The Size of Winter-Flooded Paddy Fields No Longer Limits the Foraging Habitat Use of the Endangered Crested Ibis (<i>Nipponia nippon</i>) in Winter

Hu, Canshi; Song, Xin; Ding, Changqing; Ye, Yuan-Xing; Qing, Baoping; Chao, Wang

doi:10.2108/zs150012

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…The distance to the roads is recognized as one of the major factors affecting the bird mortality along roads (Piao et al, 2016). Even though previous studies have shown that deliberate human-induced risks can affect the population growth and range expansion of crested ibises (Sun et al, 2016), they are found to be able to live rather close to human settlements (Hu et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Evaluating bird collision risk of a high-speed railway crossing the habitat of the crested ibis (Nipponia nippon) in Qinling Mountains, China

Hu,

Tang,

Wang

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Bird collisions with high-speed transport modes is a vital topic on vehicle safety and wildlife protection, especially when high-speed trains, with an average speed of 250km/h, have to run across the habitat of an endangered bird species. This paper evaluates the birdtrain collision risk associated with a recent high-speed railway project in Qinling Mountains, China, for the crested ibis (Nipponia nippon) and other local bird species. Using line transect surveys and walking monitoring techniques, we surveyed the population abundance, spatialtemporal distributions, and bridge-crossing behaviors of the birds in the study area. The results show that: (1) The crested ibis and the egret were the two most abundant waterfowl species in the study area. The RAI of these two species were about 43.69% and 42.91%, respectively; (2) Crested ibises overall habitat closer to the railway bridge. 91.63% of them were firstly detected within the range of 0m to 25m of the vicinity of the bridge; (3) the ratio between crossing over and under the railway bridge was about 7:3. Crested ibises were found to prefer to fly over the railway bridge (89.29% of the total crossing activities observed for this species). Egrets were more likely to cross the railway below the bridge, and they accounted for 60.27% of the total observations of crossing under the bridge. We recommend that, while the collision risk of crested ibises could be low, barrier-like structures, such as fences, should still be considered to promote the conservation of multiple bird species in the area. This paper provides a practical case for railway ecology studies in China. To our best knowledge, this is the first high-speed railway project that takes protecting crested ibises as one of the top priorities, and exemplifies the recent nationwide initiative towards the construction of "eco-civilization" in the country.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Evaluating bird collision risk of a high-speed railway crossing the habitat of the crested ibis (Nipponia nippon) in Qinling Mountains, China

Hu,

Tang,

Wang

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…We first compared the differences in nest characteristics between mountains and plains. We divided the nest sites into these two groups according to elevation (Hu et al 2016); nest sites with elevation >600 m were classified within the 'mountain' group, while those under 600 m were part of the 'plain' group. For continuous variables, we used Mann-Whitney U-tests, as the data were not In a second step, we examined the important environmental drivers for nest-site selection using logistic regression in a generalized linear mixed-effects model (GLMM) with the binomial presence (0/1) as response variable.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In plains, the main nesting trees were on average taller than those in mountain areas (Table 1, Fig. 5) and hence provide suitable branches for nesting higher above ground, which might compensate for the increased human disturbance resulting from higher human population density (Hu et al 2016).…”

Section: Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tall trees drive the nest-site selection of wild Crested Ibis Nipponia nippon

