Post-breeding migration of adult Spoon-billed Sandpipers

Chang, Qing; Syroechkovskiy, Evgeny E.; Anderson, Guy Q.A.; Aung, Pyae-Phyo; Beresford, Alison E.; Brides, Kane; Chowdhury, Sayam U.; Clark, Nigel A.; Clark, Jacquie A.; Howey, Paul W.; Hughes, Baz; Insua-Cao, Paul; Jia, Yongxing; Lappo, Elena Elena; Leung, Katherine K.S.; Loktionov, E. Yu.; Martinez, Jonathan O.; Melville, David S.; Phillips, James G.; Putra, Chairunas Adha; Tomkovich, Pavel S.; Weston, Ewan; Weston, J F; Yakushev, Nikolai; Green, Rhys E.

doi:10.18194/ws.00201

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…The Beibu Gulf (also known as the Gulf of Tonkin, Vịnh Bắc Bộ as it is known in Vietnam; 北部湾 in Chinese) spans the frontiers of China and Vietnam and serves as one of the most important migration stopover and wintering areas for many waterbirds at the interface of Southeast Asia and south China along the EAAF, including critically endangered species such as spoon-billed sandpiper Calidris pygmaea (Pedersen et al, 1996;Chang et al, 2020;Nguyen et al, 2021). It is a large, semi-enclosed bay located northwest of the South China Sea, drained by several major rivers such as the Nanliu in China and the Red River in Vietnam.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying the wetlands of international importance in Beibu Gulf along the East Asian – Australasian Flyway, based on multiple citizen science datasets

Tang,

Ma,

et al. 2023

Front. Mar. Sci.

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The Beibu Gulf (Gulf of Tonkin, Vinh Bac Bo in Vietnamese), located midway along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF), is a critical stopover and wintering region for migratory waterbirds. This transboundary coastal region, spanning between China and Vietnam, harbors diverse wetland habitats that provide refuge to waterbird species, including highly threatened species such as the spoon-billed sandpiper (CR) and the black-faced spoonbill (EN). However, the scarcity of comprehensive assessments regarding waterbird abundances, distribution, key wetland habitats, and regional threats hinders our understanding of its conservation significance at the flyway level. Further research is needed to address these knowledge gaps and facilitate effective conservation efforts in the Beibu Gulf. By synthesizing accessible citizen science datasets and published records from wetland sites in south China and northeast Vietnam, we concluded that at least 97 waterbird species used the Gulf’s wetlands during their annual cycle. Among surveys conducted from 2014 to 2022, 6 and 13 waterbird species were considered as first and second class protected species under the National Key Protected Wild Animal List in China; 2 species were listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, 5 as Endangered and 2 as Vulnerable, underlying the critical importance of the Beibu Gulf for the survival of these species. Our study identified 25 sites in the Beibu Gulf that met the criteria for designation as internationally important wetlands. Alarmingly, less than a quarter (n = 6, or 24%) of these sites benefit from national or international protection. Localized threats, including aquatic resource harvesting, hunting, and aquaculture/fisheries, were widespread in the region. This study provides a crucial scientific baseline for continued waterbird monitoring, site prioritization, and the development of effective habitat management plans to conserve vital coastal wetland habitats in the Beibu Gulf in China and Vietnam.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying the wetlands of international importance in Beibu Gulf along the East Asian – Australasian Flyway, based on multiple citizen science datasets

Tang,

Ma,

et al. 2023

Front. Mar. Sci.

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“…Studds et al (2017) found that variation among different species and populations of shorebirds on the East-Asian Australasian Flyway in their recent rate of population decline was closely correlated with the degree to which each species relies upon the Yellow Sea wetlands during its annual migration cycle. The analysis by Studds et al (2017) did not include any data on Spoon-billed Sandpipers, but the species is highly dependent on the Yellow Sea region during both the autumn and spring migrations (Chang et al 2020). The rate at which the world population of the species was declining up to 2019 is similar to that expected from the cross-species regression analysis of data from other species by Studds et al (2017), so this provides some quantitative support for the hypothesis that land claim of intertidal wetlands has contributed to causing the decline.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first assumption seems reasonable, given that monthly counts of Spoon-billed Sandpipers at Kaladia fluctuated and marked individuals were recorded on some but not all survey visits throughout the winter (see "Results"). With regard to the second assumption, satellite-tracking studies have shown that Spoon-billed Sandpipers arrive on their wintering sites in early November and then remain at the site throughout the boreal winter up to March (Chang et al 2020). Hence, we did not expect there to be migratory arrivals and departures to and from the study area to occur during the winter.…”

Section: Rationale Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 96%

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

Self Cite

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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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“…The reported GPS circular error of probability (50%) for Nano is 2.5 m while Mini is 5 m. All trackers and harnesses used weighed less than 5% of the bird's body weight, with an overall average of 3.2 ± 0.7% ( n = 16). Trackers were fitted to waterbirds either with leg‐loop harnesses or by a glue‐on method (Thaxter et al 2014; Chan et al 2016; Chang et al 2020). Trackers could record about 100 GPS location fixes daily when the charging conditions were good (e.g.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of Spartina alterniflora eradication on waterbirds and benthic organisms

Lyu,

Zhang,

Ren

et al. 2023

Restoration Ecology

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There has been an increasing number of coastal restoration projects to eradicate Smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) and restore bare tidal flats to conserve waterbirds. However, the evidence for the assumed benefits to waterbirds and benthic organisms after such restoration efforts remains limited. We evaluated the impact of S. alterniflora eradication on waterbirds and benthic organisms in southern China. We deployed time‐lapse cameras and satellite trackers to quantify and compare the occurrence frequency and habitat use of birds in different habitats. We compared the density and biomass of benthic organisms collected in bare tidal flats and areas where S. alterniflora had been eradicated. We found that almost all waterbirds, except gulls, avoided areas where S. alterniflora was present. Once S. alterniflora was eradicated, the species richness and species‐level diversity of shorebirds and waterbirds did not differ significantly from those of the bare tidal flats. At least 9 out of 14 tracked individual shorebirds used areas where S. alterniflora had been eradicated, with Common Redshank (Tringa totanus) demonstrating a clear preference for such habitat. The density and biomass of benthos in deeper sediments (5–20 cm below the surface) were significantly lower in areas where S. alterniflora had been eradicated than in bare tidal flats, indicating that the food resources for birds may take longer than 1 year to recover. This research demonstrates that the eradication of S. alterniflora is important for the restoration of waterbird habitats, and such efforts should be made in areas that are important to waterbirds.

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Post-breeding migration of adult Spoon-billed Sandpipers

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Identifying the wetlands of international importance in Beibu Gulf along the East Asian – Australasian Flyway, based on multiple citizen science datasets

Identifying the wetlands of international importance in Beibu Gulf along the East Asian – Australasian Flyway, based on multiple citizen science datasets

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

The effect of Spartina alterniflora eradication on waterbirds and benthic organisms

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