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Asian Woollynecks are uncommon on the farmlands of lowland Nepal

Authors:
Hem Bahadur Katuwal at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden
Hem Bahadur Katuwal
Hem Sagar Baral at Charles Sturt University
Hem Sagar Baral
Hari Prasad Sharma at Tribhuvan University
Hari Prasad Sharma
Rui-Chang Quan
Rui-Chang Quan
Rui-Chang Quan
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Abstract and Figures

Asian Woollyneck Ciconia episcopus is a globally threatened stork found across south and southeast Asian countries. In Nepal, it is considered as a fairly common resident species although categorized as ‘NearThreatened’. Here, we report on Asian Woollyneck occurrences in 116 transects (farmland100, forest8, river8) each measuring 500 m across four districts of lowland Nepal (Kapilvastu, Chitwan, Sarlahi and Sunsari) and surveyed in multiple seasons from April 2018 to December 2019 for a total of 985 transect counts. Despite our extensive survey, we recorded Asian Woollynecks in only 14 transect counts of which eight were along the buffer zone of Chitwan National Park (CNP). All sightings were of small flocks with 1-2 storks. Majority of the sightings (85%) were in farmlands, remaining in river but not in forest. We observed one nest on a Sal Shorea robusta tree along the buffer zone of CNP in 2019 from which one chick fledged in early October. Our study adds to the meager information available on Asian Wollyneck in Nepal and indicates that this species is sparsely distributed in the lowland farmlands.
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HemBahadurKATUWAL1,2,*,HemSagarBARAL3,4,HariPrasadSHARMA5,Rui‐ChangQUAN1
1SoutheastAsiaBiodiversityResearchInstitute,ChineseAcademyofSciences,Yezin,NayPyiTaw05282,MyanmarandCenterfor
IntegrativeConservation,XishuangbannaTropicalBotanicalGarden,ChineseAcademyofSciences,Mengla,Yunnan666303,China
2UniversityofChineseAcademyofSciences,Beijing100049,China
3ZoologicalSocietyofLondon‐NepalOffice,Kathmandu44600,Nepal
4SchoolofEnvironmentalSciences,CharlesSturtUniversity,Albury‐Wodonga,Australia
5CentralDepartmentofZoology,InstituteofScienceandTechnology,TribhuvanUniversity,Kathmandu44600,Nepal
*Correspondingauthor;e.mail:hembdrkatuwal@gmail.com
Asian Woollynecks are uncommon on the farmlands of lowland Nepal
Articlehistory
Received:30August2020,
Receivedinrevisedform:13September2020,
Accepted:20September2020,
Publishedonline:07October2020
AbstractAsianWoollyneckCiconiaepiscopusis a globally threatened stork found across southand
southeastAsian countries. In Nepal, it is considered as a fairly common resident species although
categorizedas ‘NearThreatened’.Here,wereportonAsianWoollyneckoccurrencesin116transects
(farmland100, forest8, river8) each measuring 500 m across four districts of lowland Nepal
(Kapilvastu, Chitwan, Sarlahi and Sunsari) and surveyed in multiple seasons fromApril 2018 to
December 2019 for a total of 985 transect counts. Despite our extensive survey, we recordedAsian
Woollynecksinonly14transectcountsofwhicheightwerealongthebufferzoneofChitwanNational
Park(CNP).Allsightingswereofsmallflockswith12storks.Majorityofthesightings(85%)were
infarmlands, remaininginriverbut notinforest.Weobservedoneneston aSalShorearobustatree
alongthebufferzoneofCNPin2019fromwhichonechickfledgedinearlyOctober.Ourstudyadds
to the meager information available onAsian Wollyneck in Nepal and indicates that this species is
sparselydistributedinthelowlandfarmlands.
KeywordsChitwanNationalPark,farmlandbird,nest,Saltree,threatenedspecies.
©2020TheAuthors.SISConservation.Publishedby:IUCNStork,IbisandSpoonbillSpecialistGroup www.storkibisspoonbill.org/sisconservationpublications/
SISConservation,2020,2,50‐54
RESEARCHARTICLE
ISSN2710‐1142(online)
Introduction
AsianWoollyneckCiconiaepiscopusisaglobally
“Vulnerable”storkspeciesdistributedacrosssouth
and southeast Asian countries including India,
Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka
Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam with non
breeding populations in Iran and China (BirdLife
International 2017). This species uses both
artificialandnatural wetlands such as agricultural
lands, grassland, marshes, water holes, lagoons,
flood plains, dams, flooded pastures, rivers,
streams,lakes,andponds(Sunder2006;delHoyo
et al. 2020). Asian Woollynecks have been
observedconstructingnests on treesclosetoforest
edges, wetlands, grasslands and agricultural lands
(BirdLife International 2017), and more recently
also on manmade  structures such as cellphone
towers (Vaghela et al. 2015; Hasan and Ghimire
2020).
AsianWoollynecksare assumed to bedeclining in
its range due to hunting, felling of nesting trees,
habitat loss, fragmentation, wetland degradation,
environmentpollution andagrochemicals(Inskipp
etal. 2016;BirdLifeInternational2017).InNepal,
thespecies has beenaccorded thestatus of“Near
threatened” and is considered to be a fairly
common resident species with a wide distribution
across the length of the country and up to an
altitudeof3,540m(Inskippetal.2016;Ghaleand
Karmacharya 2018). However, a large distribution
50
Katuwaletal.,2020 AsianWoollynecksinlowlandNepal
rangeandastablepopulationhasbeenrecordedin
India (SoIB 2020) with more recent work
suggesting that the population of Asian
Woollynecks have been greatly underestimated
(Kittur and Sundar 2020).  Based on emerging
new information, the global status of the species
was reviewed recently andatentative decision to
categoriesthespeciesfrom“Vulnerable”to“Near
threatened” has been announced (https://globally
threatenedbirdforums.birdlife.org/2020/06/asian
woollyneckciconiaepiscopusreviseglobal
status/). Information from Nepal with which to
understand the status of Asian Woollyneck
remains sparse. In this paper, we analyzed data
from the Farmland Bird Survey Program
conducted from across four districts in lowland
Nepal to understand if Asian Woollynecks are
indeedcommonandwidespreadonthefarmlands
of lowland Nepal. The data we are presenting is
fromamultisitesurveyandisoneoftheveryfew
systematic surveys from Nepal with ecological
information available for this species. We
therefore believe that our work can help evaluate
thestatusofthisspeciesinthecountry.
