Impacts of ecological restoration and human activities on habitat of overwintering migratory birds in the wetland of Poyang Lake, Jiangxi Province, China

Abstract

Increasing human activities have contributed to global climate change, and thus resulted in a downward trend in the number of species and population sizes of migratory birds. This trend is closely related to a reduction in habitat size and lower habitat quality. The Poyang Lake wetland in China constitutes one of Asia’s largest overwintering habitats for migratory birds. Over the past 10 years, restoration projects have improved the habitat ecology of these wetlands. In this study, we assessed the changes in habitat quality for overwintering migratory birds from 2000 to 2012 near two villages in the Poyang Lake wetland using the InVEST model. Average habitat quality for migratory birds has been improved by 18.8% and 47.7%. Differences in the degrees of habitat improvement can be attributed to differences in the change of habitat size and in the impact of threat sources that resulted from the combined effects of restoration and human activities in these two villages.