Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 June 2023 | 15(6): 23297–23306

 

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6612.15.6.23297-23306

#6612 | Received 24 August 2020 | Final received 05 May 2023 | Finally accepted 01 June 2023

 

 

Diversity and abundance of aquatic birds in Koonthankulam village pond, Tamil Nadu, India

 

Selvam Muralikrishnan 1, Esakkimuthu Shanmugam 2, Natarajan Arun Nagendran 3 & Duraisamy Pandiaraja 4

 

1 National Centre of Excellence (MHRD), Thiagarajar College, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu 625009, India.

2 Basic Engineering, Tamilnadu Government Polytechnic College, Madurai, Tamil Nadu 625011, India.

3 Department of Zoology, Thiagarajar College, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu 625009, India.

4 Department of Mathematics, Thiagarajar College, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, Tamil Nadu 625009, India.

1 nilaasmurali@gmail.com (corresponding author), 2 shamphdmat@gmail.com, 3 narunnagendran@gmail.com,

4 pandiaraja.d@gmail.com

 

 

 

Editor: P.A. Azeez, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.      Date of publication: 26 June 2023 (online & print)

 

Citation: Muralikrishnan, S., E. Shanmugam, N.A. Nagendran & D. Pandiaraja (2023). Diversity and abundance of aquatic birds in Koonthankulam village pond, Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 15(6): 23297–23306. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6612.15.6.23297-23306

 

Copyright: © Muralikrishnan et al. 2023. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.  JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.

 

Funding: This work was supported by the National Centre of Excellence (Ministry of Human Resource Development, New Delhi, India) [grant numbers F. No. 5-6/2013 -TS-VII dt. 28.09.2015].

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Author details: S. Muralikrishnan is a research scholar in the National Centre of Excellence (MHRD), Thiagarajar College, Madurai. His research field is ecology with special reference to birds. He documents wetland birds of Tirunelveli, Madurai, Virudhunagar, Sivagangai and Ramanathapuram. E. Shanmugam is currently working as lecturer in Mathematics in Tamilnadu Government Polytechnic College, Madurai. He is pursuing his Doctoral Programme in the National Centre of Excellence (MHRD), Thiagarajar College, Madurai as Part time research scholar. His field of research is graph theoretical modelling. N. Arun Nagendran is serving as associate professor of Zoology, and Joint Director of National Centre of Excellence, Thiagarajar College, Madurai funded by MHRD, Government of India. He is interested in ecology and conservation. D. Pandiaraja is associate professor of Mathematics and serving as Principal, Thiagarajar College, Madurai. He is also the Director of National Centre of Excellence, Thiagarajar College, Madurai funded by MHRD, Government of India. He is specialized in Mathematical modelling and presently provides modelling for biological problems.

 

Author contributions: SM implemented the field surveys and collected the data; wrote the first draft. DP designed data analysis and done by ES. NAN supervised the research and provided multiple revisions in the early stages of writing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

 

Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the National Centre of Excellence (Ministry of Human Resource Development, New Delhi, India) [grant numbers F. No. 5-6/2013 -TS-VII dt. 28.09.2015].

 

 

Abstract: The diversity of birds in Koonthankulam pond, located in Koonthankulam village (8.495N, 77.755E), Tirunelveli district, southern Tamil Nadu, was studied. A total of 90 species belonging to 21 orders, 42 families, and 73 genera were recorded. The study recorded seasonal migrants such as Black Ibis, Oriental White Ibis, Bar-headed Goose & Spoonbill and indigenous species including the Pond Heron, Cattle Egret, White-breasted Kingfisher, Red-wattled Lapwing, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Purple-rumped Sunbird, Hoopoe, and Indian Robin. The primary data were analyzed by principal component analysis, cluster, and analysis of variance. Analysis of variance showed that the Menhinick index is statistically significant P <0.05.  A structural equation model was applied to analyze the physico-chemical parameters of water samples collected from the sampling site. Analysis of experimental data through the structural equation model indicates temperature and dissolved oxygen may indirectly affect bird diversity.

 

Keywords: Avian fauna, migrants, principal compound analysis, structural equation modeling.

