Agricultural Ecosystem: An Encouraging Field for Ornithologists

Abstract

Agricultural ecosystem is open system, whereby continuous human intervention is needed for the maintenance of equilibrium with the aim of maximizing the production provided by a few domesticated plant and animal species. In these systems, the equilibrium is maintained through energy input from outside that makes the operations possible, which are designed to create optimal conditions for the growth of the cultivated plants and the animals raised. Ecology and management of birds in agricultural ecosystems deals with all activities of birds that are either beneficial or harmful to mankind [1]. Agricultural landscapes, especially in the intensively cultivated areas have a number of fish, dairy, poultry and honeybee farms interspersed among crop fields. These farms along with a variety of native and exotic agroforestry trees provide additional food to birds in the form of fish, bees, animal feeds, tree-fruits, seeds, nectar etc. Birds of agricultural areas hence include granivores, frugivores, insectivores, carnivores, nectarivores and omnivores. The Sarus crane has survived the landscape of Gujarat due to cultural heritage of the local people and ability of the species to track habitat changes [2]. Many pristine natural environments are constantly being modified by human activities. Such modifications of natural landscapes result in the formation of many new landscapes such as cultivated agricultural landscape which is almost a new landscape and differs in many important respects from natural ecosystems. As the field is prepared using traditional bullock driven plough, a large number of birds follow it and pick up insects, earthworms etc. which are exposed (Figures 1and 2). There exists no quantitative information on the extent of control brought about by birds during ploughing operations and the benefits gained thereby [3]. Agricultural ecosystems are young on an evolutionary time scale even where agriculture has been practiced continuously for more than 4000 years as in the case of rice cultivation in India, Thailand and Southern China. Thus, agriculture represents an enormous unplanned experiment on how biodiversity responds to environmental change. The presence of breeding species is related to characteristics of boundaries and to the surrounding land-use. The management of hedgerows and other field boundaries is narrated in detail to encourage the presenc