KAMALAMSCHOOL

INTERNATIONAL

TOPIC :
ROOL NO:
NAME :
CLASS :XII
SCHOOL :KAMALAM INTERNATIONAL
(HI-TECH CBSE)
SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL
DHARMAPURI

CERTIFICATE
THIS IS TO CERTIFY THAT _______________
OF CLASS XII HAS DONE THE PROJECT ON
Inventory of birds in your locality, their ecological role as
scavangers, pollinators IN BIOLOGY FOR
THE FULLFILMENT IF AISSE-2021-2022.

INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL EXAMINER

PRINCIPAL
Content
1)Introduction
2)Ecological role
3)Mutualism

4)Pollination
5)Seed dispersal

6)Location
7)The importance of fruit size

Introduction
An ecosystem consists of all of the organisms
living within an area and the interactions
between them and the physical environment.
All ecosystems, whether they are marine,
freshwater or located in native bush, involve the
transfer of energy.

Energy flows into an ecosystem usually via

sunlight. This light energy is used in a process
called photosynthesis, allowing plant matter
(flora) to grow. Flora then becomes a food
source for birds, animals and insects. This
transfer of energy continues as feeding
relationships occur between plants and animals.

ECOLOGICAL ROLE
Birds have a good system for spreading seeds. They eat berries
and then when they dispose of their waste, the berry seeds are
disposed along with it. Bird feces provide good fertilization for the
seeds with which they are dropped, giving seeds very good
conditions with which to grow. In addition, a lot of bird species
may have been significant browsers of forest vegetation.

For example, McEwen (1978) stated a large proportion of forest

tree and shrub species had fleshy fruits which were attractive to
birds. And also, Godley (1979) stated that birds performed a
relatively minor role as pollinators in New Zealand forests and that
foliage of all kinds was eaten mainly in late winter, spring and
early summer, when fruit was least available. Because of
extensive dietary overlap between different herbivorous birds and
the turnover of both bird and plant species through evolutionary
time, it is unlikely that particular plant species have evolved
adaptations to browsing by particular birds, although evolutionary
responses to bird browsing in general are possible.

With the extinction of moas and the recent decline of other birds
such as kokako and kakapo, browsing by birds no longer has a
great impact on forest plants (Clouth and Hay 1989). The habitat
heterogeneity hypothesis is one of the cornerstones of ecology. It
assumes that structurally complex habitats may provide more
niches and diverse ways of exploiting the environmental
resources and thus increase species diversity (Bazzaz 1975)

Mutualism
Native birds interacting with the flora in our ecosystems
have a mutualistic relationship – that is, they both benefit
from the relationship. While the bird receives nectar or fruit
(in the form of berries) from the tree it visits, the tree
benefits by having another organism carry out the process
of pollination or seed dispersal. Many native trees cannot
perform these processes without the intervention of birds.

Birds are the primary pollinators and seed dispersers in

sowlur which is situated in dharmapuri native bush.

Bird biodiversity in Tamil Nadu is under threat and 18 out

of 39 Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs) are
unprotected, according to the latest report prepared by
Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).Though the State
has improved its tally of bird areas from 34 to 39, habitat
destruction, agriculture intensification, industrialisation and
urbanisation are eating into IBAs endangering at least 40
bird species

As per the report titled “Important Bird and Biodiversity

Areas in India: Priority Sites for Conservation”, an updated
edition released after 14 years of work, four bird species
have been categorised as critically endangered, of which
three belong to Vulture family.

White-rumped Vulture, Long-billed Vulture, Red-headed

Vulture and Spoon-billed Sandpiper have been reported to
be critically endangered. There have been no confirmed
sightings of Spoon-billed Sandpiper in Tamil Nadu for 20
years. This apart, six species are endangered, eight
vulnerable and 22 nearly threatened.

In 2014, BirdLife International had listed 18 endangered

species in India, of which, the Black-chinned
Laughingthrush and the Spotted Greenshank have been
recorded in one IBA in the State. Fifteen out of 54
vulnerable species are found in Tamil Nadu. Out of 81
Near Threatened bird species, 15 are in Tamil Nadu. For
13 such species, IBAs and protected areas of Tamil Nadu
are important for survival. The wetlands of Tamil Nadu are
also major strongholds of the Spot-billed Pelican. It is
found in 16 of the 39 IBATamil Nadu.
Lead author Asad Rahmani, former director of BNHS and
member of Governing Body of Wetlands International
South Asia, told Express that IBA recognition doesn’t
come easy. “In India, we have 554 bird areas and Tamil
Nadu is among top five States in terms of bird biodiversity,
but has large unprotected area.”

Rahmani said a proposal has been submitted to the Union

Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change
(MoEF&CC) to bring in some kind of legislation to protect
these bird areas. “We are not demanding a complete ban
on development activities in IBAs, but some regulations
can be brought in. Many bird areas are protected under
Wildlife Act, but the ones in unprotected spaces are
suffering. Sometimes, a small area is used by migratory
birds as stop over spot.”
He said Tamil Nadu would be having more bird areas.
“Actually, many more sites were suggested by
ornithologists of the State, but due to lack of good
information, only five were finally added. An aim of our
book is to encourage people to conduct more extensive
and better surveys, and to document their information in
the form of research papers and reports. Perhaps in a few
years time, more sites will be identified that adhere to the
IBA criteriaofBirdLife International.”
KV Sudhakar, president, Madras Naturalists Society, told
Express that recommendations were sent to identify
Pallikaranai Marsh as IBA, but it didn’t meet one criterion.
“It is protected by forest department, but didn’t attract
20,000 birds as need for it to be identified as an IBA.”