 

Abbreviations: PCA—Principal compound analysis | ANOVA—Analysis of variance | SEM—Structural equation model | TDS—Total dissolved solids | DO—dissolved oxygen | CFI—Comparative Fit Index | TLI—Tucker-Lewis Index | RMSEA—Root Mean Square Error of Approximation | IUCN—International Union for Conservation of Nature | GFI—Goodness of Fit.

 

 

Introduction

 

The process of urbanization has fragmented and degraded different types of habitats. One such habitat is ponds of varied sizes, especially in urban and semi-urban areas. Under such conditions, the existing ponds provide little hope for life and support for the survival of organisms. Wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems in the world and play vital roles in flood control, aquifer recharge, nutrient absorption, and erosion control. In addition, wetlands provide home for a huge diversity of wildlife such as birds, mammals, fish, frogs, insects, and plants (Buckton 2007). Among several organisms surviving in and around water bodies, birds occupy a significant position, as they are one of the critical ecosystem functionaries. 

Birds play prominent roles in ecosystems, serving as pollinators (Stiles 1978), predators (Rudebeck 1950), scavengers (Roen 2005), prey (Rudebeck 1950), and regulators of pest populations (Peterson 1980). Their interactions are wide and varied with abiotic and biotic components of different ecosystems, i.e., they are not restricted to one particular system but also to adjacent systems as they enjoy the power of flight. India hosts around 1,353 species of birds (Praveen & Jaypal 2023). Analysis of avian diversity portrays the status of their aquatic habitats and neighboring ecosystems. As there is no detailed report on the diversity of Koonthankulam village pond, the present study was carried out to analyze seasonal variation in bird diversity and their relationship with water quality parameters.

 

 

Materials and Methods

 

The study was carried out in Koonthankulam village pond (8.495N, 77.755E), Tirunelveli, southern Tamil Nadu, from January 2017 to November 2018. This pond is surrounded by agricultural fields, where different crops are grown throughout the year. Macro-invertebrates of the agricultural fields and grains scattered around after harvesting along with the pond allure avifauna to this region. Bird watching and recording have been carried out for six seasons (namely, spring, summer, early monsoon, late monsoon, early winter, and late winter) by point count protocol as per Newson et al. (2009). Observations were made using a binocular (Nikon 16x50 AculonA211), and photography was done with Canon 6D Mark II with zoom lenses. The birds recorded were identified by referring to Ali & Ripley (1981).

Physical and chemical parameters such as temperature, pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), conductivity, salinity, and dissolved oxygen (DO), were measured on the spot using a water analyzer (Systronic make 371). Other parameters (Hardness, magnesium, calcium, chloride, alkalinity, and acidity) were determined following the standard procedure from American Public Health Association (APHA) and Trivedy & Goel (1984). The map has been generated using the software QGIS 3.6.

Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a multivariate statistical tool that can be used to describe linear relationships among variables (McCune & Grace 2002; Grace 2006). SEM provides explicit regression estimations for all parameters (Byrne 2001). Structural equation modeling of groundwater physicochemical parameters data was used to characterize the groundwater quality and to identify the controlling factors on bird diversity. IBM SPSS AMOS 22.0 was used to analyze the structured model’s fit and estimate the parameters of both observed and latent variables. Chi-square test, the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), and the goodness fit index are used as measures of model fit. A measure of minimum sample discrepancy is indicated by the value chi-square divided by the degrees of freedom (CMIN/df) (Belkhiri & Narany 2015). This measure was used to analyze the fit of the model. A value of less than 5 indicates the model’s fit is adequate (Arbuckle 2012), less than 3 reflects that the model is acceptable (Kline 1998), whereas a value of 2 or less represents the model was fit as a good model. Goodness-of-Fit statistics (GFI) was calculated as the variance proportion accounted for by the estimated covariance (Tabachnick & Fidell 2007). The RMSEA provides a way to understand optimally chosen parameter estimates that would fit the covariance matrix (Byrne 1998). When the proposed structural model has a (comparative fit index) CFI>0.95 and an RMSEA <0.05, then the structural model is to be considered a good model (Byrne 2010). The diversity indices were calculated using PAST 3.14 software.

