Habitat Selection And Protection Strategies Of Oriental White Stork In Honghe National Nature Reserve, China

Oriental white stork is one of endangered species waterfowl, list in the first class of protection bird of China. At present, there is only a population about 2500-3000. Honghe National Nature Reserve is the most importance breeding site in Sanjiang Plain in China. Habitat conditions and conservation strategies is crucial for protecting Oriental White Stork and restoring the population.Using topography map(l:50000)and function district map seven habitat composition were classified including double-line river, lake, season lake, shallow mire, deep water mire, forest land, and farm land.Habitat selection of thirty eight nests (including seven natural nests, eleven artificial nests, twenty non-used nests) for Oriental White Stork was conducted by GPS positioning and factor measurement. After nest found, the dominating ecological factors with definite distance to nest tree (less than 10 meters) including tree species, tree height, habitat type of nesting-tree, nest position, the type of nesting tree branch, nest type, the type of nest-site, the viability status of tree and branch was described and measured. Geography coordinates (latitude-longitude) was converted into orthogonal coordinates, and add to Arcview3.2 as shape-file, and measured the distance between nest and the habitat type including double-line river, lake, seasonal lake, shallow mire, deep water mire, meadow mire, farmland, sparse forest, forest marsh, the boundary of Nature Reserve and road. All data was analyzed by using One-way ANOVA, Independent Samples t test, and Factor Analysis in the SPSS 12.0.The four principal factor of habitat selection was concluded, the first principal factor is landscape factor, including "distance to meadow mire", "distance to lake", "distance to double-line river", "distance to sparse forest", "distance to road". The second principal factor is cover factor, including "distance to seasonal lake", "distance to the boundary of Nature Reserve", "the viability status of tree", "distance to forest marsh", and the viability status of branch. The third principal factor is food factor, including "distance to deep water mire". The last principal factor is supplement food factor, including "distance to shallow marsh", "distance to farmland".The results show that the principal factor of habitat selection on Oriental White Stork was generalized into four hiberarchy, (1) the multi-functional landscape of satisfied nesting, cover food; (2) better shelter nest-site; (3) food factor; (4) supplement food factor.Principal protection and management strategies were suggested to protect Oriental White Stork, including water complement, bird attracted using artificial nests, adaptive ecosystem management, and international research.