Bird Community Response to Tsunami-Affected Wetlands of South Andaman Island, India

Rajan & Pramod: South Andaman Island 125

Bird community response to Tsunami-affected wetlands of South Andaman Island, India

Rajan P. & P. Pramod

Rajan P., & Pramod, P., 2017. Bird community response to Tsunami-affected wetlands of South Andaman Island, India. Indian BIRDS 13 (5): 125–131. Rajan P., Sàlim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty Post, Coimbatore 641108, Tamil Nadu, India. E-mail: [email protected] P. Pramod, Sàlim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Anaikatty Post, Coimbatore 641108, Tamil Nadu, India. E-mail: [email protected] Manuscript received on 26 August 2016.

Abstract The mega undersea earthquake, and the resulting tsunami of December 2004 in the Indian Ocean, inundated agricultural fields in the Andaman Islands of India, and created many natural wetlands through land subsidence, most of which, for all practical purposes, were abandoned by the people living there earlier. In a study undertaken five year later, between November 2009 and February 2010, it was observed that tsunami-affected changes of three wetlands on South Andaman Island provided new feeding ground for waterbirds, including migratory waders. Of the 63 species observed here, migratory birds comprised 23 species. Resident waterbirds preferred wetlands with more grass patches, as in Stewart Gunj, than the other wetlands. The Andaman Teal Anas gibberifrons albogularis has been reported to be declining at an alarming rate during the twentieth century, and this Vulnerable species was observed as relatively abundant in this study. This study recorded high human activities such as hunting of birds, fishing, and cattle grazing in these wetlands, which may have a negative impact on the birds and need to be monitored.

Introduction communities of three tsunami-created wetlands (ante agricultural The mega undersea earthquake of 26 December 2004, fields) on the South Andaman Island in relation to the degree of and the consequent tsunami, has changed the landscape of inundation five years after this major natural phenomenon that Andaman and Nicobar Islands (India). About 40 km2 of land, in has greatly changed the topography of the area. many locations, has been directly or indirectly affected by this event, resulting in a drastic change in land use patterns (Roy Study area et al. 2009). The subsidence of the South Andaman Island by Southern South Andaman Island is one of the most human- almost one meter had caused high tides that reached inland influenced areas in the Andaman & Nicobar archipelago. The and flooded the low-lying flatlands, including agricultural lands inundation of agricultural lands by the tsunami has led to them and human habitations (Chatterjee 2006). Prior to the tsunami, being abandoned by the people, as they have turned into local inhabitants utilised the tsunami-inundated areas of South wetlands (Malik et al. 2006). This study is restricted to three such Andaman Islands for agriculture. These inundated wetlands wetlands in the South Andaman Island (Fig. 1). Prior to inundation became opportunistic feeding grounds for migratory waders by the tsunami, rice, vegetables, and coconut were cultivated in and resident waterbirds. these areas (Malik et al. 2006). Large parts of these agricultural The occurrence of waterbird species varies along with the changing seasons and changes in water levels. Water saturation of freshwater wetlands of South Andaman Island depends on the south-western and north-eastern monsoons. Birds such as Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus use a wide variety of natural and human-made wetlands that may be ephemeral or permanent such as rivers, streams, canals, agricultural wetlands, occasionally brackish waters, and flooded pastures (Ritter & Savidge 1999). The Andaman Teal Anas gibberifrons albogularis is a race of Sunda Teal A. gibberifrons (Rasmussen & Anderton 2012; Praveen et al. 2016) and its population is estimated to be 500 to 1000 individuals (Rahmani & Islam 2008). It has also been recognised as a separate species Andaman Teal Anas albogularis and listed as Vulnerable under the Red-List of threatened species by the IUCN (BirdLife International 2017; del Hoyo et al. 2017). It is known that during the dry season, waterbirds change their habitat use depending on the availability of water sources (Kushlan 1986) and the colonisation of migratory birds, as well Fig. 1. Map of South Andaman Island depicting location of selected tsunami-affected study sites. as resident birds, is manifested by their dependence on a suitable (Source: Landsat map (processed in GRASS) – www.landcover.com; India and Andaman map – wintering habitat (Bensch 1999). This study explores the avian www.mapsofindia.com.) 126 Indian BIRDS Vol. 13 No. 5 (Publ. 16 October 2017)