 

 

Result and Discussion

 

A total of 90 species of birds belonging to 21 orders and 42 families were recorded. Of this, 87 species of birds are of ‘Least Concern’, and three species are ‘Near Threatened’ (Table 1). Of these, 41 were waterbirds, and 49 were terrestrial birds (Table 1). Waterbirds constitute 12 species of waterfowl (swimmers), 25 species of waders, and three species were divers. Out of 49 terrestrial birds, 35 species were passerine birds, five were birds of prey, six were upland ground birds, two were night birds, and two were tree-clinging birds. It is evident from the data that the order Passeriformes is represented by the most families (Sturnidae, Motacillidae, Corvidae, Dicruridae, Estrildidae, Muscicapidae, Alaudidae, Motacillidae, Nectariniidae, Passeridae, Pycnonotidae, Muscicapidae, Monarchidae, and Leiothrichidae). In contrast, the highest numbers of species recorded were from Ardeidae, Anatidae, Cuculidae, Columbidae, Rallidae, and Threskiornithidae. The highest abundance index (9.2) was seen for Anastomus oscitans. Bubo bubo and Pandion haliaetus had a low abundance index (0.02). Of the 90 species, 26 species have more than 1 abundance index.

The distribution of various species was analyzed using the principal component analysis (PCA) method (Dauda et al. 2017). The distribution of the occurrence of various species and their variance-covariance matrices were analyzed through scatter diagrams generated from PCA, and the results were further evaluated by 95% ellipses (Figure 1). The results revealed that the species clustering differs with seasons.  In spring, Threskiornis melanocephalus (THME), Psittacula krameri (PSKR), Passer domesticus (PADO), and Corves splendens (COSP) were found, while Ardeola grayii (ARGR), Turdoides striata (TUST), Acridotheres tristis (ACTR), E. garzetta (EGGA) and T. melanocephalus (THME) were recorded during summer. Similarly, A. tristis (ACTR), E. garzetta (EGGA), C. splendens (COSP), Bubulcus ibis (BUIB), and Pseudibis papillosa (PSPA) were recorded in early monsoon, while A. oscitans (ANOS), P. papillosa (PSPA), Himantopus himantopus (HIHI), A. tristis (ACTR), and C. splendens (COSP) were found during late monsoon. In early winter, A. oscitans (ANOS), Anser indicus (ANIN), Mycteria leucocephala (MYLE), and C. splendens (COSP) were recorded, which distinguish themselves from other species in abundance. More species were abundant in late winter than in other seasons. From the results, it could be seen that the pond has been dominated by C. splendens (COSP), E. garzetta (EGGA), A. tristis (ACTR), etc.            

The similarity in the species composition and abundance among the six seasons analyzed by Bray-Curtis coefficient (Cluster analysis) clustered the seasons into five, in the range of 55.25–100.00 (Figure 3). The five clusters show that each season has a different composition of the bird populations. The dendrogram showed that summer and early monsoon have a maximum similarity of 76.30. Two groups were identified among the six seasons. Early winter, late winter, and spring formed a group and early monsoon, late monsoon, and summer formed another group.

The number of individuals across seasons differed significantly (ANOVA, F5,12 = 6.673, P <0.05; Table 2). A higher number of individuals was present in late winter (3027.33 ± 498.27), whereas the lowest number was recorded in late monsoon (1315.00 ± 158.24). The second-highest population of birds appeared in spring (2980.33 ± 316.26). This implies that the number of birds from December─March was high. The maximum Taxa_S was found in late winter (85.00 ± 1.73), whereas the minimum was in late monsoon (80.66 ± 0.33), with the range of Taxa_S over all the seasons being 5. The results reveal minimum deviation in species composition with high variation in population. However, the highest Shannon_H diversity (3.70 ± 0.06) was in late monsoon and the lowest (3.36 ± 0.19) in spring, indicating a more diverse and even species distribution in late monsoon. The Shannon_H diversity of birds among various seasons was not significantly different (ANOVA, F5, 12 = 0.898, P >0.05).

