Habitat Expansion of White Rumped Munia (Lonchura Striata) in Western Himalayan Region of Uttarakhand
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HABITAT EXPANSION OF WHITE RUMPED MUNIA (LONCHURA STRIATA) IN WESTERN HIMALAYAN REGION OF UTTARAKHAND Kamal Kant Joshi Department of Environmental Science, Graphic Era Hill University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India *Correspondence: [email protected] Climate change is one of the greatest environmental issues in the world in recent decades. It has been estimated that the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions will be responsible for the rise in global temperature from 1.5 to 4.5°C by 2100 (IPCC 2018). This rise in temperature has affected the climate pattern causing effect on biotic and abiotic components of the ecosystem. IPCC (2018) report emphasized that climate change is impacting species distribution, population size and the timing of reproduction and migration. Climate change and habitat loss are the two greatest threats to biodiversity in the present century (Jetz et al., 2007). The western Himalayan region of Indian Himalayais recognized for its biological diversity and ecological values. This area has been recognized as the Endemic Bird Area (EBA 128) by BirdLife International (Stattersfield et al., 1998). Rich abundance and diversity of avifauna attract the researchers, scientist and bird watchers in the Himalaya region.In this articleobservations made in Uttarakhand are shared which indicate the habitat expansion of avian species from the Sothern part of India to the Northern part (Himalayan region). However, it is very early to say that habitat extension Fig. 1. White-rumped Munia (Lonchura Striata) founded in is happening only because of climate change. However, such Dehradun observations are evidence of the long-term effects of climate change on avian fauna. In Uttarakhand, the first record of White-rumped Munia is in the Tarai region of the Nainital district, in 1900 by Walton Thus stusdy is based on a survey conducted between 2013 and HJ, a British forester. Afterwards, Indian ornithologist Salim 2018 at Doon valley forests, Uttarakhand, focusing on “White- Ali reported it in a wide sub-Himalayan belt on the eastern rumped Munia (Lonchura Striata)”. The White-rumped Munia side of Garhwal (Ali 2012). Many scientific notes and checklists belongs to Estrildidae family and has approximately 140 species have introduced the presence of White-rumped Munia species which are widely distributed across the world. The size of this in Dehradun district (Singh 2002; Vijay et al., 2010; Joshi et bird is about 10–11cm with dark breast, streak upperparts, al., 2015). On the other hand for the first time we reported white rump, and faint brownish streak with the grayish buff White-rumped Munia with their juveniles, in November 2013, belly (Fig. 1). In India, this species is widely distributed (breed/ April 2015, June 2016 and May 2017 in Chamoli district of residence) in some states India viz. Kerala Tamil-Nadu, Odisha, Karanprayag (500m), Tharali (665m) and Nandprayag (856 Assam, Guwahati, Goa and some districts of Maharashtra, and –1,010m) region (Joshi 2018). The presence of This bird in Madhya Pradesh (Khot et al., 2016; Satose et al., 2018; Saikia et the Chamoli district (Uttarakhand) indicates that the species al., 2011; Purkayastha, 2018; Desai et al., 2012; Praveen, 2015; range is extending in the hilly area of Uttarakhand. However, Ramesh et al., 2012; Pradhan, 2013). the weather data (secondary database) from the open sources ENVIS Bulletin Himalayan Ecology, Vol 27, 2019 43 indicate that temperature of this region has increased by about Pradhan RN, Das UP, Mohapatra RK, Mishra AK (2013). 0.24 °C between 1991 and 2015. 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