KATHMANDU — Birds prefer to live in a mix of forests, fields and wetlands, but human activities such as logging, hunting and sand and gravel mining are taking a toll on such mosaics in Nepal’s southern plains, a recent study shows. The research, published in the Journal of Environmental Management, suggests such a mosaic of connected habitats coupled with a reduction of disturbances from human activities such as extraction may help boost not only the numbers of birds, but species as well. “We found that while birds seek heterogeneity in their habitats, human activities are increasingly homogenizing the landscapes at the cost of bird habitats,” said Hem Bahadur Katuwal, assistant professor at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences. As part of the study, researchers studied the diversity, ecological traits and functions (habitat, diet, mobility and body size) and ancestry of 238 randomly selected bird species in an anthropogenic (farmland and settlement) and a natural (forest and riverine) habitat within the Parsa-Koshi Complex (PKC) in southern Nepal for more than a year. “We chose the study area because it is not only rich in natural habitat, but it also has the highest population density in Nepal,” Katuwal said. Grey Heron spotted in the study area. Image courtesy of Hem Bahadur Katuwal. Katuwal and his team then used computer models to compare this data with the level of human activity and landscape patterns in the same area, aiming to see if human activities acted like a “filter” that only allowed…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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