The species evenness among the various seasons was measured by Buzas and Gibson’s index. Evenness was maximum in late monsoon (0.50 ± 0.03) and minimum in spring (0.35 ± 0.06). However, the Buzas and Gibson’s evenness indices across various seasons were not significantly different (ANOVA, F5, 12 = 1.24, P >0.05). The richness was measured by the Menhinick species richness index. The Menhinick richness index differed significantly among the seasons (ANOVA, F5, 12 = 7.811, P <0.05). Early (2.25 ± 0.12) and late monsoon (2.25 ± 0.13) have a high value of Menhinick richness index, and spring (1.56 ± 0.12) and late winter (1.57 ± 0.09) have a low value. The Chao-1 estimator was used to analyze singleton and doubleton species in the bird community. The maximum singleton and doubleton species occurred in summer (101.27 ± 9.26) and the minimum in late monsoon (90.89 ± 0.37). Among all the seasons, the Chao-1 estimator was not significantly different (ANOVA, F5,12 = 0.518, P >0.05).

A correlation analysis has been carried out for all physico-chemical parameters with swimmer, diver and wader species to understand the influence of the water-quality parameters on the bird population (Table 3). The following results were noticed in that analysis. The temperature was negatively correlated with swimmer and wader populations at p = 0.01, and DO was positively correlated with all the three water bird communities encountered in this study at p = 0.05. In addition to this, a SEM model was designed and analyzed to confirm that temperature and DO were the most important parameters that affect bird counts. Thus, a structural equation model has been framed with the following six parameters, temperature, DO, swimmer, diver, and wader abundances. Bird’s abundance has been studied with reference to the effect of temperature using structural equation modeling, as in Duclos et al. (2017). Patra et al. (2010) used stepwise multiple regression analysis to study the physico-chemical parameters affecting the avifaunal abundance; e1, e2, and e3 are added to the SEM to reduce the error value between the variables. Temperature, DO, and errors are exogenous variables, and swimmer, diver, and wader birds are endogenous variables.

Figure 3 expresses the conceptual framework for the model. The fitness of a SEM is important to understand the reliability of the results. The measure CMIN/df (0.518) <2, GFI (0.95) >0.90, and RMSEA (0.00) <0.05 revealed that the model represented a realistic fit of the data. The regression equations for the four endogenous variables with standardized coefficients are

Birds = (-.13) Diver + (.65) Swimmer + (.46) Wader + (1) e4

Diver = (.36) DO + (1) e2

Swimmer = (.52) DO + (-.25) Temp + (1) e1

Wader = (.59) DO + (1) e3 + (-.29) Temp

Five path coefficients were significant at 0.05 (Table 4). From the significance of these path coefficients, it is revealed that DO positively influences swimmer and wader counts, while temperature negatively influences wader counts. Duclos et al. (2017) reveal that temperature directly affects the abundance of birds. Waders have a negative direct effect from temperature. Dissolved oxygen positively influenced total avifaunal abundance (Patra et al. 2010). Both correlation analyses and SEM model confirmed that temperature and DO are the main parameters that affect bird count in this study area.

 

 

Table 1. Occurrence, IUCN Red List, and abundance index of avian communities in the Koonthankulam village pond, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India.

 