Studyarea
TheFarmlandBirdSurveyProgramwasconductedin
lowland Nepal between 2018 and 2019 across the
dominant agricultural areas in this region. The
lowlands extend across approximately 885 km in an
easttowest direction and comprises 43% of the
country’s agricultural lands (Paudel et al. 2017).  The
agricultural landscape of lowland Nepal is a highly
populated region and supports half of Nepal’s human
population (Central Bureau of Statistics 2012). The
cropsare seasonal with threedistrictgrowingseasons.
Peoplegrowriceinthemonsoonorrainyseason(June
September), and mustard, wheat, sugarcane, lentils
during the much drier winter (NovemberFebruary).
Some people keep their land fallow after the rice
harvest until the next rice growing season. Other
farmers cultivate maize and rice in the summer
(MarchMay) and keep fields fallow until the
subsequentrice growing season (HBK, pers. obs.). We
chose four districts (Sunsari, Sarlahi, Chitwan and
Kapilvastu) across lowland Nepal to conduct the bird
surveys (Figure 1). Ornithological work has been
previously conducted in three of these four districts,
and our work was the first to conduct field work to
document birds in the Sarlahi district. There are two
protected areas within the study sites namely the
Chitwan National Park (CNP) in Chitwan district and
the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve in Sunsari district.
Eachprotectedareahasdesignatedbufferzoneswhere
peoplecanstaywiththe intention of strengtheningthe
linkage between biodiversity conservation and local
communities.
Methods
We overlaid 2x2 km gridsacrossthefourdistricts and
systematically selected 100 gridslocatedinfarmlands,
eight in forests and eight along a rive r. Using Google
Earth we established one 500 m transect in each grid
ensuringthat transects were> 1.2 km fromeachother
(seeFigure1).WewalkedtransectsfromApril2018to
December2019andcounted all birds within150mon
either side of eachtransect.We stratifiedthe year into
Figure 1: Study area
showing locations of four
focal districts in lowland
Nepal (inset of Nepal map)
where 116 transects of
500 m each were located
systematically to count
Asian Woollynecks between
April 2018 and December
2019. Eight land uses
derived from satellite
imageries are shown for all
districts, and the borders
of two protected areas
with buffer zones around
each that were surveyed
are shown. The location of
a single Asian Woollyneck
nest that was monitored
during the study is also
provided.
51
AsianWoollynecksinlowlandNepal Katuwaletal.,2020
three seasons (summer: AprilMay, monsoon: July
August,andwinter:DecemberJanuary)andmonitored
eachtransectthreetimesineachseason.InKapilvastu
and Sarlahi districts, we could cover transects only
twiceduringthesummerduetothenationallockdown
imposedinNepalfollowingtheoutbreak ofCovid19.
In total, we completed 985 transect counts. During
transect surveys we located one nest of Asian
Woollyneck which we visit ed multiple times between
AugustOctober2019torecordthechickfledging.
Results
Out of 985 transect counts, we recorded Asian
Woollynecks only in 14, and storks were seen in
11 out of the 116 separate transects (Table 1).
Majority of the Asian Woollyneck observations
(57%) were from Chitwan with the rest of the
observations from Kapilvastu (21%), Sarlahi
(14%)and Sunsaridistrict(7%).All observations
at Chitwan were made on farmlands inside the
buffer zone of CNP. Asian Woollynecks were
mostlyseenonfarmlands(86%ofalltransectson
whichstorkswereseen).Therestofthesightings
were along the river and none were seen inside
forests. There was some seasonal variation in
observations with most sightings made during the
monsoon (43% of all transects on which storks
were seen) with fewer observations in the winter
(36%) and summer seasons (21%). In each
observation,flocksizesweresmallwith12birds.
We located one nest with one chick on a Sal
Shorea robusta tree inside CNP’s buffer zone (N
27°34'12.24",E84°22'53.64")thatwas~150m
fromfarmlandsandhumansettlements(Figure1).
We first observed the nest on 3August 2019 and
thechickwasalreadyhatched.Wevisitedthenest
repeatedlyuntil20September2019whenthechick
showedsignsof fledging.The chick and the adult
birdshadleft thenestwhenwevisitedthenest on
7October2019.
Discussion
We conducted extensive surveys in farmlands of
fourdistrictswhicharepotentialAsianWoollyneck
habitats in lowland Nepal, but storks were not
Table 1. Details of Asian Woollyneck sightings during surveys across four districts of lowland Nepal from April 2018
to December 2019. A total of 116 separate transects were located on agriculture fields, along rivers and in
forests, and were covered 985 times during the survey.
52
Katuwaletal.,2020 AsianWoollynecksinlowlandNepal
commonacrosssampledsites.Thiscontrastswith
the national assessment which suggests that this
species has a widespread distribution in entire
lowlandNepalincludingourfieldsites(Inskippet
al. 2016). During our study Asian Woollynecks
were sighted more frequently on the farmlands
located in the buffer zone of CNP where the
species has been previously recorded (Inskipp et
al.2016). Urbanization isincreasingsignificantly
in Chitwan district making it one of the most
urbanized districts in Nepal (Rimal et al. 2020).
However, farmlands in this district, especially
inside the buffer zone of the CNP, appear to
support Asian Woollynecks throughout the year.
Other studies have also reported Asian
Woollynecksusing farmlands throughout the year
asforaginghabitatsin India,MyanmarandNepal
(Sundar 2006; Inskipp et al. 2016; Ghimire and
Pandey 2018; Sundar and Kittur 2020; Tiwary
2020;Winetal.2020).
