International Journal of Marine Science 2016, Vol.6, No.43, 1-13
1
Research Article Open Access
Waterbirds as Bio-indicators in Lake Uromia Ecosystem Changes
Behrouz Behrouzi-Rad
Dep. of Environment, Ahvaz branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran
Corresponding author email
International Journal of Marine Science
2016, Vol.6, No.43 doi
Received: 19 Aug., 2016
Accepted: 27 Oct., 2016
Published: 31 Oct., 2016
This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Behrouzi-Rad B., 2016, Waterbirds as Bio-indicators in Lake Uromia Ecosystem Changes, International Journal of Marine Science, 6(43): 1-13 (doi:
Abstract
The main factor for stability of Lake Uromia ecosystem is amount of its water, which provides suitable habitat for
terrestrial and waterbirds. In normal condition, average depth of water and area of the lake were five meter and 483000 hectare in
1980 (wet year of lake Uromia), but the depth reduced to less than one meter and area less than 100000 hectare in 2015. Reduction of
area and water depth of lake caused variation of breeding population and species number of birds in Lake Uromia. In this paper,
reduction of breeding bird's population and species number of birds in 1980, compared with 2015, that lake was dried and the area of
the lake reduced to less than twenty percent of normal condition. forty tow species of waterbirds, thirty eight species of waders and
wading birds and 109 species of terrestrial birds were reported in Lake Uromia in 1980(at wet years),
but in 2015, the species of birds
reduced to sixteen species of waterbirds, sixty three species of terrestrial, twenty one species of waders and wading birds. Fifty tow
breeding bird's species in 1980 reduced to seventeen species in Lake Uromia in 2015. Breeding indicator species were
Phoenicopterus ruber 100000 pairs, Pelecanus onocratelus 3500 pairs, Tadorna tadorna 5000 pairs, Larus genei 5000 pairs and
Larus armenicuss 8000 pairs,
but in 2015, only seventeen species of birds have been bred, and breeding population of
Larus
armenicuss
and
Phoenicotrus ruber
reduced to less than 100 pairs,
Tadorna tadorna
50 pairs and other breeding indicator species
near to zero. Reduction of breeding population and species number of birds are signs of the disintegration of Lake Uromia ecosystem.
Keywords
Waterbirds population; Species number; Lake Uromia
Introduction
The Lake Uromia was established as a protected area in 1960s, changed to National Park in 1974, and designated
as a UNESKO (MAB) biosphere reserve in June 1976 (Dep. of Environment of West Azarbaijan, 1976;
Cornwallis, 1976; Evans, 1994; Scott, 1995), also designated as a Ramsar sites on 23 June 1975 (Ramsar
convention bureau 2015), and has been identified as an "Important Bird Area" by Birdlife International since 1994
(Evans 1994). It is more than 60 years that managed by Department of Environment of Iran (Dep. of Environment
of West Azarbaijan 2015, Scott 1995 and 2001, Evans 1994). Uromia Lake bed sludge was used to treat skin
diseases and it was one of the best places for ecotourism attraction. Lake Uromia had the important role in
ecosystem balance in northwest of Iran (Scott 2001). Several species and thousands of pairs of aquatic and
terrestrial birds were breeding in Lake Uromia. Ringing of the Juvenile of the breeding species of waterbirds
carried of more than 40 years in the lake by the ornithology unit of Dep. of the Environment of Iran, and lots of
juvenile of
Phoenicoterus ruber
,
Pelecanus onocrotalus
,
Larus genei
and
Larus armenicuss
have been ringed
during 40 years (Argyle 1975, Behrouzi-Rad 1980, 1981 and 1995, Dep. of Environment of West Azarbaijan,
2015). Because of drying, ecological function of the lake Uromia disturbed and the breeding habitats of the birds
disturbed and the breeding colony of the birds decomposed. There were 102 small and large islands in the lake
Uromia in 1980; six islands (Islami, Kabodan, Espir, Arezo, Ashk and Dugouzlar) were important habitats for
breeding birds, Fig (1).
In 1980, 189 species of terrestrial and water birds reported(Scott et al., 1971; Behrouzi-Rad, 2001) which 109
species (42%) were terrestrial, belonged to 34 family, 42 species (22.22%) waterfowl belonged 6 families, 38
species (20%) waders and wading, belonged 8 families (Behrouzi- Rad 1990 and 1995). Most of these species