Scientific Name

Family

Order

IUCN Red List status

Abundance index

Behavior

category

1

Accipiter badius

Accipitridae

Accipitriformes

LC

0.15

Bird of prey

2

Acridotheres tristis

Sturnidae

 ‎Passeriformes

LC

5.33

Percher

3

Alcedo atthis

Alcedinidae

Coraciiformes

LC

0.24

Percher

4

Amaurornis phoenicurus

Rallidae

Gruiformes

LC

0.41

Swimmer

5

Anas acuta

Anatidae

Anseriformes

LC

0.31

Swimmer

6

Anas arcuata

Anatidae

Anseriformes

LC

0.51

Swimmer

7

Anas crecca

Anatidae

Anseriformes

LC

0.44

Swimmer

8

Anas poecilorhyncha

Anatidae

Anseriformes

LC

0.79

Swimmer

9

Anas querquedula

Anatidae

Anseriformes

LC

0.22

Swimmer

10

Anastomus oscitans

Ciconiidae

Ciconiiformes

LC

9.2

Wader

11

Anhinga melanogaster

Anhingidae

Suliformes

NT

0.46

Diver

12

Anser indicus

Anatidae

Anseriformes

LC

2.7

Swimmer

13

Anthus rufulus

Motacillidae

Passeriformes

LC

0.26

Percher

14

Ardea cinerea

Ardeidae

Pelecaniformes

LC

0.52

Wader

15

Ardea purpurea

Ardeidae

Pelecaniformes

LC

0.15

Wader

16

Ardeola grayii

Ardeidae

Pelecaniformes

LC

1.32

Wader

17

Artamus fuscus

Artamidae

Passeriformes

LC

2.7

Percher

18

Athene brama

Strigidae

Strigiformes

LC

0.25

Night bird

19

Bubo bubo

Strigidae

Strigiformes

LC

0.02

Night bird

20

Bubulcus ibis

Ardeidae

Pelecaniformes

LC

3.61

Wader

21

Butorides striatus

Ardeidae

Pelecaniformes

LC

0.53

Wader

22

Calidris alpina

Scolopacidae

Charadriiformes

LC

0.15

Wader

23

Casmerodius albus

Ardeidae

Pelecaniformes

LC

0.45

Wader

24

Centropes sinensis

Cuculidae

Cuculiformes

LC

0.29

Percher

25

Charadrius dubius

Charadriidae

Charadriiformes

LC

0.32

Wader

26

Clamator jacobinus

Cuculidae

Cuculiformes

LC

0.29

Percher

27

Columba livia

Columbidae

Columbiformes

LC

2.47

Upland ground

28

Coracias benghalensis

Coraciidae

Coraciiformes

LC

0.75

Percher

29

Corves macrorhynchos

Corvidae

Passeriformes

LC

1.28

Percher

30

Corves splendens

Corvidae

Passeriformes

LC

8.11

Percher

31

Cuculus poliocephalus

Cuculidae

Cuculiformes

LC

0.16

Percher

32

Dendrocitta vagabunda

Corvidae

Passeriformes

LC

0.39

Percher

33

Dicrurus leucophaeus

Dicruridae

Passeriformes

LC

0.44

Percher

34

Dicrurus macrocercus

Dicruridae

Passeriformes

LC

1.45

Percher

35

Dinopium benghalense

Picidae

Piciformes

LC

0.15

Tree clinging bird

36

Dupetor flavicollis

Ardeidae

Pelecaniformes

LC

0.06

Wader

37

Egretta garzetta

Ardeidae

Pelecaniformes

LC

4.22

Wader

38

Egretta intermedia

Ardeidae

Pelecaniformes

LC

1.59

Wader

39

Eudynamys scolopacea

Cuculidae

Cuculiformes

LC

0.34

Percher

40

Euodice malabarica

Estrildidae

Passeriformes

LC

1.85

Percher

41

Falco peregrinus

Falconidea

Falconiformes

LC

0.09

Bird of prey

42

Francolinus pondicerianus

Phasianidae

Galliformes

LC

0.57

Upland ground

43

Fulica atra

Rallidae

Gruiformes

LC

1.27

Swimmer

44

Gallinula chloropus

Rallidae

Gruiformes

LC

0.61

Swimmer

45

Halcyon smyrnensis

Alcedinidae

Coraciiformes

LC

0.57

Percher

46

Haliastur indus

Accipitridae

Accipitriformes

LC

0.4

Bird of prey

47

Himantopus himantopus

Recurvirostridae

Charadriiformes

LC

1.85

Wader

48

Hydrophasianus chirurgus

Jacanidea

Charadriiformes

LC

0.78

Wader

49

Lonchura punctulata

Estrildidae

Passeriformes

LC

0.16

Percher

50

Luscinia brunnea

Muscicapidae

Passeriformes

LC

0.15

Percher

51

Merops orientalis

Meropidae

Coraciiformes

LC

0.53

Percher

52

Merops philippinus

Meropidae

Coraciiformes

LC

0.74

Percher

53

Milvus migrans

Accipitridae

Accipitriformes

LC

0.13