Our effort was inadequate to estimate the
population size of the Asian Woollyneck in the
whole of Nepal. There are very few robust
estimates of population sizes of this species in
Nepal.KitturandSundar(2020)estimated30±22
AsianWoollynecksina small area covering parts
of Rupandehi and Kapilvastu districts using
systematic road transects carried out seasonally
between 2014 and 2019. Seasonal densities of
AsianWoollynecks did notvary muchin thetwo
districts(seeKitturandSundar2020).Inthesame
districts, in a slightly larger area, Ghimire and
Pandey(2018)andGhimire (2019) recorded<50
individualsalongsevenroadstransectsthatvaried
in length from 15 to 34 km between 2016 and
2018. During our surveys, Asian Woollynecks
were observed more during the monsoon and the
least in summer months identical to many other
locations where multiseason work has been
carriedout(KitturandSundar2020).
We always observed the species with 12
individuals, which is lower than flock sizes
reported for lowland Nepal and India (Sundar
2006;SharmaandSingh2018;KitturandSundar
2020). However, an unusually large flock of 28
Asian Woollynecks were seen recently in April
2020 along one of our transect in buffer zone of
CNP, and were observed for three weeks (Y.
Mahato, B. Bidari and R. Krishna, pers. comm.
2020). Large flocks ofAsian Woollynecks have
beenreportedfromsomelocationsinIndiaaswell
butappeartoberare(Pandeetal.2007;Kitturand
Sundar2020).
Though the information currently available of
Asian Woollynecks outside of Rupandehi and
Kapilvastu is still meager, our systematic
observations showed seasonal variations in the
frequency of observations that suggest possible
seasonalmovementsof this species tothemidhill
region of Nepal. Such movements have been
suspected previously (Inskipp et al. 2016).
Movement patterns of the species and location of
breedingareascanbebetterunderstoodbysatellite
tagging.
Previously records ofAsian Woollyneck nests in
Nepal have been from both the lowlands and the
midhillregions(Inskipp et al.2016). Inaddition,
12 nests were recorded from Rupandehi between
2016 and 2020 (P. Ghimire, pers. comm. 2020).
Our record of one nest adds to this small number
of observations of Asian Woollyneck nests in
Nepal.Acarefulstudy on thebreeding biologyof
AsianWoollynecksinNepalisrequiredtoprovide
detailed information on nesting sites, nesting
habitatrequirementsandnestsurvival.
Acknowledgments
This work has been supported by CASSEABRI program
(Y4ZK111B01). HBK would like to thank CASTWAS
President’s Fellowship for providing the Ph.D. fellowship.
The Department of Forests and Soil Conservation and the
Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation in
Nepalprovidedpermissionstocarryoutthiswork.Wethank
YamMahato,andAnisTimsinaforhelpingmonitorfarmland
birds, Basu Bidari, Ram Krishna and Prashant Ghimire for
sharing information on the recent sighting of the species,
Bhagawat Rimal for helping in land cover map preparation
and Mingxia Zhang for comments on a previous draft. We
alsothank K. S. Gopi Sundarfor inviting thispaper for the
special section in SISC onAsian Woollyneckfor comments
on several previous drafts and for providing background
literature. We thank two anonymous reviewers for
suggestionsthatimprovedanearlierdraft.
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54
... From this we found 25 papers that included distributional or relevant ecological information on the Woollyneck as major species. Of these, only ten were research studies (Ishtiaq et al. 2004;Sundar 2006;Pande et al. 2007;Jangtarwan et al. 2019;Katuwal et al. 2020;Mandal et al. 2020;Roshnath & Greeshma 2020;Tiwary 2020;Gula et al. 2020;Ghimire et al. in press), while the other 15 papers were short notes on observations of Woollyneck (Rahmani & Singh 1996;Ishtiaq 1998;Maduranga 2002;Vyas & Tomar 2006;Han et al. 2011;Burnham & Wood 2012;Choudhary et al. 2013;Vaghela et al. 2015 Greeshma et al. 2018;Hasan & Ghimire 2020;Ghimire et al. 2020). The primary locations of these studies and short notes were: India (n= 14), Nepal (n=5), Sri Lanka (n= 2), China (n=2), Bangladesh (n=1) and Thailand (n= 1). ...
... In Nepal, the Woollyneck is a fairly common resident across the country, but with a patchy distribution ; they are more commonly reported to the west of Chitwan National Park than in the east of the country (Grimmett et al. 2016;Inskipp et al. 2016;Ghimire & Pandey 2018;Katuwal et al. 2020). It is most commonly observed up to an elevation of 915 m, and occasionally up to 1,800 m (mainly in summer, while a recent sighting from Manang, at 3,540 m, was a new elevation record; Inskipp et al. 2016;Ghale & Karmacharya 2018). ...
... In Nepal, foraging activity budgets suggest habitat quality is related to wetland proximity, season and human disturbance (Ghimire et al. in press). Studies (i.e. in India by Sundar (2006) and Pande et al. (2007), and in Nepal by Ghimire and Pandey (2018), Katuwal et al. (2020) and (Ghimire et al. in press)) are generally conducted in non-forested landscapes, either suggesting observational bias or a true preference for these mosaic habitats of grasslands and wetlands in agricultural areas. This is in contrast to areas in the south-east (e.g. ...
The Asian Woollyneck Ciconia episcopus: A Review of its Status, Distribution and Ecology
Article
Full-text available
  • Jul 2021
The Asian Woollyneck Ciconia episcopus is a stork found throughout Asia whose international conservation status is currently being considered for reclassification from vulnerable to near-threatened. However, much of what is known about this species is fragmented across observational reports and small studies making a comprehensive assessment of population trends difficult. Here, we bring together all available published information to see what is known and what research questions still need answering in order to make reliable assessments of regional population trends and identify probable drivers of decline. Despite the species likely being extinct in the extremes of its former range and evidence of dramatic declines in Southeast Asia, Asian Woollyneck appears to be stable or increasing in India, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Observations of its preferred foraging and nesting habitats in South versus Southeast Asia show some obvious differences that may explain regional variations in population trends. In South Asia the bird is common in open grasslands and agricultural areas, while in Southeast Asia it is mostly observed in forested areas. Also, reports of the Asian Woollyneck nesting on cell phone towers is increasing in South Asia. However, because of a severe lack of reporting from Southeast Asia, it is unclear if or how these regional differences in population trends and habitat use are linked. Structured surveys and studies into the Asian Woollyneck foraging, nesting and movement ecology are urgently needed to understand the extent and drivers of decline in Southeast Asia. Therefore, researchers should focus future studies on population trends across the species' range, and aim to identify the local factors influencing recent changes in population growth. Without such knowledge, reassessment of its conservation status may be premature.
