Paper
Toxic pollution threatens migratory shorebirds in India
Published Jun 7, 2016 · G. Agoramoorthy, J. Pandiyan
Environmental Science and Pollution Research
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Abstract
We read the recent article by Ayadi et al. (2016) with great interest since it describes on how various pollutants impact the distribution of recent benthic foraminifera in Tunisia’s Gulf of Gabes region. Besides, the article directly and indirectly implicates the immense threat of toxic pollution to numerous predators including millions of migratory shorebirds that primarily rely on various species of benthic invertebrate organisms for stable food source. We would like to add that India being a large agriculturedependent nation, the toxic residues from heavy metals, pesticides, and fertilizers accumulated over time in soil sediments in coastal areas pose survival threat to large number of migratory shorebirds visiting India. Various species of migratory shorebirds, also called waders/wading birds, visit India annually. They feed primarily on benthic invertebrates; they also breed in selected coastal wetlands. Although the migratory life of shorebirds in general fascinates people, these small-sized birds often face numerous survival threats along their migratory route and pollution poses a major risk. A recent article appeared in Science, for example, warns the growing pollution threats facingmigratory shorebirdsworldwide (Tang et al. 2015). India harbors a total of 26 major wetlands and they are recognized by the Ramsar Convention to extend protection to wetlands and migratory shorebirds. About 370 species of migratory birds annually visit India. Nearly half of those species are long distance migrating shorebirds; they pass through the Central Asian flyway. The smallest among them is the sandpiper weighing just 15 g and the largest is the curlew weighing up to 850 g. The wetlands located in the Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh state of India have seen about 50 % decline in migratory shorebirds this year alone due to polluted feeding and nesting sites (Agarwal 2016). Similarly, shorebirds were reported to be affected by increasing pollution levels in the National Capital Region (Vashishtha 2016). India’s pollution crisis has been on the rise during the last two decades and the nation’s capital city, Delhi, has already become the most polluted city in the world in terms of air quality (Agoramoorthy 2012). Despite the fact that large congregations of diverse migratory shorebird species visit India each year, long-term data on the population status of migratory shorebirds and the impact of polluting heavy metals, pesticides, and fertilizers in wetlands that threatens the survival of shorebirds are unfortunately lacking. Nevertheless, our preliminary study on pollution shows high heavy metal levels in the sediment, prey, and shorebird feather samples collected along the eastern coastal wetlands of India (Pandiyan and Agoramoorthy, in prep.). Beingwildlife biologists, we are concerned about the increasing threat of pollution in sediments and invertebrate preys, eventually impacting themigrating shorebirds. Therefore, we suggest the Indian government, especially the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change to take proactive steps to deploy scientists to systematically monitor the migratory shorebird population in selected Ramsar sites while simultaneously collecting and comparing data on the intensity of pollution levels in wetlands (sediment, prey, and birds). Without the long-term scientific data, it will be difficult to develop appropriate conservation and management plans to mitigate the looming pollution threats facing the migratory shorebird populations in India. Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues
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