Numbers of Spoon-billed Sandpipers in Jiangsu Province, China, during the post-breeding moult in relation to recent changes in the intertidal zone

Chang, Qing; Ki, Tiffany L.T.; Anderson, Guy Q.A.; Brides, Kane; Clark, Nigel A.; Ding, Jingjing; Leung, Katherine K.S.; Li, Jing; Melville, David S.; Philips, J.R.; Weston, Ewan; Yang, Ziyou; Green, Rhys E.

doi:10.18194/ws.00233

Cited by 3 publications

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“…Given the complexity, heterogeneity, and high dynamism of tidal flat ecosystems, conservation targets should be set so as to protect more than the minimum area of habitat that shorebirds appear to need as revealed by short‐term studies. A larger area is needed to accommodate potential shifts and fluctuations in prey availability, foraging ranges, and habitat topography (Chang et al., 2021; Mu et al., 2022; Murray et al., 2019). The heterogeneous distributions of foraging shorebirds and the biotic and abiotic environmental factors that characterize their staging habitat make effective conservation of these birds especially challenging.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Importance of habitat heterogeneity in tidal flats to the conservation of migratory shorebirds

Cai

et al. 2023

Conservation Biology

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Understanding species distribution patterns and what determines them is critical for effective conservation planning and management. In the case of shorebirds migrating along the East Asian‐Australasian Flyway (EAAF), the loss of stopover habitat in the Yellow Sea region is thought to be the primary reason for alarming declines in shorebird populations. However, the rates of decline vary considerably among species, and it remains unclear how such differences could arise within a group of closely related species using apparently similar habitats at the same locales. We sampled and mapped the spatial distributions of both biotic (benthic invertebrates consumed by migrating shorebirds) and abiotic (sediment characteristics) environmental factors at a key stopover site in eastern China. We found that both benthic invertebrates and sediment characteristics demonstrated considerable spatial heterogeneity across the same tidal flat, with most benthic invertebrates concentrated on the upper and/or middle zones of the tidal flat, the area with finer‐grained sediments. Moreover, the distribution patterns of focal shorebird species on the tidal flat were best explained jointly by these biotic and abiotic environmental factors. We show that the same stretch of tidal flat can exhibit considerable heterogeneity with respect to the distributions of both shorebirds and environmental factors. The loss of tidal flats along the Yellow Sea is typically concentrated at the upper and middle zones, which not only reduces the overall amount of staging habitat, but also disproportionately affects the most resource‐rich portions for the birds. Effective conservation measures for shorebird staging areas along the EAAF and likely elsewhere must take into account the subtle habitat heterogeneity that characterizes these tidal flats, prioritizing the protection of those portions of the tidal flat that are richest in food resources, most frequently used by focal bird species, and most vulnerable to anthropogenic threats.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Importance of habitat heterogeneity in tidal flats to the conservation of migratory shorebirds

Cai

et al. 2023

Conservation Biology

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“…A repeat survey using the same method found a further decline of 22% at this site between 2020 and 2021 (Leung and Chang 2021). The decline in numbers at this site may have been caused by rapid changes in the topography of the intertidal mudflats used for foraging (Chang et al 2021). The decline at this important site was not compensated for by increased numbers at other monitored sites within 50 km of Tiaozini (Chang et al 2021;Leung and Chang 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…We performed this analysis in two stages. First, we estimated the numbers of individually marked Spoon-billed Sandpipers present in each winter N. We used a closed-population mark-resighting method which was previously used by Chang et al (2019Chang et al ( , 2021 to estimate a local population of Spoon-billed Sandpipers at a post-breeding moult site in Jiangsu Province, China.…”

Section: Lincoln-petersen Estimate Of the Total Number Of Spoon-bille...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Surveys at the Gulf of Mottama (Mon State, Myanmar), which is most important known site for the species during the boreal winter, also indicated a decline in the size of the local population, which declined at a mean rate of 9% per year during 2009-2016, but the rate was only estimated with low precision (Aung et al 2020). A four-year series of Lincoln-Petersen estimates of local population size of adult Spoon-billed Sandpipers at Tiaozini (Jiangsu Province, China), which was used by approximately half of the world population of adults during their post-breeding moult in September-October in 2017, found a decline at a mean rate of 16% per year between 2017 and 2020 (Chang et al 2021). A repeat survey using the same method found a further decline of 22% at this site between 2020 and 2021 (Leung and Chang 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Accelerating decline of an important wintering population of the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea at Sonadia Island, Bangladesh