Huang

ZHANG

et al. 2022

Bird Conservation International

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Summary Understanding how birds select breeding sites plays an important role in habitat protection, especially for the conservation of endangered species. With the increase in population size of the endangered Crested Ibis Nipponia nippon, its distribution range has expanded from mountain areas to plains located outside protected areas, representing a new challenge for conservation of the species. Identifying the current nesting habitat requirements is thus needed and can provide valuable information for the planning of new nature reserves. In this research, we surveyed a total of 117 nests across the whole distribution range from 2015 to 2019. We used generalized linear mixed-effects models to assess nesting preferences of the Crested Ibis in the wild. Results showed that in mountain areas, Masson pines Pinus massoniana were preferred (64.6%), whereas elms Ulmus pumila (44.9%) and aspens Populus davidiana (40.6%) were used more frequently lower down, probably because of their higher availability. In both mountain areas and plains the ibises selected tall nesting trees with larger diameter at breast height and preferred nesting rather high above ground, especially in plains where taller trees provided higher suitable nesting positions. The ibises also preferred nesting close to tree trunks, especially in mountain areas, probably for more safety from collapsing. Furthermore, in mountain areas, slope and distance to path had positive effects on nesting occurrence, and understorey coverage was avoided by nesting ibises, while these variables had little impact in plains. Our results indicate that, despite their range expansion, Crested Ibises rely on very specific habitat characteristics for nesting. We suggest relatively tall trees like elms and aspens should be preserved in plains. In addition, we highlight how selection patterns of Crested Ibises may vary, and that such variation should be addressed in conservation planning, especially in future reintroduction.

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“…Relevant spatial and temporal scales Disturbance Distance to footpaths, roads, or railways (Burton et al, 2002, Hu et al, 2016, Li et al, 2019 Human settlements (Li et al, 2019) The presence of people and vehicles nearby ([? ]50 m) reduces foraging rates (Maslo et al, 2012) Likewise, time spent foraging and flock density were reduced at a highly disturbed site (Swift et al, 2020) Human activities (e.g., clam harvesting) may have positive effects on waterbirds, especially shorebirds (Hamza et al, 2015) Site Requires the birds to have perfect knowledge of the resource distribution available (Reurink et al, 2015), which may not always be the case (Lewis et al, 2010) Site/region -Instantaneous/within season/annual…”

Section: Contradictory Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring habitat quality for waterbirds: a review

Mott

Prowse

Jackson

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Quantifying habitat quality is dependent on measuring a site’s relative contribution to population growth rate. This is challenging for studies of waterbirds, whose high mobility can decouple demographic rates from local habitat conditions and make sustained monitoring of individuals near-impossible. To overcome these challenges, biologists have used many direct and indirect proxies of waterbird habitat quality. However, consensus on what methods are most appropriate for a given scenario is lacking. We undertook a structured literature review of the methods used to quantify waterbird habitat quality, and provide a synthesis of the context-dependent strengths and limitations of those methods. Our structured search of the Web of Science database returned a sample of 398 studies, upon which our review was based. The reviewed studies assessed habitat quality by either measuring habitat attributes (e.g., food abundance, water quality, vegetation structure), or measuring attributes of the waterbirds themselves (e.g., demographic parameters, body condition, behaviour, distribution). Measuring habitat attributes, although they are only indirectly related to demographic rates, has the advantage of being unaffected by waterbird behavioural stochasticity. Conversely, waterbird-derived measures (e.g., body condition, peck rates) may be more directly related to demographic rates than habitat variables, but may be subject to greater stochastic variation (e.g., behavioural change due to presence of conspecifics). Therefore, caution is needed to ensure that the measured variable does influence waterbird demographic rates. This assumption was usually based on ecological theory rather than empirical evidence. Our review highlighted that there is no single best, universally applicable method to quantify waterbird habitat quality. Individual project specifics (e.g., time frame, spatial scale, funding) will influence the choice of variables measured. Where possible, practitioners should measure variables most directly related to demographic rates. Generally, measuring multiple variables yields a better chance of accurately capturing the relationship between habitat characteristics and demographic rates.

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The Size of Winter-Flooded Paddy Fields No Longer Limits the Foraging Habitat Use of the Endangered Crested Ibis (Nipponia nippon) in Winter

Cited by 9 publications

References 26 publications

Evaluating bird collision risk of a high-speed railway crossing the habitat of the crested ibis (Nipponia nippon) in Qinling Mountains, China

Evaluating bird collision risk of a high-speed railway crossing the habitat of the crested ibis (Nipponia nippon) in Qinling Mountains, China

Tall trees drive the nest-site selection of wild Crested Ibis Nipponia nippon

Measuring habitat quality for waterbirds: a review

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