scholarly journals Drought at a coastal wetland affects refuelling and migration strategies of shorebirds

Oecologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra M. Anderson ◽  
Christian Friis ◽  
Cheri L. Gratto-Trevor ◽  
Christopher M. Harris ◽  
Oliver P. Love ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
Coastal Wetlands ◽  
Coastal Wetland ◽  
Detailed Comparison ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Stopover Site ◽  
Moderate Drought ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
Effects Of Drought ◽  
And Migration

AbstractDroughts can affect invertebrate communities in wetlands, which can have bottom-up effects on the condition and survival of top predators. Shorebirds, key predators at coastal wetlands, have experienced widespread population declines and could be negatively affected by droughts. We explored, in detail, the effects of drought on multiple aspects of shorebird stopover and migration ecology by contrasting a year with average wet/dry conditions (2016) with a year with moderate drought (2017) at a major subarctic stopover site on southbound migration. We also examined the effects of drought on shorebird body mass during stopover across 14 years (historical: 1974–1982 and present-day: 2014–2018). For the detailed comparison of two years, in the year with moderate drought we documented lower invertebrate abundance at some sites, higher prey family richness in shorebird faecal samples, lower shorebird refuelling rates, shorter stopover durations for juveniles, and, for most species, a higher probability of making a subsequent stopover in North America after departing the subarctic, compared to the year with average wet/dry conditions. In the 14-year dataset, shorebird body mass tended to be lower in drier years. We show that even short-term, moderate drought conditions can negatively affect shorebird refuelling performance at coastal wetlands, which may carry-over to affect subsequent stopover decisions. Given shorebird population declines and predicted changes in the severity and duration of droughts with climate change, researchers should prioritize a better understanding of how droughts affect shorebird refuelling performance and survival.

scholarly journals Coastal wetlands in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, China: probably the most important site globally for the Asian Dowitcher (Limnodromus semipalmatus)

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziyou Yang ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Yongxiang Han ◽  
Chris J. Hassell ◽  
Kar-Sin Katherine Leung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Wetlands ◽  
Coastal Wetland ◽  
Migratory Bird ◽  
Jiangsu Province ◽  
Bohai Bay ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Human Disturbances ◽  
Stopover Site ◽  
Stochastic Events ◽  
Global Population

Abstract Background Despite an increasing number of surveys and a growing interest in birdwatching, the population and distribution of Asian Dowitcher (Limnodromus semipalmatus), a species endemic to the East Asian–Australasian and Central Asian Flyways, remains poorly understood, and published information about the species is largely outdated. In boreal spring 2019, over 22,432 Asian Dowitchers were recorded in a coastal wetland at Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, China, constituting 97.5% of its estimated global population. Methods In 2019 and 2020, we conducted field surveys at Lianyungang to determine the numbers of Asian Dowitchers using the area during both southward and northward migrations. We also assessed the distribution and abundance of Asian Dowitchers elsewhere along the China coast by searching literature and consulting expert opinion. Results The coastal wetlands of Lianyungang are the most important stopover site for Asian Dowitchers during both northward and southward migrations; they supported over 90% of the estimated global population during northward migration in two consecutive years (May 2019 and 2020). This area also supported at least 15.83% and 28.42% (or 30.74% and 53.51% using modelled estimates) of the global population during southward migration in 2019 and 2020 respectively. Coastal wetlands in the west and north of Bohai Bay also have been important stopover sites for the species since the 1990s. Although comprehensive, long-term monitoring data are lacking, available evidence suggests that the population of the species may have declined. Conclusions The high concentration of Asian Dowitchers at Lianyungang during migration means the species is highly susceptible to human disturbances and natural stochastic events. The coastal wetlands of Lianyungang should be protected and potentially qualify for inclusion in China’s forthcoming nomination for World Heritage listing of Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea-Bohai Gulf of China (Phase II) in 2023. Additional research is needed to understand Asian Dowitchers’ distribution and ecology, as well as why such a high proportion of their population rely on the Lianyungang coast.

scholarly journals Accretion, retreat and transgression of coastal wetlands experiencing sea-level rise

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelo Breda ◽  
Patricia M. Saco ◽  
Steven G. Sandi ◽  
Neil Saintilan ◽  
Gerardo Riccardi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Coastal Wetlands ◽  
Coastal Wetland ◽  
Sediment Load ◽  
Tidal Range ◽  
Sediment Distribution ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Wetland Evolution ◽  
Inner Channel