Table1. Characteristics of three tsunami-affected wetlands of South Andaman Island (Coordinates in Decimal Degree) Wetland Sippighat Stewart Gunj Ograbraj Location 11.61ºN, 92.69ºE 11.73ºN, 92.71ºE 11.66ºN, 92.67ºE Total Area 1.1411 sq km 0.3428 sq km 0.6348 sq km Submerged area 0.7186 sq km 0.2599 sq km 0.2473 sq km Description Grassland with stagnant water (~1m depth), Grassland, some parts grass with stagnant water. This Tidal mudflat, tsunami inundated area tidal mudflat (0.5m water depth during high tide) wetland is surrounded by human settlement. with dead trees, surrounded by human [168]. One side has mangroves and the Andaman settlement, mangrove. A road has Trunk Road borders the other. divided this wetland into two sections. Main Threats/poten- Illegal hunting of birds by local people with air guns Degradation of wetland quality by nutrient inputs Fishing, reclamation by local people for tial threats for birds and fishing activities. Reclamation by local people through cattle grazing and sprouting of exotic and inva- construction. for construction. sive plants like Mimosa eupatorium. This may pose a threat in the future, particularly if large numbers of cattle lead to major vegetation changes.

lands were inundated with saline water due to the tsunami-tidal Methodology waves. The subsidence of land because of tectonic movements Bird surveys during the tsunami resulted in permanent submergence of these Bird surveys were carried out at the three wetlands during the agricultural fields (Maliket al. 2006; Rajendran 2013). northern winter between November 2009 and February 2010. All The three study sites are close to Port Blair: Sippighat [165] surveys were carried out through a one-hour total count method and Stewart Gunj [166] are located about seven kilometers away, (Bibby et al. 2000) between 0600 and 0930 hrs, and 1500 while Ograbraj wetland [167] is c. 15 km away (see Table 1 for and 1730 hrs. Wetlands were visited once in two weeks and a site descriptions). total of 28 counts were made in the three wetlands. Twelve visits

165. Sippighat 167. Ograbraj wetland Pics: Rajan P. 166. Stewart Gunj 168. Sippighat during the high tide Rajan & Pramod: South Andaman Island 127

were made to Sippighat due the large size of the wetland and high bird species diversity, and with eight visits each were made to the other two wetlands. The maximum count recorded for a species across all visits is considered for the analysis. In addition, opportunistic observations were frequently made between July 2009 and March 2010 to create a more complete checklist and for an analysis of the bird community structure in the area (Hutto et al. 1986). Due to the unavailability of pre-tsunami data on birds of these sites, a comparative analysis with the present study could not be done.

Data analysis To study the distribution pattern of birds in the three wetlands, species were categorised into three groups, namely, migratory birds (henceforth, M), resident waterbirds (henceforth, RW), and other resident birds (henceforth, R). R comprised mainly terrestrial birds, and those adapted to different habitats for their daily activities (e.g., Common Myna Acridotheres tristis, House Sparrow Passer domesticus, and Blue-tailed Bee-eater Merops philippinus). RW included herons, egrets, ducks, and crakes. Fig. 3. Relationship of bird species recorded in the three wetlands, South Andaman Though the White-bellied Sea-eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster (Nov 2009 to Feb 2010) and various species of kingfishers (Alcedinidae) are resident waterbirds, they were included in the R category due to their widespread distribution in all other habitats of the Andaman Sippighat was significantly different from Ograbraj (Z = 3.47, P Islands. = 0.001), and Stewart Gunj (Z = 3.12, P = 0.002) wetlands. We used the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and the Friendman Though the microhabitat of Stewart Gunj and Ograbraj were test1 using SPSS 16.0 (SPSS Inc.) to understand the relationships topologically different (Fig. 2), species diversity of these wetlands of bird species composition at the wetlands; P values ≤ 0.05 was not significantly different Z( = 0.082, P = 0.935). Simpson were considered significant. We used the Simpson Diversity Index Diversity Index (1-D) for the three wetlands indicated the highest to compute species diversity in the wetlands. The three groups species diversity in Sippighat (0.920), followed by Stewart Gunj were plotted in a Venn diagram to demonstrate their distribution (0.687), and Ograbraj (0.531). patterns, and species compositions at each wetland. The highest numbers of bird species were recorded in the Satellite maps of South Andaman Island were downloaded Sippighat area (n= 58) (Fig. 3; Table 2). Sippighat was one of the from the website of Global Land Cover Facility (University of main tsunami-affected wetlands used by waders during the non- Maryland 2010) and processed in GRASS software to create a breeding period. A higher proportion of Lesser Whistling Duck map of the study area. To map the pre-tsunami (2000) and post- were observed in the flooded grassy area in Sippighat[169] , and tsunami (2010) land use/land cover change (about five years Stewart Gunj wetlands as compared to Ograbraj. after the event), the desktop version of Google Earth was used Lesser Whistling Duck (Abundance: 27.3%) dominated to digitise the area and the layers were saved as Keyhole Markup these tsunami-inundated wetlands followed by Andaman Teal Language (KML/.kml) files. These KML files were converted to (12.4%), Common Redshank Tringa totanus (6%), Little Stint shape files and later processed in open-source Quantum GIS Calidris minuta (5.2%), and Common Myna (5%) (Table 3). software (ver. 1.8.0) to create a landscape utilisation map of the study area. The main changes to the main habitat characteristics and landscape utilisation features of these areas, since the tsunami, are depicted in Fig. 2.

