From separation to incorporation: Development of a unifying framework that integrated bird habitats with public recreation spaces within the wetland park system

Abstract

The Ramsar Convention places central emphasis on the protection, restoration, and utilization of wetlands. Wetland species and their habitat protection is an important embodiment of wetland system protection. Simultaneously, the importance of recreation as a form of human activity within wetlands should not be underestimated. Wetland parks, as a mode of rational wetland use, provide the public opportunities for leisure and entertainment, exemplifying China's commitment to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. However, With the acceleration of urbanization, the degree of fragmentation of the wetland system is increasing. The wetland park and its surrounding landscape elements are separated from each other, resulting in the phenomenon of islanding, which is not conducive to the protection and utilization of wetland biodiversity. This study focuses on Yancheng coastal wetland, a UNESCO World Heritage site in Jiangsu, China, as its research area. It integrates habitat birds, a core component of wetland biodiversity, into the development framework of wetland parks. The study proposes the use of composite habitat corridors to connect fragmented bird habitats with public recreational areas, establishing a collaborative wetland park system. The methodology involved three key steps: (1)Spatial Modeling. Utilizing Maxent, the spatial distribution of birds and public recreation areas was modeled, and suitable patches for both were extracted. (2) Corridor Identification. Linkage Mapper was employed to identify bird and recreational corridors, while the MCR model was used to pinpoint composite habitat corridors. (3) Network Development. Corridors generated in the previous step were superimposed on the ArcGIS platform to create a network of interconnected bird habitats and public recreation areas within the wetland park system. The study's results demonstrate: (1) There are obvious spatial distribution differences between the current core bird habitat and public recreation areas in Yancheng coastal wetland. (2) The establishment of a composite corridor network realizes the interconnection between bird habitats and public recreation areas，among them, the corridor network in the southern region is short and dense, with higher stability. (3) The areas passed by the composite corridor network are mainly productive landscapes such as cultivated land and aquaculture ponds, and therefore, certain protection and restoration measures should be taken to create suitable habitat conditions for birds and humans. This study provides a novel model for wetland protection and sustainable utilization, particularly relevant to many developing countries facing similar challenges.