Abstract. The vulnerability of coastal wetlands to future sea-level rise (SLR) has been extensively studied in recent years, and models of coastal wetland evolution have been developed to assess and quantify the expected impacts. Coastal wetlands respond to SLR by vertical accretion and landward migration. Wetlands accrete due to their capacity to trap sediments and to incorporate dead leaves, branches stems and roots into the soil, and they migrate driven by the preferred inundation conditions in terms of salinity and oxygen availability. Accretion and migration strongly interact and they both depend on water flow and sediment distribution within the wetland, so wetlands under the same external flow and sediment forcing but with different configurations will respond differently to SLR. Analyses of wetland response to SLR that do not incorporate realistic consideration of flow and sediment distribution, like the bathtub approach, are likely to result in poor estimates of wetland resilience. Here, we investigate how accretion and migration processes affect wetland response to SLR using a computational framework that includes all relevant hydrodynamic and sediment transport mechanisms that affect vegetation and landscape dynamics, and it is efficient enough computationally to allow the simulation of long time periods. Our framework incorporates two vegetation species, mangrove and saltmarsh, and accounts for the effects of natural and manmade features like inner channels, embankments and flow constrictions due to culverts. We apply our model to simplified domains that represent four different settings found in coastal wetlands, including a case of a tidal flat free from obstructions or drainage features and three other cases incorporating an inner channel, an embankment with a culvert, and a combination of inner channel, embankment and culvert. We use conditions typical of SE Australia in terms of vegetation, tidal range and sediment load, but we also analyse situations with three times the sediment load to assess the potential of biophysical feedbacks to produce increased accretion rates. We find that all wetland settings are unable to cope with SLR and disappear by the end of the century, even for the case of increased sediment load. Wetlands with good drainage that improves tidal flushing are more resilient than wetlands with obstacles that result in tidal attenuation, and can delay wetland submergence by 20 years. Results from a bathtub model reveals systematic overprediction of wetland resilience to SLR: by the end of the century, half of the wetland survives with a typical sediment load, while the entire wetland survives with increased sediment load.

scholarly journals Persistent use of a shorebird staging site in the Yellow Sea despite severe declines in food resources implies a lack of alternatives

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 534-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHOU-DONG ZHANG ◽  
ZHIJUN MA ◽  
CHI-YEUNG CHOI ◽  
HE-BO PENG ◽  
QING-QUAN BAI ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Sea ◽  
Coastal Wetlands ◽  
Coastal Wetland ◽  
Parasitic Infection ◽  
The Yellow Sea ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
The North ◽  
Run Off ◽  
Port Construction

SummaryMany shorebird populations are in decline along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway. The rapid loss of coastal wetlands in the Yellow Sea, which provide critical stop-over sites during migration, is believed to be the cause of the alarming trends. The Yalu Jiang coastal wetland, a protected area in the north Yellow Sea, supports the largest known migratory staging populations of Bar-tailed Godwits Limosa lapponica (menzbieri and baueri subspecies) and Great Knots Calidris tenuirostris. Monitoring of the macrozoobenthos food for these shorebirds from 2011 to 2016 showed declines of over 99% in the densities of the bivalve Potamocorbula laevis, the major food here for both Bar-tailed Godwits and Great Knots. The loss of the bivalve might be caused by any combination of, but not limited to: (1) change in hydrological conditions and sediment composition due to nearby port construction, (2) run-off of agrochemicals from the extensive shoreline sea cucumber farms, and (3) parasitic infection. Surprisingly, the numbers of birds using the Yalu Jiang coastal wetland remained stable during the study period, except for the subspecies of Bar-tailed Godwit L. l. menzbieri, which exhibited a 91% decline in peak numbers. The lack of an overall decline in the number of bird days in Great Knots and in the peak numbers of L. l. baueri, also given the published simultaneous decreases in their annual survival, implies a lack of alternative habitats that birds could relocate to. This study highlights that food declines at staging sites could be an overlooked but important factor causing population declines of shorebirds along the Flyway. Maintaining the quality of protected staging sites is as important in shorebird conservation as is the safeguarding of staging sites from land claim. Meanwhile, it calls for immediate action to restore the food base for these beleaguered migrant shorebirds at Yalu Jiang coastal wetland.

scholarly journals Accretion, retreat and transgression of coastal wetlands experiencing sea-level rise

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 769-786
Author(s):  
Angelo Breda ◽  
Patricia M. Saco ◽  
Steven G. Sandi ◽  
Neil Saintilan ◽  
Gerardo Riccardi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Coastal Wetlands ◽  
Coastal Wetland ◽  
Sediment Load ◽  
Tidal Range ◽  
Sediment Distribution ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Inner Channel