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... However, a similar spatial sampling bias likely exists in which our records primarily come from protected areas; agricultural areas are just not properly represented in survey and citizens science data. In Asia, a number of stork species have been found to be successful in some unprotected, agricultural landscapes (Sundar 2004;2011;Sundar and Kittur 2013;Yamada et al. 2019;Katuwal et al. 2020;Kittur and Sundar 2020;Sundar 2020;Win et al. 2020), so it would be prudent for the African conservation community to expand its attentions to include agricultural areas to test if the same holds true in a region like West Africa where natural habitat has been replaced with croplands particularly rapidly (Zwarts et al. 2009). Without doing so, it is difficult to thoroughly assess the threats to the stork species in this study. ...
... However, why does it appear that the African Woollyneck has not responded similarly as far as range contraction and noticeable regional population declines? Perhaps there are some important differences in the African Woollyneck's ecology that warrant further investigation, such as use of agricultural habitats like the Asian Woollyneck C. episcopus(Katuwal et al. 2020;Kittur and Sundar 2020;Win et al. 2020)-a behavior only vaguely described in Africa from Sierra Leone(Field 1978). Apparent declines in the Abdim's Stork are not as easily explained either because they do not rely on wetlands. ...
View
... The research bias toward protected areas in Africa is stark and prevents a complete understanding of the reliance that African storks have on these preserves, especially given the significance of rice fields for some other African waterbirds (Wymenga and Zwarts 2010). Indeed, Asian storks are successful in unprotected habitats (especially agricultural land) and even more widespread than in protected areas, highlighting the pressing prerequisite for comparable work in Africa (Sundar 2004(Sundar , 2011Sundar and Kittur 2013;Yamada et al. 2019;Katuwal et al. 2020;Sundar 2020;Win et al. 2020). Additionally, future research must address how the extent and distribution of wetlands influences stork distribution, especially because water surface within protected areas has declined in sub-Saharan Africa (Bastin et al. 2019). ...
... However, the African Woolly-necked Stork has not responded similarly regarding range contraction and noticeable regional population declines. Perhaps there are some important differences in the African Woolly-necked Stork's ecology that warrant additional investigation, such as use of unprotected wetlands and agricultural habitats, like the Asian Woolly-necked Stork C. episcopus (Katuwal et al. 2020;Kittur and Sundar 2020;Win et al. 2020), a behaviour only vaguely described in Africa from Sierra Leone (Field 1978). Emerging evidence also shows the African Woollynecked Stork readily uses urban and semiurban areas in South Africa (Thabethe and Downs 2018;Thabethe et al. 2021). ...
Assessments of range wide distribution of six African storks and their relationships with protected areas
Article
Full-text available
  • May 2022
  • OSTRICH
Species range maps provided by the IUCN and BirdLife International are recognised to sometimes mischaracterise distribution and have resulted in inaccurate status assessments. In this study we assessed distribution trends and relationships with protected area extent for six African storks, the African Openbill Anastomus lamelligerus, Abdim’s Stork Ciconia abdimii, African Woolly-necked Stork C. microscelis, Saddle-billed Stork Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis, Marabou Stork Leptoptilos crumenifer and Yellow-billed Stork Mycteria ibis. Each of these species is understudied and assumed to be ubiquitous throughout sub-Saharan Africa and therefore considered Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. We developed empirically based distribution maps for the six African stork species using a plethora of data sources from >150 years. We found all six species were widespread from East to Southern Africa, but had highly fragmented ranges in West Africa. West African populations have either declined or been extirpated since the 1960s. Countries that require better field coverage include Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Zimbabwe. For each species, there was a positive relationship between occurrence and protected area extent, suggesting either protected habitat is important for storks or unprotected areas are poorly covered in the field. We evaluate species status based on the new collated information and recommend uplisting the global status of the Saddle-billed Stork to Near Threatened and West African populations of the Saddle-billed Stork, Marabou Stork and Yellow-billed Stork to Threatened status.
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... Cropping practices (types of crops grown) vary due to field size constraints (often < 1 ha; Katuwal et al., 2021), availability of irrigation facilities, and farmers' crop choices. Usually, rice is grown in the monsoon/rainy season (June -September), mustard, lentils, wheat, vegetables, and sunflower in winter (November -February), and sometimes maize and rice in summer (March -April; Katuwal et al., 2020;Sundar, 2011). Rice fields may be left fallow after the harvest, or the field may be used for winter crops. ...
... Rice fields may be left fallow after the harvest, or the field may be used for winter crops. Therefore, the agricultural landscape is a mosaic of different land use and land cover features, including cultivated land, fallow land, wetland, pastures, grassland, scattered trees, orchards, or small forest patches (Johnson et al., 2011;Katuwal et al., 2020;Koju et al., 2019;Sundar and Kittur, 2012). The heterogeneity created by those landscape features affects the bird community composition (Duflot et al., 2014;Ranganathan et al., 2010;Redlich et al., 2018). ...
