Abstract
China’s coastal wetlands belong to some of the most threatened ecosystems worldwide. The loss and degradation of these wetlands seriously threaten waterbirds that depend on wetlands. The China Coastal Waterbird Census was organized by volunteer birdwatchers in China’s coastal region. Waterbirds were surveyed synchronously once every month at 14 sites, as well as irregularly at a further 18 sites, between September 2005 and December 2013. A total of 75 species of waterbirds met the 1 % population level Ramsar listing criterion at least once at one site. The number of birds of the following species accounted for over 20 % of the total flyway populations at a single site: Mute Swan (Cygnus olor), Siberia Crane (Grus leucogeranus), Far Eastern Oystercatcher (Haematopus osculans), Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica), Spotted Greenshank (Tringa guttifer), Great Knot (Calidris tenuirostris), Spoon-billed Sandpiper (Calidris pygmeus), Saunders’s Gull (Larus saundersi), Relict Gull (Larus relictus), Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), Eurasian Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia), Black-faced Spoonbill (Platalea minor) and Dalmatian Pelican (Pelecanus crispus). A total of 26 sites supported at least one species of which their number met the 1 % criterion. Forty-two species met the 1 % criterion in the Yellow River Delta, Shandong; 29 at the Cangzhou coast, Hebei and 26 species at the Lianyungang coast, Jiangsu. The results highlight the international importance of China’s coastal wetlands for waterbirds. This study also demonstrates that participation of local birdwatchers in waterbird surveys results in data that are invaluable not only for understanding the current status of waterbirds in China’s coastal regions but also for waterbird conservation and management.
Highlights
China’s coastal wetlands belong to some of the most threatened ecosystems worldwide
Waterbirds were surveyed in nature reserves, especially focusing on threatened species such as the Redcrowned Crane (Grus japanensis) (Su and Zou 2012) and the Chinese Crested Tern (Sterna bernsteini) (Fan et al 2011), while synchronous waterbird surveys have been conducted in some reserves continuously throughout the years
A total of 112 Dalmatian Pelicans was recorded at Tiaozini reclamation district, the Dongtai coast, Jiangsu in November 2013 which exceeds the former estimated total number of 100 individuals, in East Asia (Wetlands International 2014). These results provide the basis for updating the total population of these waterbirds in the flyway
Summary
China’s coastal wetlands belong to some of the most threatened ecosystems worldwide. The loss and degradation of these wetlands seriously threaten waterbirds that depend on wetlands. China’s coastal wetlands provide critical breeding, stopover and wintering sites for millions of waterbirds along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. Waterbirds were surveyed in nature reserves, especially focusing on threatened species such as the Redcrowned Crane (Grus japanensis) (Su and Zou 2012) and the Chinese Crested Tern (Sterna bernsteini) (Fan et al 2011), while synchronous waterbird surveys have been conducted in some reserves continuously throughout the years. All these surveys have provided basic data for conservation and management measures
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