Beyond pesticides: Role of termite in ecosystems

HYDERABAD: It is a routine for farmer, Shafi Nizamani to take three pairs of grey partridges to feed them termites, which now can only be found under cow-dung in rare grazing fields.

“I cannot understand why and when these insects disappeared from the environment. I travel long distances daily in the morning and evening to find the insects to keep the birds healthy,” he said.

These termites inhabit natural grazing fields and can be found in crops and houses in different situations. Research reports show that “termites are rich in fat and protein, making them an excellent food source for wild birds”. These birds consume insects through scratching the ground.

Besides partridge, hundreds of other birds also eat termites, which are considered nutritious for their body growth. Nizamani lives in Village Karam Khan Nizamani, Matiari district. He is among a few people in the village who love grey and black partridges and make arrangements for its breeding in captivity.

“I saw how black partridges have disappeared from the local environment and now nobody can see these birds in the wild or listen to their attractive sounds,” he said. Black partridge is a beautiful bird and poachers use it for trapping other partridges, which unknowingly gather after listening to its particular chirping.

Poachers apply different techniques to trap the birds in the wild surrounded by bushes. They place trapping cages around the field and put a cage with a black partridge in the middle. When the bird in the cage starts chirping, other nearby birds fly closer, and get trapped instantly.

Mukhtiar Shaikh, who also loves black partridge and poultry, said these birds were no more visible in the wild. There might be many reasons for this, but poaching can be one major reason.

Many people have hundreds of trapping cages and hunt the birds alive for commercial purposes, as there is a demand for its meat. Another reason could be the use of pesticides in agriculture crops, which also kill many birds including black partridges and doves.

“Whenever these birds fly through sugarcane crops and start landing, they die instantly because of eating dead insects,” Shaikh said. A few years back, there were plenty of black partridges, grey partridges, doves, blue rock pigeons, hares, jackals, wild cats, wild boars and other common mammals around the agriculture fields, because there were safe habitats for these species.

Some agriculture researchers believe that the famous green revolution in 1960 introduced chemicals in agriculture, which disrupted ecosystems. As a result many wildlife species have either gone extinct completely or are fighting the war of survival.

Changes in the environment, cleaning of forests and groves for cultivation as well as urbanisation have resulted in shrinking habitats of birds, common mammals, reptiles and insects. These changes not only impact biodiversity but also negatively impact the food chain.

Many bird species that were previously sighted often have disappeared from the environment, including ring-necked parakeets, house sparrows, and crows. People from the villages used to keep both grey and black partridges at home and at their farms for entertainment. The tradition is now dying, thanks to the disappearing birds.

Increasing urbanisation has also negatively impacted on natural habitats, which used to provide space for many wildlife species, including insects. As a result, now a large number of species in the food chain have declined, leaving ecosystems unbalanced. Experts believe that extinction of one species can threaten the viability of another species.

Birds depend on insects for food. With lower insect count, birds begin to disappear from the environment. Science journals say that “grey partridge requires a diet with high protein from insects for their growth in summer as they are unable to digest plant matter”.

Termites are best known as pests, which cause severe damage to homes and agricultural products. Some reports show that termites eat the trunk of trees in desert areas during drought situations. There are more than 2,600 termite species out of which some are known as pests of food crops, roots and fruit trees. But findings of leading entomologists show that termites provide services to various ecosystems.

Entomologists across the world are conducting studies to measure habitat loss so they can plan to strengthen biodiversity, where species can inhabit safely to play their role. People in Sindh are also trying on their own to plant trees, both forest and fruit species, to help maintain the food chain and regulate the ecosystems. But the government’s wildlife, forest, environment and agriculture departments have not been playing any active role to conserve the ecosystems, on which both human health and prosperity depend.