Seasonal variation and crop diversity shape the composition of bird communities in agricultural landscapes in Nepal
Article
  • Aug 2022
  • AGR ECOSYST ENVIRON
Farmland birds are declining globally due to anthropogenic activities, with particularly few studies in Asian agricultural landscapes. Various studies have examined the impacts of landscape heterogeneity on farmland bird composition, but few have considered seasonal changes in bird diversity and examined functional feeding guild assemblages. Here, we disentangle the impact of seasonal variation (summer, monsoon, and winter), cropping practice (mixed crop, monocultural-crop, and fallow land), crop type (rice, wheat, maize, sugarcane, and other crops), landscape heterogeneity, and the number of houses and trees on the richness and abundance of farmland birds and their feeding guilds conducted within human-dominated agricultural landscapes of lowland Nepal. We established 116 transects (farmland = 100, forest = 8, and river = 8), and each transect was visited nine times from April 2018 to December 2019, with forests and river transect to test the dissimilarities in bird composition between those habitats and farmlands. We recorded 201 bird species in farmland, 133 in the forest, and 131 in river habitats. Bird composition on farmlands showed more dissimilarity with forest than river transects. We recorded nine globally, and 26 nationally threatened birds in farmlands. Seasonal variation and cropping practice significantly influenced the richness of all farmland birds and resident birds only, whereas species abundances vary by season only. We recorded higher species richness in the winter season and mixed crop fields but greater abundance in the monsoon and monoculture crop fields. Farmland bird richness increased with increasing tree numbers but decreased with increasing house numbers. Sugarcane fields had the highest bird richness within crop species, whereas rice fields had the greatest abundance. Seasons and cropping practice also shaped the assemblages of feeding guilds differently. In the context of increasing crop intensification globally, our study suggests that the governments in this region should encourage farmers to cultivate mixed crops and simultaneously restrict the urbanization of farmlands to protect bird diversity. Seasonality should be factored into analyses aimed at understanding bird diversity in agricultural landscapes.
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... Despite such threats, only a few studies have been conducted to understand the overall composition of birds in wetland habitats. Most of the studies done in the lowland wetlands, especially in the west, are focused on single species like the sarus crane (Grus antigone) (Sharma et al. 2024), lesser adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus) (Katuwal et al. 2022), Asian wooly neck stork (Ciconia episcopus) (Ghimire et al. 2023(Ghimire et al. , 2021Katuwal et al. 2020), and cotton pygmy-goose (Nettapus coromandelianus) (Dangaura, Chaudhary, and Bhusal 2020). ...
Diversity, Species Richness, and Community Composition of Wetland Birds in the Lowlands of Western Nepal
Article
Full-text available
  • Dec 2024
Wetlands serve as crucial habitats for diverse bird species, playing a vital role in maintaining the ecosystem. Geographical location, climate, hydrology, and vegetation composition of wetlands determine the diversity of birds. This study investigated species richness, seasonal diversity, and composition of wetland birds in three prominent water bodies of western Nepal, namely Ghodaghodi, Rani, and Jokhar lakes, from 2021 to 2022 in summer and winter using the point count method. We observed 59 wetland bird species across three wetlands, where both the richness and diversity were significantly higher in the winter. Paired t‐tests revealed significant seasonal differences (p < 0.001) in diversity, species richness, and abundance at both Ghodaghodi and Rani lakes. The highest species richness was observed at Ghodaghodi (n = 58), reflecting its significance as a vital bird habitat. In contrast, diversity was higher in Rani Lake during both seasons (Winter H = 2.98, Summer H = 2.79). NMDS followed by ANISOM test also showed that bird community structure varies across lakes and seasons. Indicator species analysis showed that out of 59 species, 26 species are associated with one or different sites, whereas 18 of them are associated with the summer or winter season. We observed the Anatidae family with the highest relative diversity (RDI = 28.81%) and reported 1 globally vulnerable species and 7 globally near‐threatened species. While in Jokhar Lake, the abundance does not vary between the seasons. This study revealed substantial differences in bird species across seasons and lakes showing that each wetland offers a distinct ecological niche for bird species. The findings reinstate the importance of these wetlands as crucial habitats for the diversity of birds and species composition. This research contributes to the conservation and management of these ecosystems, aiding the protection of wetland birds in Nepal.
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... Multiple crops are grown in each field over the year, with flooded rice paddies dominating during the monsoon or rainy season (June-September), and wheat, maize, sugarcane, and lentils during the winter (November-February). The fields are kept largely fallow during the hot summers (March-June; Koju et al. 2019, Katuwal et al. 2020. Lowland Nepal's climate is a mix of tropical and subtropical types. ...
Factors affecting the breeding ecology of the globally threatened Lesser Adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus) in agricultural landscapes of Nepal
Article
Full-text available
  • Aug 2022
Many threatened birds use the mosaic of agricultural landscapes for foraging and breeding. Despite the reliance of many species on these habitats, few studies have investigated factors influencing the breeding ecology of storks in agricultural landscapes. We assessed site-level variables (tree height and location of nest tree; human habitation or non-human habitation), colony-level variables (colony size and chicks per nest), and landscape-level variables (area of human habitation, wetland area, and distance to the nearest wetland) to understand the factors influencing the breeding ecology of the globally threatened Lesser Adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus) across multiple locations in the agricultural landscape of lowland Nepal during 2019–2020. We monitored 65 active colonies that had 206 active nests in five study sites. Two hundred eighty chicks fledged from these colonies, with 13% (n = 41) chick mortality. Most colonies were in agricultural land (51%) and human habitation (28%). Lesser Adjutant colonies located on tall trees such as Bombax ceiba (57%), Haldina cordifolia (11%), and Ficus religiosa (11%); however, these tree species were used much more than their availability on the landscape. Tree height had a significant positive influence on colony site selection and colony size, whereas colony size positively influenced fledgling success. Measured landscape variables did not have significant relationships with breeding success metrics. The agricultural landscapes of lowland Nepal provided important breeding habitat for Lesser Adjutants, and the suitability of sites with colonies related more to site-level and colony-level than landscape-level variables. Increasing urban development of agricultural landscapes is likely the greatest threat to breeding Lesser Adjutants, with the decline of suitable nesting trees being a potential additional threat. Lowland Nepal's agricultural landscapes support significant breeding populations of Lesser Adjutants that had considerable breeding success, underscoring the urgent need to support traditional agriculture that favors large waterbirds.
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... Asian woollyneck have previously been found to nest on diverse tree species including fruiting trees such as Magnifera indica, Syzygium cumini, and Mitragyna parviflora; roadside plantation species like Acacia nilotica; trees on agricultural landscapes like Dalbergia sissoo; exortic trees like Eucalyptus sp.; trees with religious importance like Ficus religiosa; or very tall trees such as Bombax ceiba, Shorea robusta, and Ceiba pentandra among many others (Ishtiaq et al. 2004;Choudhary et al. 2013;Banerjee 2017;Kularatne and Udagedara 2017;Greeshma et al. 2018;Ghimire et al. 2020;Katuwal et al. 2020;Roshnath and Greeshma 2020;Kittur and Sundar 2021). Our study reports two new species used as nesting trees: Pinus roxburghii and Alnus nepalensis which are distributed in foothills of Himalayas. ...