Chowdhury

Foysal²,

Green

2022

J Ornithol

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The critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea breeds in Russia and winters between Bangladesh and China. World population estimates during 2014–2019 suggested a decline at a mean rate of 8% per year. Several surveys of local populations also indicated declines. We report a rapid decline of another local population of the species based on a 9-year series of annual surveys during the boreal winter at Sonadia Island, Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. We made bounded-count estimates of local populations of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper and 25 other shorebird species based on monthly counts in each of nine winters (2012/2013 to 2020/2021). For three of these winters (2017/2018 to 2019/2020), we also made Lincoln–Petersen estimates of the local population of Spoon-billed Sandpipers using resightings and scan surveys of individually marked birds. Population and trend estimates for the two methods were similar during the 3-year period when results from both were available. Bounded-count estimates of Spoon-billed Sandpipers declined markedly over the 9-year period. Analysis of combined data from both methods indicated that an exponential decline at a mean rate of 9.5% per year during the period 2012/2013 to 2017/2018 was followed by a much more rapid decline at 49.1% per year during 2018/2019 to 2020/2021. Bounded-count estimates of the combined population of 25 other shorebird species in each winter showed no decline during the 9-year period, which suggests that the decline in the local population of the Spoon-billed Sandpiper was not part of a general decline in populations of wintering shorebirds due to local factors. Estimates of the mean trend of other Spoon-billed Sandpiper local populations and of the world population all indicate declines at broadly similar rates. We recommend immediate reassessment of threats faced by the Spoon-billed Sandpiper and improved conservation interventions.

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Migratory Connectivity of Zhejiang, with a Critical Stopover in East Asian-Australasian Flyway, Based on Recovery Data

Liu,

Gao,

Wang

et al. 2024

Animals

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Understanding migratory routes is crucial for the conservation of birds and their habitats. Zhejiang is a crucial stopover and wintering area for birds in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway; however, detailed information on this area, and particularly on connections between coastal areas, is limited. By synthesizing ringed and recapture records from local bird-ringing projects and re-sighting community science data (208 records of 35 species), we established migratory connectivity between the Zhejiang coast and nine countries (i.e., Russia, Mongolia, the United States, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Australia), as well as eleven sites within China, and established its crucial role in this flyway. Stopover fidelity was verified by some species with high recapture frequency (seven species exceeded 1%) and species with duplicated re-sighted records (seven Black-faced Spoonbill, one Dalmatian Pelican, and two Spoon-billed Sandpiper individuals). We identified six areas—Hangzhou Bay, Aiwan Bay, Xuanmen National Park, Wenzhou Bay, the reclaimed area between the Ou and Feiyun Rivers, and the Wenzhou Jiangnan Reclamation Area—as crucial stopovers and wintering refuges for waterbirds. Notably, in Xuanmen National Park and the coastal regions along Wenzhou, there were many recovery records for flagship species, such as the Black-faced Spoonbill and Spoon-billed Sandpiper. There were several cases of the recovery of the same individual studied across the years. These findings indicate that these unprotected wetlands require particular attention. Broadly, our findings highlight the feasibility of integrating comprehensive ringing projects with citizen science data to formulate effective conservation strategies and underscore the critical importance of the Zhejiang Coast for migratory waterbirds, particularly those with high conservation concerns, emphasizing the need to mitigate the threats faced by these vulnerable populations.

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Numbers of Spoon-billed Sandpipers in Jiangsu Province, China, during the post-breeding moult in relation to recent changes in the intertidal zone

Cited by 3 publications

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Importance of habitat heterogeneity in tidal flats to the conservation of migratory shorebirds

Importance of habitat heterogeneity in tidal flats to the conservation of migratory shorebirds

Accelerating decline of an important wintering population of the critically endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea at Sonadia Island, Bangladesh

Migratory Connectivity of Zhejiang, with a Critical Stopover in East Asian-Australasian Flyway, Based on Recovery Data

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