Influence of land-use change on the crane habitat and population in Shengjin Lake Wetland

Abstract

Shengjin Lake Wetland is an important habitat for winter cranes of China, and changes of land-use structures in the area have had a vital influence on winter cranes and their habitat. According to the study on the changes of the population and habitat of the cranes in the Shengjin Lake Wetland, a constructive suggestion for the cranes and habitat protection would be presented. TM remote sensing images for years 1986-2015 were selected, and a land-use change model was used to calculate the comprehensive index of land-use of the years from 1986 to 2015, and the change value of land-use degree in different periods was obtained. The land-use transformation method was employed to calculate the transfer probability of land-use of Shengjin Lake Wetland during the period from 1986 to 2015, and the transfer of the winter crane habitat was analyzed. Results showed that the degree of land-use change fluctuated greatly in different periods with a comprehensive index of land-use degree between 220 and 260. Also land-use was based on woodlands, marshlands, and waters and their effect on the habitat was limited; marshland had the highest retention rate among the crane habitats being 34.44%. Reed beach land had the lowest rate at only 15.36% and was mainly transferred to marsh (23.22%) and dry land (18.16%). Mud was mainly transferred to water (31.79%) and farmland (27.75%). Thus, except for the period from 2011 to 2015, the change in habitat area was basically consistent with the change in the number of cranes.