New IBAs in trouble

The new bird areas that were added are Odiyur Lagoon or
Cheyyur lagoon, which is about 1,000 hectares in
Kancheepuram. The wetland is known to support around
77 bird species. These include resident and seasonal
migrants and winter migrants. Well known for its Greater
Flamingo congregation, this site also hosts Lesser
Flamingo during the winter. At least eight species recorded
here are in the Threatened and Near Threatened list of
IUCN and Birdlife International.

However, the wetland is in danger due to the Cheyyur

Thermal Power Plant, a coal-fired Ultra Mega Power
Project that will be set up near it, said Nityanand
Jayaraman, an environmentalist.Other new bird areas like
Megamalai Mountains in Western Ghats of Theni district,
are only partly protected. Melagiris IBA in Krishnagiri and
Dharmapuri are completely not protected.

Criteria for an iba

BirdLife International has set four criteria for awarding IBA
recognition: the area should have globally endangered
species, home for endemic species, biomes and should
see a population of 20,000 waterbirds.
Not just birds
Out of about 35,000 species of flowering plants in the
whole of India, about 3,000 species are found in Tamil
Nadu. A total of 14 new species of dancing frogs from
Western Ghats were discovered. A new species of
caddisfly, found in Alagar Hills. This new species was
named after the stream, An endemic plant, Caralluma
diffusa, was rediscovered after 160 years from
Coimbatore.

Seed dispersal
Birds are important in the life cycle of many plants,
because they aid in seed dispersal in a number of
ways. Seeds need to move away from their parent
plants – a process called seed dispersal – in order to have
enough water, sun and space to germinate and grow.

Plants advertise their seeds to birds by providing

colorful, energy-filled fruits or large nuts as a food
source. Plants such as the bird cherry have evolved
along with birds, reaching a point where their seeds
require a pass through a bird’s digestive system to
help them prepare for germination. A relationship like
this, where both organisms benefit, is called
mutualism.

On Their Bodies
Seeds may attach to the feathers of birds or the fur of
animals through structures present on the seed, such
as small hooks or barbs. Birds may disperse seeds,
such as those of mistletoe, by carrying them on their
beaks after feeding. Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that
attaches itself to other plants; it's not rooted in soil.
According to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the
seeds of the mistletoe plant are covered in a sticky
substance - birds wipe their beaks on a branch to rid
themselves of the seeds, allowing mistletoe to reach
the environment it prefers.

In Beaks or Claws
Birds may carry seeds to a new location in their beaks
or claws. A bird may be planning a meal or building a
nest, and fly off with a seed or fruit to a safe area.
Along the way, the bird may be dropping seeds or
whole fruits, allowing them to reach new spots, far
from the parent plants where there are sufficient
resources to thrive.

Birds may also drop seeds in or near water, helping

them to travel further or reach a moist location. One
large seed that travels by water is the coconut.
Because birds can fly around barriers and slip into
small spaces, they may carry seed to places where
larger animals, the action of the wind or water may
not.

Dispersal During Feeding

The seeds of some plants, including the nuts of some
large trees, serve as a food source for birds. Feeding
birds may knock seeds from stems, cones and flower
heads as they eat. While this may not spread the
seeds far from the parent plants, it can cause the
seeds to fall to the ground and bring the seeds into
contact with the soil, where they can overwinter and
germinate into a new generation of plants.
Birds may also partially crack or nick the seed coat
trying to open a seed, allowing it to more easily
germinate. According to The Seed Site, other plants
depend on birds and other animals to forget where
they have hidden or buried seeds, effectively
distributing the seeds and allowing them to colonize
a new area. The acorns of oak trees are often
dispersed in this way.

Dispersal Through Droppings

In some cases, birds do not digest and receive energy
from the seeds they consume. Instead, they seek the
nutritious fruits and berries surrounding the seeds,
and the seeds come along with the bargain, notes
Cornell University's Naturalist Outreach. Examples of
plants that use this seed dispersal method include
raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.

Birds ingest the flavorful pulp; the seeds inside the

pulp then move through the birds’ digestive systems
and are passed out along with their droppings. The
fecal material gives seeds a small dose of fertilizer as
they germinate and begin to grow. High in nitrogen,
the excrement can help fuel the development of
foliage in the young plants growing in new places.

Location
My exact location:

Birds at my location:
 Importance of seed size

We selected two behavioural traits (foraging visitation frequency and

frequency of post-foraging habitat use) and six morphological traits (bill
length, body length, body weight, wing length, tail length, and tarsus
length) to investigate the effect of bird traits on seed dispersal [27]. To
obtain the morphological traits of the local bird species, we measured
five males and five females of each bird species using the specimens
preserved in the Museum of Nanjing Forestry University [28]. We used
the mean value of each trait for analyses. Furthermore, we compared
six morphological traits of frugivorous bird species by ANOVA test after
the data log-transformed to approximate normality; size effects were
removed in all cases by using residuals from the regressions on body
length (snout–vent length, SVL).

To test the role of bird traits in seed removal, we used the Random
Forest (RF) algorithm to plot the partial effects of bird visitation
frequency, three morphological traits (bill length, body weight, and
body length), study sites, and study years on the number of seeds
removed (R package Random Forest). For seed deposition and seedling
recruitment, the RF algorithm was used to plot the partial effects of
frequency of post-foraging habitat use, five morphological traits (body
weight, body length, wing length, tail length, and tarsus length), study
sites, and study years on the number of deposited seeds and newly
emerged 1 year old seedlings, respectively. Moreover, the number of
deposited seeds and seedlings in the habitats were also explained by
the generalized liner mixed model (GLMM), where bird traits, species,
and post-foraging habitat use were the covariates and the study years,
and their interaction term was treated as the random effects. We used
the glummer function in the R Ver. 3.1.2 package ’lme4’ for the analysis.
As the number of seeds and seedlings are count data, the models were
fitted with a Poisson distribution.