Wetlands are unique, complex and sensitive habitats that form a connection between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and provide a range of ecosystem services to humans. They are equally crucial for the survival of birds and provide critical foraging, roosting, nesting, chick-rearing, moulting, stop-over and wintering habitat for migratory and resident waterbirds.
<p><em>Waterbirds are regarded as indicators of wetland ecosystem health because they strongly influence the diversity of organisms living in the water bodies and form an important part of the food web informs this paper titled '<a href="https%3A%2F%2Fpdf.sciencedirectassets.com%2F272241%2F1-s2.0-S1470160X23X00090%2F1-s2.0-S1470160X23012049%2Fmain.pdf?X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjELb%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJIMEYCIQC95b41Xtoe6uDhw%2B89rwuCkxE79nA%2Fz5udTdOuSWfClwIhALASWof3qmofI5O2%2BpVSQRXBOea4n9VgwkvxQukZIf3AKrwFCO%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEQBRoMMDU5MDAzNTQ2ODY1IgzrciBrUJnN7XeKjBcqkAUW2FQ34A04pQ7ogaOllSvA%2FtqFbCeU4NHfbnyD5iU7%2BhayxcEi3CaVF%2Fq1NwdO3A2cOi%2BMW6LCDZmclenspSUGJMKiEnCT03BClDsT1rT9I7WE1%2FlmxX60e4NXvMuOdKg8Xcro3X2vMzilqzVrYrvxUQHuhRiSp88SOWt1kHVgHiS%2FRKq%2B%2F7A41idd3MqKRaYo0MCY7udDxyIlnLFF4%2BucIDgMsibKCMqLBGJl5KfGydDZhk3mLvi1QloFPmCJ6ezx94sJWkqrJvDHRrQPqdIBdMzo2tJMeXeXymrQu8r9ZkHX6939tIHrsM0xEJptqV0jReQAqZvoBPi%2B%2FLtAV%2B39XIZQZLYLkD8jyb6DySj56O9yrCyMA7Mi50pIhCxknFcIUlXrfHzjnUr1Cx2jsxSXO0slflq%2BExkX9dcuvv8A4ZrXAzEZvy7Is8kAXxgFKxyQeuB16VQGJRw4Gu758xKSuXC8h9kxjd5e4kK2UygR8ZaLj3mvznutJEpf1%2FVo1oFl259y3GAh5TBPiipLE%2FKuq%2FOpi88bSrpxljxJGgG48fVgok8eRRtBA%2BwnvDHsnsGKW05ZWVt9T2A3Yqw1pFuJ6ClihwXrF%2Bc%2FBHtX%2FgBgMuxQqmjs3v%2BGj6qK2pnbQe%2BGom6ndhY3N5hJe%2FqvFtEQR52gh65mKysnJ6N7Pvk2qSrDBwYCurP0smwTDjEbUkUUIPC2VtZzJFHqhAJufewnMZIO%2FyPtoTNB%2BS0PjD%2FIQubmcnWJUVCqxhnqM%2FQ52DZw2o%2FwIFythYRTUmf7MYrTUsippWTP6s3kPPdiEz8JTzzXFfWIjnhYATIQOz8OiBWi152cCjY8m8l0Y6f8HJ5XZo1U9voNtkuuXLE29dxlezCv6riqBjqwAWg3xzLEIvPI3DGLP80GfUIshKOLMt%2ByBMVDbXxVLddTAfvbLbv4kbrWDGSu5GzLk%2BKWZvjIFcI0I5P5Q%2Fo0wnD8LydNPm24KxuZu5eVzHQc3X31eZQZj9MO83AdMj0rV0MzMpwtdn66sNZT%2FuMhEY%2BDQ1vLZlxFTzzoxee42nCNkqiJWUyuzrrk58iD8jZPcoFRCwHZqadwwChzgErhHmeZDiNcSphDEuLd0rRZN%2FaT&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20231110T140505Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQ3PHCVTYXX6BTDMA%2F20231110%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=2549d92157d4884a4a0b5ee27252fe296a3d138b1993c0d80fddda70117324a2&hash=1ce83986fe8d995a3fff1c340ae0b961b5e76fe8be013f87f33ffad8e23b75a2&host=68042c943591013ac2b2430a89b270f6af2c76d8dfd086a07176afe7c76c2c61&pii=S1470160X23012049&tid=spdf-26f113a1-5f86-4881-a8e5-2c073843f8ee&sid=e8">Long-term anthropogenic stressors cause declines in kingfisher assemblages in wetlands in southwestern India</a>' published in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/ecological-indicators">Ecological Indicators</a>.</em></p>
Waterbirds such as Kingfishers play an important role in sustaining the integrity of wetland ecosystems and depend on wetlands for their food consisting of mainly fish and also frogs, reptiles, caterpillars, insects, molluscs and crabs and can be useful indicators for assessing the health of wetland ecosystems.
Declining kingfishers can be an indication of declining ecosystem quality while a healthy kingfisher population could indicate a healthy wetland ecosystem thriving with plants and animals, both small and large forming a crucial component of the food web supporting the survival of the wetland ecology.
Anthropogenic pressures on coastal and inland wetlands are increasing in India with large amounts of agricultural chemicals, municipal pollution and industrial wastes being deposited into wetlands, causing irreversible changes in these aquatic systems. Long-term studies on birds can greatly help in understanding the health status of the habitat and for helping in designing and implementing effective management strategies.
<p><em>Very few studies have looked at the impact of poor water quality on birds and very few studies exist on the relationships between poor wetland status and the impact of poor water quality on Kingfisher survival in India. The paper discusses the findings of study that looked at the abundance of five species of Kingfishers across five different wetland habitats in Kerala, and the southwest coast of India and evaluated the impacts of environmental variables such as air temperature, water temperature, humidity, turbidity, organic waste on the wetlands and kingfisher abundance in the region. </em></p>
A total of five sites were selected, namely Mavoor wetland, Vazhakkad agroecosystem, Kallampara mangroves, Vadakkumpad mangroves and Kadalundi- Vallikkunnu Community Reserve (KVCR) mangroves. The most commonly available kingfisher species such as Common Kingfisher, White-throated Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Stork-billed Kingfisher and Black-capped Kingfisher were selected for the study.
The disturbances in the wetland environment, which led to a decline in the presence of waterbirds such as Kingfishers with local extinction of Pied Kingfisher from one of the study sites, and the current IUCN status (VU) of Black-capped Kingfisher highlight the urgent need for immediate implementation of sustainable habitat and species specific conservation plans.
The study argues for the need to: