Supplementary Files
Keywords
Dam
Crane
Riverine.
How to Cite
Abstract
One of the very few wintering habitats of the Near Threatened Black-necked Crane in India faces extreme threats due to an upcoming hydroelectric project in Nyamjang-chu river Valley in Arunachal Pradesh. A study was carried out from June 2017 to March 2018 in Zemithang, Tawang district to understand the habitat suitability of the Black-necked Crane and local perception about the conservation of the species. Riverine islands and riparian vegetation form the critical ground for the species. The direct impact on habitat will be the submergence of the total upstream study area by 63%, inundating more than 91% of the Hippophae area and 85% of the seasonal sandbars, leaving only 15% of the prime foraging ground of the Black-necked Crane. Moreover, questionnaire surveys revealed majority of the people were against the construction of the dam. Results also indicated that indirect impacts from the construction of dam and pollution would collapse the other suitable habitats located nearby. These findings will help in the conservation planning of the fragile wintering habitats of the Black-necked Crane.References
BirdLife International (2001): Threatened Birds of Asia: The BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
BirdLife International (2009): Grus nigricollis. In IUCN Red List of Threatened Species v. 2010.2. Http://www.iucnredlist.org [Accessed on July 23, 2010].
Bishop, M.A. (1996): Report on Investigations of Status, Distribution and Winter Habitat Use by Black-necked Cranes in South-central Tibet. ICF Baraboo. 1990–4.
Bishop, M.A. (2006): Black-necked Crane (Grus nigricollis). Http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/cranes/grusnigr.htm. [Accessed on June 17, 2009].
Chandan, P., P. Gautam & A. Chatterjee (2006): Nesting sites and breeding success of black-necked crane Grus nigricollis in Ladakh, India. Pp. 311–314. In: Boere, G.C., C.A. Galbraith & D.A. Stroud (Eds): Waterbirds Around the World. Stationery Office, Edinburgh, UK.
Chandan, P., A. Khan, J. Takpa, S.A. Hussain, K. Mehdi, P.S. Jamwal, R. Rattan, N. Khatoon, T. Rigzin, A. Anand & P.K. Dutta (2014): Status and distribution of Black-necked Crane (Grus nigricollis) in India. Zoological research 35: 39.
Chatterjee, A., E. Blom, B. Gujja, R. Jacimovic, L. Beevers, J. O’keeffe, M. Beland & T. Biggs (2010): WWF initiatives to study the impact of climate change on Himalayan high altitude wetlands (HAWs). Mountain Research and Development 30(1): 42–52.
Choudhury, B., M. Khan, A. Arunachalam, & A. Das (2007): Population status of Gymnocladus assamicus, a critically endangered tree species in Arunachal Pradesh, India. Current science 93: 1489–1491.
Choudhury, S.D. (1996): Arunachal Pradesh District Gazetteers: East Kameng, West Kameng, and Tawang Districts. Gazetteers Department, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, Shillong, India.
Choudhury, T. (2017): Birds don’t give a Dam: The politics of Hydropower Development and Wildlife Conservation in Arunachal Pradesh. M.A. Thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta. Pp. 1–184.
Chowdhery, H.J. (2001): Orchid diversity in North East India. The Journal of the Orchid Society of India 15: 1–17.
Datta, A. (2012): A Critique of the Nyamjang Chhu Hydro-electric power project Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP). NCF Working Paper 2, Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore.
Gopi, G.V., J.A. Johnson, B.S. Adhikari, M. Bhattacharya, T. Wattham & K. Sivakumar (2019): Assessment of habitat use by Black-necked Crane (Grus nigricollis) and eflows of Nyamjang Chu hydroelectric project in Tawang District, Arunachal Pradesh. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. Technical Report. TR No/2019/02. Pp. 119.
Guhathakurta, P., S. Khedikar, P. Menon, A.K. Prasad, N. Sangwan & S.C. Advani (2020): Observed Rainfall Variability and Changes over Arunachal Pradesh State. Climate Research and Services India Meteorological Department Ministry of earth sciences Pune. 1–26 pp.
He, X.R. & J.L. Wu (2000): Studies on winter diet of the black-necked cranes (Grus nigricollis) at Northeast of Yunnan [in Chinese with English abstract]. Journal of Yunnan University 22: 460–464.
Johnson, J.A., T. Watham, G.V. Gopi & K. Sivakumar (2020): Development of habitat suitability criteria for conservation of the black-necked crane in Nyamjang Chu River in eastern Himalaya, India in connection with a proposed hydropower dam. River research and applications, Vol. 37(3): 321–329. https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.3752.
Li, C. (1996): Distribution, population and conservation of the black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis) in Yunnan Province [in Chinese with English abstract]. Chinese Wildlife 17: 14–15.
Li, F.S. & F. Yang (2003): Population numbers and distribution of black-necked cranes (Grus nigricollis) in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau [in Chinese with English abstract]. Chinese Journal of Zoology 38(3): 43–46.
Li, Z. & E. Li (2005): Research on the Black-necked Crane. Shanghai Scientific and Technological Education Publishing House, Shanghai, China.
Menzies, R., M. Rao & A. Kumar (2019): Two new locations for the Vulnerable Black-necked Crane Grus nigricollis (Przhevalsky, 1876) (Aves: Gruiformes: Gruidae) in Arunachal Pradesh, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 11(10): 14381–14384. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5337.11.10.14381-14384
Mishra, C., A. Datta & M.D. Madhusudan (2004): The High Altitude Wildlife of Western Arunachal Pradesh: A Survey Report. CERC technical report no. 8. Nature Conservation Foundation, International Snow Leopard Trust and Wildlife Conservation Society (India Program), Mysore, India.
Namgay, W. & S. Wangchuk (2016): Habitat preferences and conservation threats to Black-necked Cranes wintering in Bhutan. Springer Plus. 5: 228.
Namsa, N., M. Mandal, S. Tangjang & S. Mandal (2011): Ethnobotany of the Monpa ethnic group at Arunachal Pradesh, India. Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine 7: 31. 10.1186/1746-4269-7-31.
Paul, A., M. Khan, A. Arunachalam & K. Arunachalam (2005): Biodiversity and conservation of rhododendrons in Arunachal Pradesh in the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot. Current Science 89.
Ran, J.H., S.Y. Liu, Q. Lin, Z.Y. Zheng, K.Q. Shao & M. Zhang (1999): The population and distribution of the Black-Necked Cranes (Grus nigricollis) in Xianman Reserve in Sichuan [in Chinese with English abstract]. Chinese Journal of Applied Environment Biology 5(1): 40–44.
Su, H.L., Y.H. Lin, D.Q. Li & F.W. Qian (2000): Status of Chinese cranes and their conservation strategies [in Chinese with English abstract]. Chinese Biodiversity 8(2): 180–191.
Yang, L. (1991): The distribution and habitats of the cranes in Yunnan province. Pp. 127–130. In: Proceedings 1987 International Crane Workshop (Ed. Harris, J.) International Crane Foundation, Baraboo, USA.