Yellow River Delta Wetland Bird Communities

As the main habitat of waterbirds, wetland is one ecosystem with the most productive and the highest biodiversity in the world, which is threatened by the increasing human disturbances. Yellow River Delta National Reserve is situated at the Estuary of Yellow River, which is the main route that Asian migratory birds migrate along. It is an important stop-over site and wintering ground for migratory birds. Studies on the composition of the waterbird communities, population dynamics and habitat selection were conducted in the Yellow River Delta National Reserve from September,2008 to June,2009. The main results are as follows.1. Seventy-two species of waterbirds had been recorded during surveys in the Yellow River Delta National Reserve from September,2008 to June,2009 which belonged to 7 orders,13 families, of which the migrants accounted for 56%. We observed thirteen kinds of waterfowls which were in severe danger, including four kinds of national frist-grade protected birds and nine kinds of national second-grade protected birds. The composition of waterfowl communities was not the same at different wetlands. Species numbers and daily numbers of waterfowl were the largest in the region of TT, while species numbers and daily numbers of natatores were the largest in the region of LW.2. Migratory dynamics of different types of habitats were different during waterfowl migration.The first peak of migratory waterbirds during spring migration appeared in the region of LW, while the first peak of migratory waterbirds during fall migration appeared in the region of TT. By analyzing Shannon index in the four different types of habitats, we discovered that the region of LW had the highest Shannon index in spring migration and the region of TT had the highest Shannon index in autumn migration.In all types of habitats, species diversity index in spring migration was lower than that in autumn except the region of LW.3. The research on the relationship between waterfowl and habitat factors showed that waterfowls community structure correlated with plant diversity, habitat type diversity, percentage of water area without plant, plant height, plant coverage and water depth significantly. Plant diversity, habitat type diversity and percentage of water area without plant positively correlated with waterfowls community structure significantly. Plant height and plant coverage affected waterfowls community structure significantly.In conclusion, to improve the quality of wetlands for waterfowls in Yellow River Delta National Reserve, some positive management recommendations were as follows. the water levels of multiple gradient of wetland should be maintained to facilitate different ecological types for birds inhabiting. The protection of wetland should be strengthen and the area of wetland should be expanded in order to provide more suitable habitat for the wetland birds. The basic research on wetland reserve should also be enhanced to explore the sustainable development.