Identification And Optimization Of Human-Bird Conflict In "Ecological Function Area Village" Of Wuhan City Based On Bird Diversity

The conflict between bird diversity conservation and human activities is an important challenge to sustainable development.With rapid urbanization,many rural areas have suffered serious damage to their natural ecosystems,resulting in declining bird populations and habitat fragmentation.In order to reverse the loss of bird diversity,conservation actions need to be extended to the “Ecological Function Area Village” where human-bird conflicts are prominent.At present,the relationship between human activities and bird diversity has been widely explored in urban built environment,national parks and nature reserves,but the relationship between different types of birds and human activities in rural areas with important biodiversity conservation functions is not yet known,and the results of the assessment of the potential conflict level to propose optimal strategies for human-bird conflict are not yet clear.This study is based on the results of the “Ecological Function Area Village” in Wuhan.In this study,we used correlation analysis and stepwise regression model construction to analyze the number and distribution characteristics of bird diversity in the “Ecological Function Area Village” of Wuhan City from two aspects,namely,the characteristic indicators of bird diversity and the comprehensive indicators,and conducted a human-bird conflict identification and potential conflict assessment.The study also identified the degree of human-bird conflict and assessed potential conflicts,and further proposed conflict optimization strategies.The study provides a new perspective for the study of human-bird conflict,and also provides a reference for the conservation of bird diversity and the planning of “Ecological Function Area Village”.The main findings are as follows:(1)Songbirds and wading birds were the most common bird species in the village,accounting for 81.1% of the species.In terms of quantitative relationships,villages with a high number of species tend to have a high bird richness.In contrast,villages with the presence of only one bird species had the lowest richness.Also,villages with more species usually had higher bird diversity and evenness.In addition,land birds had the highest overall diversity and wandering birds the lowest.In terms of spatial distribution,songbirds were mainly distributed in forest parks,botanical gardens,and Mulan cultural and ecological tourism areas,while wading birds preferred large river and lake habitats,and wading birds were mainly distributed in sinking lake wetlands,Ansan Wetland Park,and Upper Wading Lake wetlands,while land birds were distributed in lakes,scenic areas,nature reserves,and wetland parks.Climbing birds and raptors are less distributed.Climbing birds are mainly distributed in Botanical Garden,Dujia Lake,Xianren Lake,etc.,while raptors are concentrated in Sinking Lake,Maanshan Forest Park,etc.(2)The study on the factors influencing the characteristics of bird diversity found that songbird abundance was significantly and positively correlated with village area,while wading,swimming and raptor abundance were significantly and positively correlated with the distance of rural home base.Production activities such as field cultivation and pit pond farming had a greater impact on the number of songbirds,land birds,climbing birds and other bird species,and the results of bird diversity and evenness were consistent,where the climbing bird diversity index was significantly and positively correlated with the distance of rural roads and pit pond water,and the raptor diversity index was significantly and positively correlated with the distance of cultivated land and rural house bases.In contrast,the diversity and evenness of songbirds,wading birds,and swimming birds were significantly negatively correlated with the distance of rural roads,cultivated land,rural house bases and gardens,and the combined diversity results showed that only raptor combined diversity was influenced by human life activities.For the human production activity factor,the integrated diversity of climbing birds and land birds were both negatively affected by the distance from the water surface of pits and ponds,and the further the distance from the garden,the higher the integrated diversity index of both wading birds and swimming birds,while the integrated diversity of raptors was significantly and positively correlated with the distance from the cultivated land,which indicated that the integrated diversity of raptors was more disturbed by production activities such as field cultivation.Meanwhile,raptor abundance,richness and integrated diversity all decreased with increasing distance from water facilities,indicating that human activities have no significant impact on the survival of raptors in reservoirs and causeway forests.(3)The results of conflict degree identification show that 61.5% of villages are suitable for the survival of climbing birds,while songbirds,wading birds,wading birds,land birds and raptors all have the largest proportion of villages with low conflict degree,with a maximum of 56.7%;the lowest proportion of villages with harmonious human-bird or nonconflict villages,with a minimum of 4.5%.The lowest percentage was 4.5%,indicating that the existing rural environment was not suitable for these five species of birds,especially for raptors,where the combined percentage of conflict-free and human-bird harmony was only 13.2%.The high conflict villages are mainly distributed in and around the East Lake Scenic Area,Dujia Lake,Yanxi Lake,Maanshan Forest Park,Niushan Lake,Houguan Lake,etc.,while the areas with human-bird harmony are mainly distributed around Mulan Cultural and Ecological Tourism Area,Anshan National Wetland Park,Shangcheng Lake Wetland Nature Reserve,Moon Lake,Xianren Lake,Fuhe Wetland,etc.From the results of potential conflict assessment,the villages adjacent to the lakes and mountainous areas tend to be in a harmonious state for people and birds,while the ecological green wedge of Wuhu Lake,the ecological green wedge of Dadong Lake,the ecological green wedge of Houguan Lake and the ecological green wedge of Fuhe River tend to have a higher degree of conflict.(4)The causes of conflicts are mainly agricultural production activities that reduce food resources,rural housing construction that destroys habitats,and population and environmental changes that interfere with the normal behavior of birds,Based on the above problems,we propose conflict optimization strategies in three aspects: protecting ecological elements of "human-bird harmony" villages by grading and classifying,changing industrial patterns and limiting production activities in high conflict villages,and improving landscape quality in low conflict villages.