Coastal waterbird eco-habitat stability assessment in Zhangjiangkou Mangrove National Nature Reserve Based on habitat function-coordination coupling

Abstract

As a result of waterbird population declines, several habitat studies have been undertaken. Nonetheless, a vast majority of these studies fall short of a full assessment of the underlying relationship between functionality and coordinated development relationships between the habitat and threat variables. To comprehensively analyze the stability of the waterbird habitat in the Zhangjiangkou Mangrove National Nature Reserve (ZMNNR), this study offers a unique technique that integrates the functionality of the waterbird habitat with the coordinated development of habitat and threat variables in a GIS environment over a three-decade timeframe (1990–2020). The findings revealed that the very stable region of the research site grew by nearly 50% throughout the three-decade study period, with a substantial portion concentrated around the mangrove reserve. This growing distribution of highly stable sections in the mangrove reserve was believed to be the outcome of progressive expansion in habitat functioning and the region's counterbalanced interaction between habitat and threat variables. A comparison of stability within and beyond the mangrove reserve border found that an unbalanced link between habitat and threat variables resulted in a 23% decline in stability outside the mangrove reserve boundary. From 2020 to 2050, this deterioration was expected to worsen, eventually affecting more than half of the territory.Further investigation found that habitat type and area, ecosystem service value, habitat fragmentation, and wetness were all identified as the primary driving mechanisms influencing changes in habitat stability. Moreover, these driving forces were shown to have varied influences on changes in waterbird habitat stability. This approach's capacity to successfully analyze and discover significant regions of waterbird habitat and zones with a coordinated relationship between habitat and threat variables makes it a valuable technical reference tool to aid decision-makers in habitat conservation and eco-restoration studies.