Bird of prey

54

Mirafra cantillans

Alaudidae

Passeriformes

LC

0.55

Percher

55

Motacilla maderaspatensis

Motacillidae

Passeriformes

LC

1.07

Percher

56

Mycteria leucocephala

Ciconiidae

Ciconiiformes

NT

3.18

Wader

57

Nectarinia asiatica

Nectariniidae

Passeriformes

LC

0.74

Percher

58

Nectarinia zeylonica

Nectariniidae

Passeriformes

LC

0.44

Percher

59

Nycticorax nycticorax

Ardeidae

Pelecaniformes

LC

0.88

Wader

60

Oriolus oriolus

Oriolidae

Passeriformes

LC

0.27

Percher

61

Pandion haliaetus

Pandionidea

Accipitriformes

LC

0.02

Bird of prey

62

Passer domesticus

Passeridae

Passeriformes

LC

2.15

Percher

63

Pavo cristatus

Phasianidae

Galliformes

LC

1.45

Upland ground

64

Pelecanus onocrotalus

Pelecanidae

Pelecaniformes

LC

0.4

Swimmer

65

Pelecanus philippensis

Pelecanidae

Pelecaniformes

LC

1.28

Swimmer

66

Phaenicophaeus viridirostris

Cuculidae

Cuculiformes

LC

0.28

Percher

67

Phalacrocorax carbo

Phalacrocoracidae

Phalacrocoracidae

LC

0.13

Diver

68

Phalacrocorax niger

Phalacrocoracidae

Phalacrocoracidae

LC

1.87

Diver

69

Platalea leucorodia

Threskiornithidae

Pelecaniformes

LC

0.75

Wader

70

Plegadis falcinellus

Threskiornithidae

Pelecaniformes

LC

0.81

Wader

71

Porphyrio porphyrio

Rallidae

Gruiformes

LC

0.52

Swimmer

72

Pseudibis papillosa

Threskiornithidae

Pelecaniformes

LC

1.88

Wader

73

Psittacula krameri

Psittacidae

Psittaciformes

LC

3.32

Percher

74

Pteroclesnamaqua

Pteroclidea

Pterocliformes

LC

0.09

Percher

75

Pycnonotuscafer

Pycnonotidae

Passeriformes

LC

0.16

Percher

76

Sarkidiornis sylvicola

Anatidae

Anseriformes

LC

0.87

Swimmer

77

Saxicoloides fulicata

Muscicapidae

Passeriformes

LC

0.34

Percher

78

Stactolaema olivacea

Lybiidae

Piciformes

LC

0.42

Tree clinging bird

79

Streptopelia chinensis

Columbidae

Columbiformes

LC

0.18

Upland ground

80

Streptopelia decaocto

Columbidae

Columbiformes

LC

0.3

Upland ground

81

Streptopelia senegalensis

Columbidae

Columbiformes

LC

0.19

Upland ground

82

Tachybaptus ruficollis

Podicipedidae

Podicipediformes

LC

0.72

Swimmer

83

Tachymarptis melba

Apodidae

Apodiformes

LC

2.5

Percher

84

Terpsiphone paradise

Monarchidae

Passeriformes

LC

0.19

Percher

85

Threskiornis melanocephalus

Threskiornithidae

Pelecaniformes

NT

6.21

Wader

86

Tringa nebularia

Scolopacidae

Charadriiformes

LC

0.36

Wader

87

Turdoides striata

Leiothrichidae

Passeriformes

LC

1.33

Percher

88

Upupa epops

Upupidae

Bucerotiformes

LC

0.32

Percher

89

Vanellus indicus

Charadriidae

Charadriiformes

LC

0.57

Wader

90

Vanellus malabaricus

Charadriidae

Charadriiformes

LC

0.48

Wader

 

 

Table 2 Avifaunal diversity in different seasons of the Koonthankulam. *significant (P <0.05).

Biodiversity indices

Spring

Summer

Early monsoon

Late Monsoon

Early winter

Late winter

Sum of squares

F value

Feb–Mar

Apr–May

Jun–Jul

Aug–Sep

Oct–Nov

Dec–Jan

Taxa_S

84.33 ± 3.18

82.00 ± 1.53

83.33 ± 2.40

80.66 ± 0.33

 84.00 ± 2.08

85.00 ± 1.73

39.111

0.61

Individuals

2980.33 ± 316.26

1902.66 ± 266.89

1408.33 ± 215.13

1315.00 ± 158.24

1741.66 ± 168.94

3027.33 ± 498.27

8665477.111

6.673*

Shannon_H

3.36 ± 0.19

3.53 ± 0.09

3.64 ± 0.09

3.70 ± 0.06

3.61 ± 0.11

3.55 ± 0.17

0.214

0.898

Buzas & Gibson's

0.35 ± 0.06

0.42 ± 0.03

0.46 ± 0.03

0.50 ± 0.03

0.45 ± 0.04

0.42 ± 0.06

0.038

1.24

Menhinick

1.56 ± 0.12

1.91 ± 0.11

2.25 ± 0.12

2.25 ± 0.13

2.03 ± 0.08

1.57 ± 0.09

1.435

7.811*

Chao-1

94.77 ± 3.09

101.27 ± 9.26

94.48 ± 5.46

90.89 ± 0.37

93.73 ± 1.51

93.57 ± 3.34

179.678

0.518

 

