PhD Theses (SACON)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://192.168.202.180:4000/handle/123456789/138

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Avifaunal Diversity of the Andaman Islands and their Conservation
(SACON, 2010) Rajamannan, M.A.; Vijayan, Lalitha
Biodiversity hotspots in the world are chiefly tropical region is featuring high concentration of endemic species and has claimed ha lf of the world's terrestrial species, if all hotspot's are combined. These natural habitats are under threat now due to habitat loss and destruct ion. Consistently the islands, a small body of landmass are having a major role of its high endemism in the world. Nevertheless, the increasing demands on resources in the islands have resulted in their ecosystems being severely threatened and facing in its extreme habitat destruction. For example over 12.1 % of all bird species in the world are threatened with extinction today in which the majority of these are found in tropical forest and islands. There is disputing that global biodiversity is declining, but accurate measures are very hard to come by. Bird’s, the best known major group of organisms and just one component of biodiversity and far from the most significant in species numbers or biomass can help us to understand the problems and piece together the solutions, where the maintenance or restoration of the biological integrity of urban and Sundarbans areas must begin with a comprehensive study of the links between biota and land use. In this context bird communities are often used in investigations of habitat changes as the best indicators of the environment. Though the Indian mainland harbours rich avifauna diversity the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The information on community structure and general bird ecology of these islands are little known and very few attempts have been made to study the bird community along their island distribution. Hence, the present study was initiated with the major objectives to: i) document the avifaunal diversity and status in different islands/vegetations, ii) observe the bird species distribution pattern in the Andaman Islands with their biogeographical importance, iii ) study the nested·subsets of the birds in different outer islands in terms of their presence/absence which will be providing a risk assessment of the extinction probability of the various species' populations isolated on the islands of fragmented habitat, and iv) understand the insular biology of the endemic and threatened species in Andaman Islands as of baseline information for their conservation.
Bird Community of Andaman Islands with Emphasis on Human Associated and Introduced Birds
(SACON, 2013) Rajan, P.; Pramod, P.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands are very rich in bird diversity and hence have high importance in conservation planning. Both in species endemism and species diversity these islands are notable. Andaman and Nicobar Islands is also a significant place in India which is exposed to very high human mediated species introduction. These introduced species can have serious effects on the native biodiversity and it can be the agent for the breakdown of native species equilibrium. On the background of this context, this study was undertaken to examine the bird species composition of Andaman Islands especially on human influenced areas and the role of introduced birds among the avifauna of these Islands. The study was carried out in nine inhabited islands in the Andaman group and later these nine study sites were clubbed into five groups for easy analysis. The study emphasis on introduced birds and their impacts on native ecosystem especially on Islands. Both secondary and primary data collection methods are employed in the study. All the published information on distribution of birds in Andaman Islands were collated synthesized and analyzed to elucidate the characteristics of Andaman Bird fauna. Systematically 221 transect counts of birds from nine human inhabited islands which can be classified into 6 habitats were collected. These collected field observation data on birds were analyzed with special emphasis on the introduced birds.
Roosting ecology of the edible-nest swiftletin the Andaman Islands
(SACON, 2017) Mohan, Mane Akshaya; Manchi Shirish, S.;
the present study attempts to address certain questions relating to the roosting ecology of the cave dwelling populations of AENS in the Andaman Islands. The aim of this study was to understand more about the species habits and habitats towards strengthening the ongoing in-situ and ex-situ conservation of the AENS. This study was initiated and conducted to 1) understand the roosting patterns and behaviour of the AENS, 2) identify the biological factors affecting roosting patterns of the AENS and 3) determine the environmental factors influencing roosting patterns of the AENS.