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Koshi Tappu Wetlands: Nepal’s Ramsar Site.

Authors:
Jay P. Sah at Florida International University
Jay P. Sah
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Sah1997_KoshiTap
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All content in this area was uploaded by Jay P. Sah on Jun 16, 2015
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... There is a growing concern about the accumulation of green house gas in the earth's atmosphere as witnessed in recent years, which is significantly raising the global temperature. Nepal's contribution to the global annual GHG emission i The temperature in Nepal has been increasing at the rate of 0.06°C per year over the last 25 years 6,7 . ...
... It was established in 1976 and designated as a Ramsar site in December 1987 sub-tropical. The soils in the reserve are sandy, loamy sand, sandy loam, loam and sandy clay loam 6 . The aquatic habitats occupies 12.9% and terrestrial habitats occupies 87.1% of total available habitat of the reserve 9,10 . ...
... It beds, and freshwater Sapta Koshi River, and ranges m. It was established in 1976 and Ramsar site in December 1987 6,8 Due to the change in river course most of KTWR habitats have been observed to be replaced by new ones. Untimely, unscientific and haphazard use of grassland by local people has resulted in resources degradation and depletion. ...
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... The KTWR was established in 1976 to preserve the last Nepalese population of wild water buffalo and act as a sanctuary for migratory birds (Heinen & Paudel, 2015). The KTWR lies on the floodplains of the Saptakoshi River in the South-East Terai region of Nepal (Sah, 1997). The wildlife reserve has a subtropical climate and has four climatic seasons, including spring (March-May), summer (June-August), autumn (September-November), and winter (December-February). ...
... Vetivera sp., Phragmites sp., Saccharum sp., etc.) and beaches, with forests of Bombax sp., Dalbergia sp. and Acacia sp. elsewhere (Sah, 1997). The KTWR has been designated as a Ramsar site. ...
Impact of invasive alien plants on the resident floral diversity in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 2024
Invasive alien plant species (IAPS) pose a serious threat to overall plant biodiversity across the globe. Nepal's national parks and protected areas are not devoid of the impact of IAPS. Unfortunately, there is a substantial gap in knowledge regarding the extent and impact of invasion in protected areas of Nepal. This study assessed the impact of invasive alien plant species on the resident plant species of the Koshi Tapu wildlife reserve. After a preliminary field observation, we selected five major IAPS in the area, Mesosphaerum suaveolens, Chromolaena odorata, Ipomoea carnea, Lantana camara, and Mikania micrantha for this study. Ten pairs of adjacent plots sized 4 m × 4 m were surveyed for each invasive species, comprising diverse vegetation types. Each pair consisted of one “invaded plot” where the invasive species was dominant with cover greater than 50%, and another “uninvaded plot” laid out in an adjacent area with similar site conditions but without the invasive species. We calculated the Sørensen Index of Similarity for each paired plot. Wilcoxon rank‐sum test was employed to compare ecological parameters between invaded and uninvaded plots for various plant species. Similarly, the difference in impact between each of the five invasive species was assessed using the Kruskal–Wallis test. Species richness varied significantly between invaded and uninvaded plots for C. odorata and I. carnea. The most significant impact on species composition of invaded communities (39.6%) was observed for C. odorata. The cover of the other dominant species varied significantly between invaded and uninvaded plots for all five species studied. The Kruskal–Wallis test showed no significant difference in the impact caused by the five studied invasive species on Species richness, Shannon–Wiener diversity index, species evenness, and height of dominant species. However, a significant difference was observed between the impacts of five studied invasive species and the cover of other dominant species. The crown cover of dominant species decreased much more in the invaded plots of L. camara and M. micrantha than in other species. Specialized management efforts are required to control highly invasive species, such as C. odorata and I. carnea, alongside proactive measures to prevent further spread in ecologically sensitive areas.
