side has been long pending. When this iss realised and protection is afforded, the total area of Sukila Phanta will be 30 500 ha (Tirtha Man Maskeyy pers. comm. 1996) and more phantas could be created. Sukila Phanta has a hot and dry monsoonall climate (Table 2.2). A warm and dry westerly wind blows across the phantas during the latee afternoon generally settling before sunset, particularly in the months of April and May. This windd considerably reduced bird activities. AA total of 30 species of mammals and over 350 species of birds have been definitely recorded in the reservee (Himalayan Nature 2000). The grasslands at Sukila Phanta support a high population of Bengall Florican Houbaropsis bengalensis (Inskipp and Inskipp 1983), Swamp Francolin FrancolinusFrancolinus gularis (Baral 1998a) Bristled Grassbird Chaetornis striatus (Baral 1997) and Hodgson'ss Bushchat Saxicola insignis (Baral 1998c), taxa considered to be globally threatened (Collarr etal. 1994, Table 2.1). Recently, two grassland birds that were found in Sukila Phanta were presentedd as new species for Nepal indicating that the grasslands here were poorly surveyed until noww (Baral 1998b). One of these, Finn's Weaver Ploceus megarhynchus, is considered globally 11 1 STUDYY AREAS AND METHODS Tablee 2.1. National Parks and Wildlife Reserves in lowland Nepal. The number of globally (threatenedd and near-threatened) and nationally threatened bird species is also given. Parks/Reserves s Areaa ha. Approx. Forestt ha. Nanl l Globl l Location n grassland d spp. spp. ha. Royall Sukila Phanta WR 16500 0 7600 0 8900 0 18 8 6 6 Farr west Royall Bardia NP 96800 0 19000 0 77800 0 14 4 4 4 West t Royall Chitwan NP 93200 0 18500 0 74700 0 16 6 9 9 Central l Koshii Tappu WR 17500 0 6000 0 11500 0 12 2 7 7 East t Total l 224000 0 51100 0 172900 0 Source:: Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (HMG of Nepal), Collar et al. (1994), Barall et al. (1996) Tablee 2.2. Climatological data for Sukila Phanta and Chitwan Temperature e Humidity y Precipitation n Chitwan n Maximum m Minimum m 0845hrs s 1745hrs s (mm) ) (Celsius) ) (Celsius) ) 1995 5 NA A NA A 77 7 70 0 1778 8 Average e 1996 6 31 1 18.10 0 84 4 77 7 1784 4 Average e 1997 7 31 1 17.2 2 82 2 67 7 2141 1 Average e 1998 8 31 1 19.1 1 85.9 9 71.9 9 NA A Average e Sukilaa Phanta 1995 5 30 0 17.3 3 74.02 2 78.95 5 1591 1 Average e 1996 6 31 1 18.06 6 79 9 68 8 1643 3 Average e 1997 7 NA A NA A NA A NA A 1625 5 Average e 1998 8 30 0 NA A 81.4 4 68.4 4 NA A Average e NA:: Not Available (Source: Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, HMG of Nepal) 12 2 STUDYY AREAS AND METHODS threatenedd (Collar et al. 1994) and was previously described as endemic to India (Ali and Ripley 1987).. Additionally, Sukila Phanta supports a large population of Swamp Deer Cervus duvauceli duvauceli,, a globally threatened mammal species (Schaff 1978, Groombridge 1993). Chitwann is an inner doon valley in the central terai of Nepal between the Siwalik hills in the south andd the Mahabharat hills to the north. All other protected areas in lowland Nepal lie beyond the finalfinal range of hills. The park ranges in altitude from 150 m to 815 m (IUCN 1993). The total area of Chitwann is 93 200 ha. and is bordered by Parsa Wildlife Reserve (49 900 ha) in the east. It is located inn the drainage basin of three major rivers: Narayani, Rapti and Reu (Figure 2.2) and has a more humidd environment than Sukila Phanta (Table 2.2). Chitwan has numerous small patches of grasslands,, lying alongside the rivers. These riverside grasslands vary in width from few meters to 15000 m. Approximately 70% of the park is covered by sal forest (Laurie 1979), the remainder being grasslandd and riverine forests (Gurung 1983). Moree than 50 species of mammals and a high total of 526 bird species have been recorded in Chitwann (Baral and Upadhayay 1998). It is an important site for grassland birds, particularly for HoubaropsisHoubaropsis bengalensis (Inskipp and Inskipp 1983), Lesser Florican Sypheotides indica (Inskipp andd Inskipp 1991), Jerdon's Babbler Chrysomma altirostre (Baral and Eames 1991), Slender-billed Babblerr Turdoides longirostris (H. S. Baral in prep.), Bristled Grassbird (Baral 1997) and Grey- crownedd Prinia Prinia cinereocapilla (H. S. Baral in prep.) (Table 2.1). Chitwan is the only locality inn Nepal where Turdoides longirostris has been recorded. Chitwan also supports a quarter of the worldd population of the Greater One-horned Rhinoceros Rhinoceros unicornis, a globally threatened mammall (Laurie 1982, Groombridge 1993). Koshii Tappu occupies 17 500 ha of the Sapta Koshi River floodplain at the most northeasterly extensionn of the Gangetic Plain. It ranges in altitude from 75-81 m (IUCN 1993). The reserve is locatedd between two flood control embankments and is subject to annual flooding. Approximately 70%% of the reserve's land area is covered in grasslands (Heinen 1993b), although during high flood yearss a large amount of grassland is destroyed and replaced by new alluvial deposits. The reserve containss Nepal's last population of Asiatic Wild Buffalo Bubalus arnee, a globally threatened speciess (Groombridge 1993). Koshi Tappu is further protected as a Ramsar Site for its importance forr migrating wildfowl (IUCN 1993). Besides being an important site for migrating waterfowl, Koshi Tappuu is important for grassland birds like Houbaropsis bengalensis (Inskipp and Inskipp 1983), SaxicolaSaxicola insignis (Inskipp and Inskipp 1991), Francolinus gularis (Baral 1998b), and Chaetornis striatusstriatus (H. S. Baral in prep). The reserve faces severe problems of illegal grazing, fodder collection, treee felling and hunting from the surrounding villages (Giri 1997, Petersson 1998). 13 3 STUDYY AREAS AND METHODS > > ca a c c If) If) <u u " " —c c — CD D CD D 5 5 u u CD D ca a a a 2 2 (X X 1 11 1 i i 0 0 0 0 </) ) 0 0 0 0 / / 1 1 I I \ \ J J TO TO c c TO TO Q. _TO O / / CO O Figuree 2.1. Sukila Phanta Wildlife Reserve with transects shown. 14 4 STUDYY AREAS AND METHODS Royall Chitwan National Park Habitat t CYMB B FRST T [CNP P MPC C IMPL L NARP P PK K Ploughed d SAL L SS S SSSB B THEA A TILLAGE E WHEAT T transects Miles s 00 12 3 Figuree 2.2.