Nesting habitat suitability and breeding of Asian woollyneck (Ciconia episcopus) in Nepal
Article
Full-text available
  • Aug 2022
Asian woollyneck (Ciconia episcopus) is a large wading bird species whose conservation status has been recently down-listed, despite a lack of concrete information on its nesting ecology and breeding success. In this study, we report its breeding success and nest habitat suitability in Nepal from 39 nesting sites (2016-2020). Simal (Bombax ceiba) (n = 21), followed by sal tree(Shorea robusta) (n = 6), and rani-salla (Pinus roxburghii) (n = 4) were the most common tree with mean height of the nesting tree, nest height, and tree diameter being 30 ± 5.8 m (± SD), 25.20 ± 5.75 m, and 1.03 ± 0.35 m, respectively. Nesting and fledging success were recorded from 31 nesting attempts at 19 of these sites, with an estimated nesting success probability of 0.81 ± 0.07 and a mean fledging success of 1.94 ± 0.25 chicks per nest. MaxEnt modelling identified a total potential suitable nesting habitat area of 9.64% (14,228 km 2) of the area in Nepal, with this located within 72 districts, mostly in the west. The modelling parameters suggest that slope, land use, and precipitation during the driest months were important determinants of nesting habitat suitability. We recommend that priority be given to conserving taller trees (especially simal) close to settlements and croplands of Nepal. Also, that future surveys should consider examining the districts highlighted by our model as being the most likely candidates for containing woollyneck nesting habitat, especially those (such as Dang District) where woollyneck nests have not been previously reported.
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... One waterbird species that is suspected to be impacted negatively by agriculture is the Woolly-necked Stork (Ciconia episcopus), which was recently elevated to the conservation status of "Vulnerable" due to suspected population declines led by expanding agriculture throughout its range and hunting in south-east Asia (BirdLife International 2017; Sundar 2020). Studies, however, suggested that substantial numbers of the species are resident on agricultural landscapes, even in areas with relatively high human densities, leading to a down-grading of the species' status to "Near-threatened" (Sundar 2006(Sundar , 2020Inskipp et al. 2016;Ghimire and Pandey 2018;Katuwal et al. 2020;Kittur and Sundar 2020). Woolly-necked Storks on farmlands changed their preferred habitat with climatic season, suggesting that seasonality alters conditions and forces storks to react (Sundar 2006;Kittur and Sundar 2020). ...
Woolly-Necked Stork (Ciconia episcopus) Activity Budget in Lowland Nepal's Farmlands: The Influence of Wetlands, Seasonal Crops, and Human Proximity
Article
  • Jul 2022
Tropical farmlands experience dramatic seasonal variations in landscape conditions and have continuous human presence, providing potentially challenging settings for resident waterbirds. Behavior of the globally threatened Woolly-necked Stork (Ciconia episcopus) was studied for two seasons (monsoon and winter, 2018–2019) in lowland Nepal to assess how storks coped with changing conditions on farmlands. Activity budgets were prepared from 582 min of video, and recursive partitioning was used to identify variables that affected two critical activities: foraging and vigilance. Foraging was a dominant activity (32 ± 33%) with relatively little percent time spent being vigilant (10 ± 19%). Woolly-necked Storks reduced percent foraging time when they foraged closer (25.8 ± 36.3%) compared to farther (35.8 ± 31.8%) from wetlands. Percent foraging time was reduced during the winter (30.6 ± 35.2%) compared to monsoon (35.1 ± 32.2%), suggesting improved foraging conditions. Percent time spent foraging increased closer to humans, suggesting lower efficiency. Percent time being vigilant decreased closer to wetlands, suggesting reduced disturbance. Wetlands and drier cropfields with human presence were relatively high-value habitats. Woolly-necked Storks coped with changing seasonal conditions in lowland Nepal’s farmlands by altering activity budgets in relatively minor ways identical to alterations made by similar species in wild habitats. This work adds to growing literature showcasing the multifunctional value of tropical agricultural landscapes and underscoring the need to move away from assuming that agriculture is uniformly detrimental for large waterbirds.
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... Woolly-necked Storks were thought to be imperilled by agriculture and assumed to require forested reserves (Hancock et al., 1992). However, studies from South Africa, South Asia, and Myanmar have shown that this species primarily breeds and forages in human-dominated and human-modified landscapes, including sub-urban settings and farmlands (Sundar, 2006;Thabethe and Downs, 2018;Katuwal et al., 2020;Kittur and Sundar, 2020;Win et al., 2020;Thabethe et al., 2021;Ghimire et al., in press). In South Africa, this species has taken to supplementary feeding and shown high nesting propensity on exotic trees and man-made structures in urban and sub-urban areas (Thabethe, 2018). ...
Of irrigation canals and multifunctional agroforestry: Traditional agriculture facilitates Woolly-necked Stork breeding in a north Indian agricultural landscape
Article
Full-text available
  • Sep 2021
Conservation of biodiversity alongside agriculture is now a global priority. Tree-nesting waterbirds have a tenuous relationship with farmlands because their survival requires farmers to retain trees and wetlands amid croplands. Research on such birds is rare on tropical and sub-tropical agricultural landscapes where high human densities and intensive farming ostensibly deteriorate breeding conditions. We explored breeding ecology and nest site selection by the single-nesting Woolly-necked Stork (Ciconia episcopus) in Haryana, north India using 298 nests from 166 locations discovered between 2016 and 2020. We determined the relative strengths of association of nest locations with natural features (trees, wetlands), human presence (habitation) and artificial water sources (irrigation canals) to understand cues used by breeding storks to situate nests. Woolly-necked Stork brood size from 42 successful nests was relatively high (3.1 ± 0.9 SD), with nests close to human habitation and wetlands having smaller broods. Storks showed high nest site fidelity (44.5% of sites used > 1 year), rarely nested on man-made structures (electricity pylons; 8.4%), and distributed nests in a clumped pattern. Woolly-necked Storks situated nests ambivalent to natural features but associated strongly with man-made features (positively with irrigation canals; negatively with human habitation). Contrary to expectations, most nests were not on the tallest trees but on the medium sized, native Dalbergia sissoo though storks situated nests on two tall trees (native Ficus religiosa and exotic Eucalyptus sp.) far more than the trees’ availability. All three tree species were favoured either for traditional agroforestry or local religious beliefs. Traditional agriculture in Haryana supported a substantial breeding population of Woolly-necked Storks facilitated by agriculture-related components rather than existing natural features. This novel scenario contradicts conventional narratives that suggest multi-season small holder tropical and sub-tropical agriculture degrades breeding conditions for waterbirds. Our findings in Haryana reiterate the need to assemble a diverse conservation toolkit of different locally relevant mechanisms supporting biodiversity amid cultivation.
