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conferenceseries.com
Volume 8 Journal of Ecosystem & Ecography Biodiversity Congress 2018
July 26-27, 2018
July 26-27, 2018 Melbourne, Australia
7th International Conference on
Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Management
Assessing changes of habitat quality for shorebirds in stopover site: A case study in Yellow River
Delta, China
Xiaowei Li1, Xiyong Hou1, YangSong1, Kai Shan2, ShuyuZhu2, Xiubo Yu2 and Xunqiang Mo3
1Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
2The Yellow River Delta Nature Reserve Bureau, China
3Tianjin Normal University, China
The population of shorebirds in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF) is on a severe, long-term decline. One of the reasons
is low survival during stopover sites in Yellow Sea Ecoregion due to habitat degradation. In this paper, we focused on the
shorebird habitat quality in Yellow River Delta (YRD), which is a representative shorebirds stopover site in the Yellow Sea Ecoregion
on EAAF. We adapt the habitat quality model of the InVEST for the assessment of shorebirds habitat quality change in YRD during
2000-2015 and future, considering the effects of anthropogenic threats on shorebirds habitat. In our results, the abundance of 11
species of shorebirds had significant downward trends (70-97% reduction) during 1999-2015. The most prominent land use changes
in the YRD during 2000-2015 are the shrinkage of estuarine delta and dense-grass, along with the expansion of city, saltern and
mariculture. The area of estuarine delta, unused land, tidal flats and sparse grass reduced 30214, 21792, 6510, 6166 ha, respectively
during the 15 years. There was high spatial heterogeneity in modeled habitat quality in the YRD. Tidal flats areas in the nature
reserve (part 2) had higher habitat quality than areas in the northwestern (part 1) and eastern (part 4) parts of the study area, where
the major mariculture occurs. Mean habitat quality in the part 1and part 4 was 26% and 44% lower than mean habitat quality in
part 2, respectively. The mean habitat quality in part 1 and part 4 decreased 27% and 31% during 2000-2015, respectively. Optimal
habitat in YRD declined from 1433 km2 in 2000 to 1154 km2 in 2015. The habitat quality shows a significant downward trend in
the southeast and northeast of YRD during 2015-2020. The results would help decision makers avoid inefficiencies in land use
management.
Biography
Xiaowei Li has completed BSc degree from the Ocean University of China in 2005 and then served as a Visiting Doctoral Researcher in Land and Water at CSIRO,
Australia (2008-2009) and received her PhD from IGSNRR in 2012. She was a Postdoctoral Researcher at IGSNRR (2012-2014). Her areas of specialization
include ecosystem-based management and adaptation and ecosystem monitoring and assessment. More recently, she has been interested in assessment and
valuation of coastal ecosystem services, recognizing the trade-offs between migratory bird protection, human well-being and social-economic development. She
brings her experience with spatial valuation of coastal wetlands to the study of coastal mudflats and migratory bird habitat in particular.
Xiaowei Li et al, J Ecosyst Ecogr 2018, Volume 8
DOI: 10.4172/2157-7625-C4-041