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... Studies relating to aquatic and wetland flora have been carried out by previous researchers in various parts of Nepal (Sah, 1997;Bhandari, 1998;Burlakoti & Karmacharya, 2004;Kunwar & Devkota, 2012;Bhusal & Devkota, 2020;Pokhrel et al., 2021). Several scattered reports are available on the lowland lakes of Nepal; however seasonal diversity of aquatic macrophytes are comparatively less studied in Ghodaghodi lake, which is one of the most concerned wetlands. ...
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... Our work found that the largest area of the reserve were occupied by grassland (55.44%) followed by Sisso-khair forest (23.92%), mixed riverine forest (17.40%) and shrub land (3.27%). With the concern of vegetation type in the previous study, (Sah 1997) found 2.9% of mixed riverine forest in his study in KTWR. The total area of mixed riverine forest was found increased from 2.9% to 17.40% in 2021 from the current study. ...
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... In the eastern buffer zone, seepage of water from the Koshi river has created a biodiversity rich swampy area which is lately being converted into series of private fishponds (Mishra et al., 2020). The wetlands of the reserve have also been regarded as an important area that provides a range of goods and services (Sah, 1997). The residents of the reserve have been dependent on natural resources of the reserve for decades; the fishery of the area is known to support the livelihoods of many households of the buffer zone (Chaudhary et al., 2016) (see Figure 1). ...
Status, distribution and habitat use by Mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris) in and around Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal
Article
Full-text available
  • Aug 2022
Mugger crocodile is found in various locations of Nepal, ranging from Eastern to Western lowlands, and is also a resident crocodilian of the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR). Fewer studies have been carried out on the status and distribution of this crocodilian with limited information on its habitat characteristics. This study sets forth to highlight the population status, distribution and habitat use by mugger crocodile in and around KTWR. Detailed surveys were conducted in the rivers, natural and private ponds of the KTWR in December 2020. Every 500 m along the survey transects, habitat characteristics were recorded in each habitat station as part of the habitat survey. The dependent variables were presence or absence of mugger crocodile in each habitat station. Meanwhile, the independent variables included habitat predictors such as; water depth, slope, elevation, distance to roads, distance to settlements, bank substrate, and human disturbance. Generalized Linear Model under binary logistic regression was employed to test variables associated with presence and absence of muggers for statistical significance. The population survey of the muggers was assessed by day counts either using dugout canoe or walking along transects. During the research period, 35 individuals of muggers were recorded. The probability of mugger sighting augmented with increased slope and depth. 34 muggers (97.14 %) were basking, while 1 (2.85%) were seen swimming out of the total muggers detected. In private and public ponds, 22 muggers were sighted, while 13 were sighted in the main Koshi river, its branches, and the Moriya river. Sixteen muggers (45.71 %) were sighted within the reserve, while the remaining 19 muggers (54.28 %) were sighted in the buffer-zone areas. The probability of mugger sighting varied considerably with regard to slope and water depth among the seven habitat predictors examined. In lieu of prevailing fishing pressure in the river systems of the KTWR and easy availability of prey species for muggers in private fishponds; the muggers are likely use private fishponds more frequently. In order to subdue the muggers inside the KTWR, the reserve authority has a vital role for proper habitat management decisions and regulation of fishing activities.
