Rare birds in Western Ghats are more threatened than we thought: Experts

At least 10 birds endemic to the Western Ghats – a biodiversity hotspot – are more under threat than was previously thought, an international study has found.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) draws up a Red List that assigns a threat status to various species according to which countries try to conserve these species. In the study, the categories in order of their seriousness are — least concern, vulnerable, near threatened and endangered.

Now, however, a new study has said that IUCN “greatly underestimates threat levels of endemic birds in the Western Ghats”. The organisation releases its Red List after analysing range maps [the geographic not travel] prepared by Birdlife International (BLI).

In the study, researchers assessed 18 endemic bird species of Western Ghats and found that at least 10 birds face more threat than what IUCN claimed. Conducted on the presence of birds over a given area and not their population, it found that more than half of the species were not found in over 60% of the areas mapped by BLI.

For instance, the Nilgiri pipit should be classified as ‘endan ‘vulnerable’, claimed the study. Even its geographical range has been over estimated. The researchers stated that the bird does not go beyond 1,392sq km of its habitat but the BLI maps claimed that it travels up to 11,000sq km.

Similarly, the Wynaad laughingthrush should be put in ‘near threatened’ from its current ‘least concern’ category. According to the study, the BLI over estimated its geographical range by 85%.

“There are many areas such as townships and developmental projects where birds are not found nowadays but they have been considered as a part of the BLI range,” Vijay Ramesh, lead author and ecologist at Us-based Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. Columbia University, Cornell University, and Duke University were also a part of the

Researchers said that unlike BLI, they considered environmental factors such as temperature, rainfall, elevation and land cover that is essential for these birds’ existence.

“When we compared IUCN’S reports to ours, we realised that most of their geographical ranges are inaccurate. Our research showed that the birds’ ranges are much smaller than what IUCN reported,” said Ramesh.

“The study is important because we need to know where these birds are found today so that we can conserve their natural habitat. Western Ghats is a rich in biodiversity so it is crucial to conserve it,” he added.

Co-author Trisha Gopalakrishna from Duke University said, “With accurate ranges, scientists will be able to study the effects of human disturbance and climate change on bird habi

Around 30 colleges affiliated to the University of Mumbai (MU) offered their computer laboratories for the university’s on-screen answer paper assessment project.

These colleges — known as the ‘micro-central Assessment Programme (CAP) centres’ — will share the work with 142 CAP centres.

To cut reduce the chances of cheating while assessing answer sheets, MU had decided to digitise the entire process. During the ‘on-screen assessment’, teachers will have to scan the answer booklets and their assessment on computers, thus completely doing away with the pen-and-paper format of checking answer sheets.

Currently, this method is used only for the engineering section.

But with limited number of computer terminals available, the varsity had invited the affiliated colleges that have at least 50 computers and fast internet connection to enrol themselves as micro-cap centres. This is likely to cut down the time taken to assess the answer sheets and avoid a possible delay.

“We will be able to check answer sheets faster if we have more centres. Besides, it will be more convenient for teachers to assess the papers online instead of visiting CAP centres,” said Anil Patil, director of academic programmes at MU.

The university recently appointed a Bengaluru-based firm to scan and upload around 22 lakh answer booklets from the ongoing semester examination. The firm plans to deploy 50 scanners and image enhancers in MU’S Kalina campus and intends to scan 1.5 lakh answer booklets every day. Scanned copies of the booklets will be stored on remote server and from where the examiners can

The study is important because we need to know where these birds are found so that we can conserve their habitat.