Avian diversity at Beas River conservation reserve under urbanization and intensive agriculture in Punjab, India

Abstract

Punjab is an agrarian state nurtured by the river Beas and Satluj with a maximum gross cropped area of 98.5% in India. River Beas had been designated as "Conservation Reserve" in 2017 and "Ramsar site" in 2019. Agriculture affects 87% of the globally threatened bird species. Birds are the most noticeable and specialized species in the river habitats; hence the abundance and distribution of birds are often readily interpreted in the context of river health and vice versa. The chapter has been designed to understand the impact of agriculture, urbanization, tree diversity and wetlands along the river on avian diversity based on literature available for the state of Punjab. The chapter aims to generate sustainable management strategies for the conservation of avian diversity at Beas river conservation reserve without hampering the development of the region. The present work reveals that agriculture intensification and urbanization are major concern for avian diversity conservation as both these factors negatively impacts the habitat specialist bird species and favors generalist and insectivore species. The study concludes that significant number of species recorded have specific niche area requirements that are completed by the river's sub-habitats including feeding, foraging, roosting and nesting therefore the whole area needs protection as a single unit.