The analysis of destruction in flamingo habitat of acigol wetland

Industrial developments improve human life whereas it can destroy, pollute and decrease the available feeding and breeding area for the animals. Acigol Lake, being a saline shallow wetland, offers a suitable feeding and breeding area on the migration way of flamingos'. Acigol Lake is the main sodium sulfate production area in Turkey. Sodium sulfate production is carried out by industrial firms and high amounts of water are pumped from lake to salt pans. In this study, spatial and temporal variation of flamingos' feeding sites due to water pumping is investigated by using remote sensing. Dry and water covered areas were determined by using modified normalized difference water index (MNDWI). Then, the MNDWI images were classified to 'feeding by wading' and 'feeding by swimming' areas by using the in-situ depth measurements. The decreases in the lake water level during salt production period, showed the direct effect of industry on flamingos' feeding areas.