 

Table 3. Correlation of physico-chemical parameters, swimmer, diver, and wader.   *significant at the level of 0.05 |  **significant at the level of 0.01

 

Swimmer

Diver

Wader

Tempera-ture

 (˚C)

pH

DO
(ppm)

TDS (ppm)

Salinity (ppt)

Conductivity (uS)

Acidity

(mg/l)

Alkalinity (mg/l)

Free Co2 (mg/l)

Chloride (mg/l)

Calcium (mg/l)

Total hardness (mg/l )

Magnesium (mg/l)

Nitrogen (mg/l)

Swimmer

1.000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diver

0.553*

1.000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wader

0.874**

0.721**

1.000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Temperature (˚C)

-0.659**

-0.454

-0.692*

1.000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

pH

-0.168

-0.081

-0.014

0.463

1.000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DO (ppm)

0.583*

0.585*

0.682*

-0.352

0.226

1.000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TDS (ppm)

0.160

-0.127

0.088

-0.398

0.066

0.227

1.000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salinity (ppt)

-0.083

-0.225

-0.197

-0.028

0.313

-0.044

0.730**

1.000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conductivity(uS)

0.050

-0.012

0.008

-0.281

0.178

0.210

0.934**

0.861**

1.000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Acidity(mg/l)

-0.259

-0.241

-0.341

0.248

0.670*

0.052

-0.349

0.067

-0.223

1.000

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alkalinity (mg/l)

-0.110

-0.263

-0.165

0.344

0.662*

-0.019

0.055

0.344

0.105

0.647*

1.000

 

 

 

 

 

 

Free Co2 (mg/l)

-0.361

-0.098

-0.460

0.347

0.508

-0.177

-0.471

0.068

-0.246

0.819**

0.461

1.000

 

 

 

 

 

Chloride (mg/l)

0.212

-0.360

-0.025

0.298

0.329

-0.124

-0.147

0.089

-0.238

0.488

0.593*

0.410

1.000

 

 

 

 

Calcium (mg/l)

-0.110

-0.417

-0.319

-0.402

-0.535

-0.405

0.376

0.316

0.320

-0.405

-0.537

-0.309

-0.160

1.000

 

 

 

Total hardness (mg/l )

0.038

-0.432

-0.297

0.033

-0.085

-0.283

0.541

0.726**

0.529

-0.030

0.327

0.041

0.457

0.421

1.000

 

 

Magnesium (mg/l)

0.033

-0.369

-0.209

0.016

-0.069

-0.201

0.519

0.679*

0.512

-0.151

0.316

-0.022

0.405

0.300

0.934**

1.000

 

Nitrogen (mg/l)

-0.204

-0.067

-0.061

0.501

0.505

0.135

-0.337

-0.172

-0.337

0.620*

0.647*

0.386

0.414

-.603*

-0.239

-0.228

1.000

 

 

Table 4. Regression weights between parameters of the SEM.

 

 

 

Unstandardized

Estimate

Standardized

Estimate

S.E.

C.R.

P

Swimmer

<---

Temp

-12.284

-0.253

10.072

-1.220

0.223

Swimmer

<---

DO

61.548

0.516

28.169

2.185

0.029

Diver

<---

DO

17.555

0.363

13.003

1.350

0.177

Wader

<---

DO

243.994

0.586

90.907

2.684

0.007

Wader

<---

Temp

-49.556

-0.292

21.093

-2.349

0.019

Birds

<---

Swimmer

3.645

0.650

0.625

5.828

0.000

Birds

<---

Wader

0.739

0.460

0.244

3.024

0.002

Birds

<---

Diver

-1.779

-0.129

1.436

-1.239

0.215

 

 

For image & figures - - click here for full PDF

 

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