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Key water use sectors in the Koshi River basin
Chapter
Full-text available
  • Apr 2022
The Koshi River is one of the major tributaries of the Ganges. Its basin drains the sparsely-populated Tibetan Plateau and the high mountains in northeastern Nepal. The river then flows through the mid-hills and the Terai plains into the Indo-Gangetic Plain in northern Bihar, India, where it meets the Ganges River. The basin’s diverse topography has created unique habitats for the varied flora and fauna found in it. Over 35 million people living in the basin are dependent on its water resources for their livelihoods. The basin receives nearly 80% of its water during the summer monsoon; managing access to water throughout the year is a major challenge. Managing water availability and meeting demand in the upstream and downstream parts of the basin pose different sets of challenges. In the mid-hills, the drying of springs has increased the burden women face fetching water for drinking and other uses. At the watershed and basin scales, sustainable infrastructure development for water management, including the building of hydropower plants, require coordination between different sectors and authorities. Managing land and water resources in the context of climate change is all the more challenging as water availability is altered and the incidence of extreme events (hazards) increases, with varied implications for different water-dependent sectors.The need for transboundary collaboration in the basin is exemplified by the impacts of water-related disasters and the need for better water resource management. Potentially dangerous glacial lakes upstream in China can have harmful impacts in downstream Nepal. Landslides and erosion in upstream Nepal can change a river’s morphology and ultimately exacerbate flood impacts. These challenges also throw open opportunities for collaborative management of the basin’s resources. For example, water stored upstream – in natural systems of the biosphere and in artificial systems-could potentially be released in a controlled manner, particularly during the dry months of the year, which would help communities downstream. Early warning systems for glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) and flash floods could save lives and livelihoods in downstream areas. Enabling this requires collaboration between the countries of the basin as well as stakeholders in different sectors. This resource book highlights the importance of integrated river basin management (IRBM) in the transboundary Koshi River basin. IRBM promotes participatory planning and implementation processes that bring stakeholders together for collective action on the conservation, planning, and management of water resources by considering water demand for various uses in an equitable manner. This book provides information for a meaningful dialogue among different stakeholders towards improved water management in the basin. It considers not just the water within the system, but also related ecosystems, water-related disasters, and potential governance mechanisms. To this end, the resource book uses Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom’s social‒ecological system (SES) framework to present the findings of studies on biophysical and socioeconomic systems in the river basin and for discussing issues relevant to governance at the river basin level. For this, it draws on research papers prepared under ICIMOD’s Koshi Basin Initiative (2012–till date). Wherever necessary, it also draws on other publications relevant to the Koshi River basin.
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Limnological reconnaissance of waterbodies in central and southern Nepal
Article
Full-text available
  • Nov 1989
  • HYDROBIOLOGIA
Ionic composition of waterbodies in central and southern Nepal sampled in spring 1985 differed from that normally found in freshwater. Distinguishing characteristics were: 1) predominance of bicarbonate among the anions - accounting for > 90% of the negative equivalents in two-thirds of the waterbodies, 2) the near absence of sulfates - accounting for < 1 % of the anions in half the samples so that chloride exceeded sulfate (as meq/L) in three-fourths of the waters tested and 3) calcium was the dominant cation, although in certain waters the relative proportion of either magnesium or the monovalent cations was much higher than the world average. Regional patterns in water chemistry were apparent and are largely explained by differences in local geology, inputs from artesian wells or extensive use by humans. Most ionic salinity values were <400 mg/L. Using conventional criteria to assess trophic state, most water-bodies were eutrophic or hypereutrophic when judged by total phosphorus and chlorophyll content but as a whole the lakes sampled were low in nitrogen. Nitrogen: phosphorus ratios (generally < 10) and a significant empirical relation for chlorophyll-nitrogen provide evidence that nitrogen limited algal biomass. Secchi transparency values indicate light regimes were affected by nonalgal materials.
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Balancing human needs and conservation in Nepal's Royal Chitwan Park ( rhinoceros, tiger).
Article
  • Jan 1982
Royal Chitwan National Park has been successful in restoring depleted populations of rhino and tiger in Nepal's Terral region, but this success has been achieved at the price of direct conflict between part authorities and local people. -Author
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Environment and resources - managing the South Pacific's future.
Article
  • Jan 1984
Environmental management in the South Pacific has evolved rapidly from traditional practice with its social codes through the exploitative eras of whalers, traders, and colonial regimes to the present pattern of accommodation and integration of traditional and modern management systems. Although environmental pressures in the South Pacific are intensifying, there is a growing potential for effective management, utilizing both traditional and modern concepts.-Author
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