INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON WETLANDS AND SUSTAINABILITY 2007

SPECIATION AND AVAILABITY OF PHOSPHORUS IN THE SEDIMENTS OF THE

TROPICAL MANGROVE (PICHAVARAM) ECOSYSTEM, INDIA
AL. Ramanathan2 and MBK Prasad

alrjnu@gmail.com

Abstract

We studied waterbird assemblages as indicators to the wetland changes and future

sustainability in Taiwan. Being a special type of artificial wetlands, fish farm has
frequently been suggested as an important wetland habitat in Sitsao of Tainan,
southern Taiwan. While much research focused on artificial wetland such as paddy
field, few studies closely examined the characteristic of fish farm containing bountiful
indigenous wisdom. Due to social and economic development, the cultivation
methods of fish farms have been rapidly changing. In this study, we used waterbirds
to compare the abundance, species richness, and community composition of
waterbirds among management types, and identified important environmental factors
for waterbird habitat selection. Based on a long-term monthly (January 2004-
February 2006) and short-term bi-weekly (September 2005-February 2006) studies,
our results indicated that these fish farms can be divided into three wetland types,
i.e., shallow-water fish farm (SWFF), deep-water fish farm (DWFF) and abandoned
fish farm (AFF). SWFFs have the highest richness, evenness and diversity, and are
the major habitat for shorebirds while DWFFs have the highest beta turnover. While
DWFFs and AFFs are preferable habitats for egret, rail and ducks, SWFFs are
preferable for shorebirds. Since the environmental conditions are more stable in
DWFF, it has higher fidelity for bird species. In contrast, the environment of SWFF
goes through a dramatic one-year cycle change, and the operation schedule of
SWFFs provide suitable foraging habitat for shorebirds in early winter, supplying
small but highly concentrated invertebrate food sources. In late winter before the
new cultivation cycle started, SWFF was filled with water which transforms levees to
be temporary small islands and thus attracts shorebirds as resting sites. Due to
relatively low marketing benefit, this type of wetland created by SWFF is decreasing.
Given the importance of SWFF-type wetland for shorebirds and that other fish farm
types cannot replenish the loss, it is expected that this trend will inevitably reduce

School of Environmental Sciences,Jawaharlal Nehru University,New Delhi-110067, India.

 INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON WETLANDS AND SUSTAINABILITY 2007

shorebird’s suitable habitat and population. Action to conserve the SWFF-type

wetland is necessary.

Keywords:

School of Environmental Sciences,Jawaharlal Nehru University,New Delhi-110067, India.