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... Asian woollyneck have previously been found to nest on diverse tree species including fruiting trees such as Magnifera indica, Syzygium cumini, and Mitragyna parviflora; roadside plantation species like Acacia nilotica; trees on agricultural landscapes like Dalbergia sissoo; exortic trees like Eucalyptus sp.; trees with religious importance like Ficus religiosa; or very tall trees such as Bombax ceiba, Shorea robusta, and Ceiba pentandra among many others (Ishtiaq et al. 2004;Choudhary et al. 2013;Banerjee 2017;Kularatne and Udagedara 2017;Greeshma et al. 2018;Ghimire et al. 2020;Katuwal et al. 2020;Roshnath and Greeshma 2020;Kittur and Sundar 2021). Our study reports two new species used as nesting trees: Pinus roxburghii and Alnus nepalensis which are distributed in foothills of Himalayas. ...
Nesting habitat preference and breeding of Asian Woollyneck (Ciconia episcopus) in Nepal
Preprint
  • Apr 2021
Background: Asian Woollyneck Ciconia episcopus is large wading bird whose conservation status has been recently down-listed, despite a lack of general knowledge on its nesting ecology and breeding success. Thus, in this study we conducted the most comprehensive survey on the nesting ecology of this species to date. Methods: We located 39 nesting sites across 18 districts of Nepal and recorded nest tree characteristics for the nine tree species they nested in. We also used Maxent modelling to further understand factors important for nesting habitat suitability and to identify new areas for future surveys. Results: They most commonly nested in Simal Bombax ceiba (n =21), followed by Sal Shorea robusta (n=6) and Salla Pinus roxburghii (n=4). The mean height of the nesting tree, nest height and tree diameter were 29.8 ± 5.8m (±SD), 1.03 ± 0.35m & 25.3 ± 5.8 m respectively. Nesting and fledging success were additionally recorded from 31 nesting attempts at 19 of these nesting sites between 2016 and 2020. Woollyneck had an estimated nesting success probability of 0.81 ± 0.07 and a mean fledging success of 1.94 ± 0.25 (±SE) chicks per nest. MaxEnt modelling identified a total potential suitable nesting habitat area of 9.64 % (14228km2) of total area in Nepal, with this located within 72 districts (out of 77), mostly in the western part of Nepal. The modelling parameters suggest that slope, land-use, precipitation and forest were important determinants of nesting habitat suitability. Conclusions: The most likely district reported by the model for Woollyneck nesting habitat has not previously reported nests which suggests additional survey effort in this region is warranted. We recommend that priority should be given to conserve taller trees close to settlements and cropland, and future studies should consider the potential impact of climate change on nesting suitability of this species.
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Comparing abundance and habitat use of Woolly-necked Storks Ciconia episcopus inside and outside protected areas in Myanmar
Article
Full-text available
  • Apr 2021
Protected areas form the backbone of biodiversity conservation especially in southeast Asia which is both a global biodiversity hotspot and is facing extreme developmental pressures. The ability of large waterbirds to use habitats outside protected areas is poorly understood in most southeast Asian countries despite the potential of humanmodified areas such as agricultural fields to provide alternative habitats. We assessed abundance and habitat use inside and outside protected areas of Woollynecked Storks, a large waterbird species thought to be declining due to deterioration of forested reserves, in five regions of Myanmar. Woollynecked Stork abundance (birds/km) and use of three habitats (agriculture fields, forests, wetlands) were compared using transects within and outside protected areas, each monitored six times annually for three continuous years (2016-2018). Specifically, we assessed if abundance and habitat use varied due to protection status and whether location, season (summer, winter, and rainy season) and time of day (morning and evening) additionally influenced measured metrics. Woollynecked Storks were seen in 55% of all transects, but in the 990 total transect runs, were seen in only 44% of transects with a higher frequency of sightings on transects outside (61%) compared to inside protected areas (25%). Encounter rates were, on average, 1.5 times higher outside compared to inside protected areas. Encounter rates also varied significantly with season with most storks being encountered in summers and the least in the winters, and seasonal patterns were similar inside and outside protected areas. Encounter rates showed weak declining trends in the majority of transects with measured declines being more than twice inside protected areas than outside. Woollynecked Storks were mostly observed in wetlands (53%) and in agricultural fields (35%) and used forested areas and wetlands significantly more inside protected areas. Storks displayed plasticity outside protected areas by using agricultural fields. This study provides the first formal comparison of Woollynecked Stork ecology inside and outside protected areas. In addition to continuing to secure protected areas for biodiversity conservation in Myanmar, expanding the conservation paradigm into agricultural landscapes with unprotected wetlands is essential for the longterm persistence of large waterbird species such as the Woollynecked Storks.