Results Sixty-three bird species were recorded at the three wetlands (Table. 1). All migratory species comprised waders, except for the Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus. Fifteen species were exclusive to the Sippighat wetland, three to the Ograbraj wetland, and three to the Stewart Gunj wetland. Nineteen bird species were common to all wetlands, including eight M species, seven RW species, and four R species (Fig. 3). The composition of the bird species across the three wetlands P. Rajan differed significantly (Friedman Test, χ2= 16.63, P = 0.001). Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed that species composition of 169. Flock of Lesser Whistling Duck at Sippighat.

1 Three wetlands are located close to each other and bird species assemblage of each wetland is highly correlated. Due to the dependency of the population, Friedman test and Wilcoxon Friedman test were used to test the difference in bird species assemblage of three wetlands. 0.05 kept as critical p value, which corresponds to a 95% confidence for the decision made. 2 SPSS reporting the p value as 0.000 when it very low. Here p value is less than 0.001 128 Indian BIRDS Vol. 13 No. 5 (Publ. 16 October 2017)

Sippighat

Stewart Gunj

Ograbraj

Before Tsunami After Tsunami N Cultivation Human Settlement Trees Mudflat Mangroves Water Cocunut Trees A T Road Mud Path 250 m Figure 2: Habitat changes in three areas affected by the 2004 tsunami, South Andaman Rajan & Pramod: South Andaman Island 129

Table 2. Summary of bird species in each tsunami-affected wetland recorded of The bird species assemblages were different in each of the South Andaman Island (November 2009–February 2010) wetlands and depended on the diversity of the microhabitats Wetland No of species recorded Total number of these sites. The three inundated wetlands had their own Migratory Resident Resident Introduced of species microhabitats (Fig. 2; Table 1), but the highest species abundance general waterbirds was recorded in Sippighat as this wetland is interspersed with mangroves, tidal mudflat, grassy area, stagnant water,etc. Sippighat 18 19 18 3 58 Ograbraj 9 18 10 2 38 Discussion Stewart Gunj 9 7 12 1 29 The avifauna of Andaman & Nicobar Islands is one of the richest in India in terms of diversity of community assemblage (Sankaran & Vijayan 1993), which reflects a diverse range of habitats from Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata (1.2%) was the only Near evergreen forest to coastal areas. The southern part of South Threatened species recorded (BirdLife International 2016). This Andaman Island has many wetlands created and modified by study also, opportunistically, recorded a congregation of 300 the tsunami of December 2004. Submergence of agricultural Andaman Teal in Ograbraj. Slaty-breasted Rail Gallirallus striatus, fields, as explained above, has resulted in the creation of new Wood Sandpiper T. glareola, Malayan Night Heron Gorsachius feeding habitats for waterbirds, including migratory waders, and melanolophus, and Pacific Reef Egret Egretta sacra were only the Andaman Teal. recorded at Sippighat, whereas Green Sandpiper T. ochropus Although once abundant, the population of Andaman Teal was recorded exclusively at Ograbraj. Yellow Bittern Ixobrychus had dramatically declined during the twentieth century (Vijayan sinensis, Slaty-breasted Rail, and Yellow Bittern I. sinensis 2006) and presently the population is likely to exceed 1,000 were each spotted only once at Stewart Gunj. Introduced (or, individuals (Rahmani 2012), after the tsunami, with sizable naturalized) resident birds such as Common Myna, House numbers being seen in all three wetlands. Recently, researchers Sparrow, and House Crow Corvus splendens were observed in have reported that the Andaman Teal flocks totaling 400–500 all three wetlands (Lever 2005; Rajan & Pramod 2013). individuals from Ograbraj (BirdLife International 2013), which

