Faunal Monitoring of Ahmedabad Airport as a Part of Bird-Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH) Study
Keywords:
Birds, Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH), Black kite, Insects, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) International AirportAbstract
Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International (SVPI) airport is known to have a high potential of bird-aircraft collision hazards. For determining the causes and magnitude of the problem and to find out likely solutions, birds, other small animals (mammals and reptiles) and insects were monitored by Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation, Gandhinagar during pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons between 2015 and 2017. For monitoring birds, two linear transects were laid, one each along each side of the runway. Besides transect-based bird surveys, bird species were also randomly recorded in other parts of the airport premises and even outside it (within 1 km belt parallel to the airport boundary). A total of 59 species of birds were encountered within the airport premises that belonged to 30 different families. Of these, 48 species were recorded along the transects. The majority (i.e., 83%) of the total 59 species were either obligate or facultative insectivorous birds. As the majority of birds were found to be obligatorily or facultatively insectivorous, insect monitoring was also carried out. For recording insects(species/genera and their numbers), Visual Encounter Survey (VES) was carried out in the operational area. A total of 80 species of insects were encountered which belonged to 42 families and 11 orders. Some measures that were suggested by GEER Foundation for reducing the chances of bird-aircraft collision included regulating the growth of grasses through regular grass-cutting preferably before sunrise or after sunset, controlling population of rodents and termites, considering to facilitate artificial grasses/tuft cover. By roping in GEER Foundation for faunal monitoring seasonally SVPI airport authorities have provided an example of ecological concerns in airport management. Other airports in the country should follow this example.
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