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Density, flock size and habitat preference of Woolly-necked Storks Ciconia episcopus in agricultural landscapes of south Asia
Article
Full-text available
  • Apr 2021
Crowded agricultural landscapes of the tropics and subtropics are assumed to be responsible for the decline of many waterbird species. This includes Woollynecked Storks, one of the least studied large waterbirds, with no longterm multiscale information on its ecology. In this study we provide densities, population size, flock size and habitat use of the species in agricultural landscapes across seven districts in lowland Nepal and India using the largest available field data set of Woollynecked Stork observations (N = 8,906 individuals in 3,133 flocks observed seasonally between 2014 and 2019). With this data, we asked whether these metrics showed variation by season and location. Woollynecked Stork densities fluctuated considerably, both with season in each location and across locations. Estimated population of Woollynecked Storks in the study area was 1,689 ± 922 (SD) which extrapolated to the known distribution range of the species in south Asia provided a coarse population estimate of 2,38,685 ± 1,24,471 (SD). Woollynecked Storks were seen mostly in small flocks of 14 birds (86% of flocks) with few extraordinarily large flocks. Flocks were significantly larger in Jhajjar and Kheda districts, in winter, and in fallow fields and wetlands. Most Woollynecked Storks were observed in agriculture fields (64% of 1,874 observations) with much fewer in wetlands (9%). In three locations where seasonal habitat use was measured, Woollynecked Storks varied habitat use seasonally in all locations. Of six locations where habitat preference was assessed, storks preferred wetlands in five locations. Results of this study suggest that the largest known global population of this species is resident in agricultural landscapes, and coarse population estimates suggests that the population size of this species was previously underestimated. Results also showed considerable variations in flock size and habitat use with location and season suggesting that Woolly necked Storks show plasticity in response to changing conditions on agricultural landscapes. These findings will be helpful to revise the species' status assessment and understanding its conservation requirements.
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Observations on distribution and feeding behavior of Woolly-necked Stork Ciconia episcopus during 2012-20 from north India
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 2020
Woollynecked Stork Ciconia episcopus is a tropical species which has its distribution range in south Asia and southeast Asia with a stronghold of its population in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, and Indonesia. It inhabits a wide range of habitat from wetlands, rivers, ponds, tanks, mudflats, and agricultural fields. Despite its population having a strong presence in India, little is known about their habitat preferences, nesting, and foraging behavior. This paper reports observations about the habitat use and observation of a previously unknown foraging habit of the species in northern India. Wetlands (58.3 % of sightings) and agricultural fields (37.5 % of sightings) were found to be the most occupied habitats with an average flock size of 1.87 ± 0.25. This study also reports an unusual feeding behavior among Woollynecked Stork which may be a true scavenging behavior or an opportunistic feeding of insects from an animal carcass. Woollynecked Storks appear to be relatively plastic in their ability to use both wetlands and agricultural fields and being able to scavenge when the opportunity was available. Detailed studies on habitat use and foraging requirements of the species are missing and are required to assist with developing a better ecological understanding of the species.
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Confirmed breeding records of Asian Woollyneck Ciconia episcopus from Bangladesh
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2020
Asian Woollyneck is a globally "Vulnerable" stork species found in Asia. Information on its status in Bangladesh is scanty. In this note, we provide successful breeding records of Asian Woollyneck from Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj Districts confirming the breeding of the species in Bangladesh.
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Pattern of Historical and Future Urban Expansion in Nepal
Article
Full-text available
  • Feb 2020
Globally, urbanization is increasing at an unprecedented rate at the cost of agricultural and forested lands in peri-urban areas fringing larger cities. Such land-cover change generally entails negative implications for societal and environmental sustainability, particularly in South Asia, where high demographic growth and poor land-use planning combine. Analyzing historical land-use change and predicting the future trends concerning urban expansion may support more effective land-use planning and sustainable outcomes. For Nepal’s Tarai region—a populous area experiencing land-use change due to urbanization and other factors—we draw on Landsat satellite imagery to analyze historical land-use change focusing on urban expansion during 1989–2016 and predict urban expansion by 2026 and 2036 using artificial neural network (ANN) and Markov chain (MC) spatial models based on historical trends. Urban cover quadrupled since 1989, expanding by 256 km2 (460%), largely as small scattered settlements. This expansion was almost entirely at the expense of agricultural conversion (249 km2). After 2016, urban expansion is predicted to increase linearly by a further 199 km2 by 2026 and by another 165 km2 by 2036, almost all at the expense of agricultural cover. Such unplanned loss of prime agricultural lands in Nepal’s fertile Tarai region is of serious concern for food-insecure countries like Nepal.
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Spatial and temporal patterns of stork sightings (Aves: Ciconiidae) in National Chambal Sanctuary of Gangetic River system
Article
Full-text available
  • Jan 2018
During 1984-86 and 1995-2016 winter surveys five stork species were observed in 12 study zones of the river Chambal in the Ganga tributary system. Comparative temporal and spatial analyses of stork distribution are presented from two broad stretches of the river, 205km of Pali-Rajghat in the upstream and 230km of Rajghat-Pachhnada in the downstream. Different species show different distribution patterns. Study zones IV+V comprising 113km in the upstream and XI+XII comprising 75km in the downstream accounted for 66% of total stork sightings. About 56% of total sightings were recorded downstream of Rajghat. The Painted Storks Mycteria leucocephala comprised 52% of total stork sightings. Eleven districts adjoining river Chambal recorded low rainfall prior to 2008 when sighting of storks abruptly increased, particularly in the downstream. It is important to continue the monitoring of water birds in the National Chambal Sanctuary as it could lead to initiating conservation interventions in habitats in the region which experience extreme ecological conditions and fluctuations in populations.
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Spatiotemporal reconstruction of agricultural land cover in Nepal from 1970 to 2010
Article
Full-text available
  • Dec 2017
  • REG ENVIRON CHANGE
Agricultural land cover and changes in its extent are directly related to human activities. The rapidly growing population in Nepal has resulted in an increasing trend of agricultural land expansion, and can be used to determine the long-term status of agricultural land cover via reconstruction. This decadal study considered spatially explicit agricultural area, statistical records, population density, soil types, and climate and topography datasets. We collected available datasets and revised them on the basis of a spatiotemporal reconstruction of agricultural land cover. The different datasets were based on 30 × 30 m grid cells used for agricultural land suitability and allocation models. This historical agricultural land reconstruction revealed an increasing trend in agricultural area from 37.03 to 43.88 (103 km2), between 1970 and 2010. In this period, the agricultural land expanded and agriculture became more intensified, especially in the southern and middle parts of the country. A slightly
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