Table 3. List of bird species recorded at three tsunami-affected wetlands of South Andaman Island (November 2009–February 2010). No. Common Name Scientific Name Status Max number of individuals recorded Abundance in all wetlands Sippighat Ograbraj Stewart Gunj (%) 25 Lesser Sand Plover Charadrius mongolus M 92 4 35 4 26 Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus M 76 2.3 27 Grey-headed Lapwing Vanellus cinereus RW 2 <0.1 28 Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus M 109 3.3 30 Eurasian Curlew Numenius arquata M 36 2 1.2 30 Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica M 1 1 <0.1 31 Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos M 15 5 6 0.8 32 Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea RW 3 15 0.6 33 Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola M 3 <0.1 34 Green Sandpiper Tringa ochropus M 2 <0.1 35 Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus M 1 1 <0.1 36 Little Stint Calidris minuta M 170 5.2 37 Long-toed Stint Calidris subminuta M 86 2.6 38 Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago RW 19 1 2 0.7 39 Common Redshank Tringa totanus M 194 1 3 6 40 Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia M 11 1 0.4 41 Black-naped Tern Sterna sumatrana RW 8 0.3 42 Brahminy Kite Haliastur indus R 3 3 0.2 43 White-bellied Sea-eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster R 14 1 3 0.6 44 Blue-tailed Bee-eater Merops philippinus R 2 2 1 0.2 45 White-throated Kingfisher Halcyon smyrnensis R 19 2 3 0.7 46 Stork-billed Kingfisher Pelargopsis capensis R 1 4 0.2 47 Collared Kingfisher Todiramphus chloris R 2 1 <0.1 48 Black-capped Kingfisher Halcyon pileata R 1 1 <0.1 49 Red-breasted Parakeet Psittacula alexandri R 2 <0.1 50 Brown Shrike Lanius cristatus M 4 1 4 0.3 51 Large-billed Crow Corvus macrorhynchos R 76 2.3 52 House Crow Corvus splendens I 9 0.3 53 Olive-backed Sunbird Nectarinia jugularis R 3 3 0.2 54 White-rumped Munia Lonchura striata R 1 <0.1 55 House Sparrow Passer domesticus I 16 7 0.7 56 Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava M 5 0.2 57 Grey Wagtail Motacilla cinerea M 4 0.1 58 Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica R 3 1 1 0.2 59 Red-whiskered Bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus R 11 5 0.5 60 Common Myna Acridotheres tristis I 131 34 5 61 Asian Glossy Starling Aplonis panayensis R 3 5 1 0.3 62 Oriental Magpie Robin Copsychus saularis R 7 1 0.2 63 Asian Brown Flycatcher Muscicapa dauurica R 1 1 1 <0.1 Total 58 38 29 R-Resident general bird; RW-Resident waterbird; M-Migratory species; I-Introduced species Rajan & Pramod: South Andaman Island 131

should be better managed to ensure it provides a secure habitat The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T22727280A110106998. for this Vulnerable species. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22727280A110106998.en. Our results revealed that Sippighat, with its vast tidal mudflat [Downloaded on 14 August 2017.] and submerged area during high water, supported a large number Chatterjee, B., 2006. Satellite based monitoring of the changes in mangroves in South Eastern Coast and South Andaman Islands of India—A tsunami related of waders (Table 2). Whereas, the grassy habitat, with stagnant study. International Institute for Geo-information Science and Earth Observation, water, especially at Stewart Gunj, and some parts of Sippighat, Enschede, The Netherlands. Pp. 1–70. attracted many resident waterbirds. These differences may be del Hoyo, J., Collar, N., & Kirwan, G. M., 2017. Andaman Teal (Anas albogularis). 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