Restoration Design Of Waterbird Habitat In Dajiuhu Wetlands

As a typical species in wetlands,waterbirds play an irreplaceable role in maintaining the stability of the wetland ecosystem.However,due to the human disturbance caused by social and economic development,more and more wetlands are being destroyed.The quality of the ecological environment and the suitability of waterbird habitat continues to decline,resulting in a serious threat to the survival and reproduction of waterbird population.With the deepening of people’s cognition of wetland value,the restoration of waterbird habitat has gradually attracted attention.Dajiuhu wetlands is a rare alpine marsh wetland.It suffered severe human disturbance in history and the water area once disappeared.After a series of restoration measures were implemented,the wetland condition improved significantly.But there are still fewer species and numbers of waterbirds living here.Therefore,it is of great significance to propose targeted wetland restoration design schemes and measures based on waterbird habitat suitability evaluation for waterbird protection and wetland habitat quality improvement in Dajiuhu wetlands.In order to restore the waterbird habitat,this study summarized the general situation of wetland and waterbird resources in Dajiuhu wetlands.Through the analysis of the waterbirds and habitat of Dajiuhu wetlands,it is determined that the little grebe and egret are the representative species of the swimming birds and wading birds.According to their living habits,six representative evaluation factors of habitat suitability were selected,including distance from water source,water depth,food abundance,hidden conditions,behavioral disturbance and traffic disturbance,and the relevant evaluation criteria were determined.Based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process and ArcGIS,the Habitat Suitability Evaluation of the Dajiuhu wetlands is carried out.The unsuitable areas and actual conditions of the site are judged in the comprehensive evaluation results,and three wetland restoration design areas are obtained.The design scheme and measures for restoration of waterbird habitat in the Dajiuhu wetlands are proposed in four aspects: habitat creation,reduction of human interference,plant configuration,and waterbird protection facilities to provide suitable habitat for waterbird and create a harmonious spatial environment for humans and birds.The main results of this study are as follows.(1)Analyzed the problems of waterbird habitat in the Dajiuhu wetlands.The Dajiuhu wetlands is dominated by lakes and marshes.The habitat type is relatively simple,the beach area is small,and it is greatly affected by water level changes.The space suitable for foraging and habitation of egrets and other wading birds is relatively narrow.In recent years,road construction and tourism development have become new interference factors,affecting the survival of waterbirds.(2)Suitability degree of habitat for waterbirds in the Dajiuhu wetlands gradually increases as they move away from the road.Most unsuitable areas are distributed on both sides of the road.The unsuitable habitat areas for swimming birds and wading birds are 262.766 hm~2 and438.08 hm~2,accounting for 23.52% and 39.21% of the total area,respectively.(3)Based on the habitat suitability evaluation,the principles and methodological measures of waterbird habitat restoration design are proposed in four aspects: habitat creation,reduction of human interference,plant configuration,and waterbird protection facilities,and the application of waterbird habitat restoration design is carried out with the Dajiuhu wetlands as a case study.Increase the habitat type of the Dajiuhu wetlands and enrich the landscape structure by creating shallow beaches and plant floating island;reduce human interference by controlling the flow of people,shading plants,setting barriers,softening the hardscape and providing a sheltered and nesting environment for waterbird with reasonable plant configurations;waterbird protection facilities are used to attract waterbird and improve habitat suitability;ecological barriers supplemented by science functions are added to isolate human and bird activities,and bird-watching pavilions are renovated to carry out science education.