Abstract. The vulnerability of coastal wetlands to future sea-level rise (SLR) has been extensively studied in recent years, and models of coastal wetland evolution have been developed to assess and quantify the expected impacts. Coastal wetlands respond to SLR by vertical accretion and landward migration. Wetlands accrete due to their capacity to trap sediments and to incorporate dead leaves, branches, stems and roots into the soil, and they migrate driven by the preferred inundation conditions in terms of salinity and oxygen availability. Accretion and migration strongly interact, and they both depend on water flow and sediment distribution within the wetland, so wetlands under the same external flow and sediment forcing but with different configurations will respond differently to SLR. Analyses of wetland response to SLR that do not incorporate realistic consideration of flow and sediment distribution, like the bathtub approach, are likely to result in poor estimates of wetland resilience. Here, we investigate how accretion and migration processes affect wetland response to SLR using a computational framework that includes all relevant hydrodynamic and sediment transport mechanisms that affect vegetation and landscape dynamics, and it is efficient enough computationally to allow the simulation of long time periods. Our framework incorporates two vegetation species, mangrove and saltmarsh, and accounts for the effects of natural and manmade features like inner channels, embankments and flow constrictions due to culverts. We apply our model to simplified domains that represent four different settings found in coastal wetlands, including a case of a tidal flat free from obstructions or drainage features and three other cases incorporating an inner channel, an embankment with a culvert, and a combination of inner channel, embankment and culvert. We use conditions typical of south-eastern Australia in terms of vegetation, tidal range and sediment load, but we also analyse situations with 3 times the sediment load to assess the potential of biophysical feedbacks to produce increased accretion rates. We find that all wetland settings are unable to cope with SLR and disappear by the end of the century, even for the case of increased sediment load. Wetlands with good drainage that improves tidal flushing are more resilient than wetlands with obstacles that result in tidal attenuation and can delay wetland submergence by 20 years. Results from a bathtub model reveal systematic overprediction of wetland resilience to SLR: by the end of the century, half of the wetland survives with a typical sediment load, while the entire wetland survives with increased sediment load.

Gender differences and the role of parental education, school types and migration on the body mass index of 2930 Austrian school children

2017 ◽  
Vol 129 (21-22) ◽  
pp. 786-792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dieter Furthner ◽  
Margit Ehrenmüller ◽  
Ariane Biebl ◽  
Roland Lanzersdorfer ◽  
Gerhard Halmerbauer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Gender Differences ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
School Children ◽  
Parental Education ◽  
The Body ◽  
Austrian School ◽  
Education School ◽  
And Migration

scholarly journals Enhancement of drought tolerance in diverse Vicia faba cultivars by inoculation with plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria under newly reclaimed soil conditions

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsayed Mansour ◽  
Hany A. M. Mahgoub ◽  
Samir A. Mahgoub ◽  
El-Sayed E. A. El-Sobky ◽  
Mohamed I. Abdul-Hamid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drought Stress ◽  
Drought Tolerance ◽  
Plant Growth ◽  
Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria ◽  
Severe Drought ◽  
Drought Conditions ◽  
Moderate Drought ◽  
Plant Growth Promoting ◽  
Growth Promoting ◽  
Effects Of Drought

AbstractWater deficit has devastating impacts on legume production, particularly with the current abrupt climate changes in arid environments. The application of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is an effective approach for producing natural nitrogen and attenuating the detrimental effects of drought stress. This study investigated the influence of inoculation with the PGPR Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae (USDA 2435) and Pseudomonas putida (RA MTCC5279) solely or in combination on the physio-biochemical and agronomic traits of five diverse Vicia faba cultivars under well-watered (100% crop evapotranspiration [ETc]), moderate drought (75% ETc), and severe drought (50% ETc) conditions in newly reclaimed poor-fertility sandy soil. Drought stress substantially reduced the expression of photosynthetic pigments and water relation parameters. In contrast, antioxidant enzyme activities and osmoprotectants were considerably increased in plants under drought stress compared with those in well-watered plants. These adverse effects of drought stress reduced crop water productivity (CWP) and seed yield‐related traits. However, the application of PGPR, particularly a consortium of both strains, improved these parameters and increased seed yield and CWP. The evaluated cultivars displayed varied tolerance to drought stress: Giza-843 and Giza-716 had the highest tolerance under well-watered and moderate drought conditions, whereas Giza-843 and Sakha-4 were more tolerant under severe drought conditions. Thus, co-inoculation of drought-tolerant cultivars with R. leguminosarum and P. putida enhanced their tolerance and increased their yield and CWP under water-deficit stress conditions. This study showed for the first time that the combined use of R. leguminosarum and P. putida is a promising and ecofriendly strategy for increasing drought tolerance in legume crops.

scholarly journals Prediction Potential of Remote Sensing-Related Variables in the Topsoil Organic Carbon Density of Liaohekou Coastal Wetlands, Northeast China

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 4106
Author(s):  
Shuai Wang ◽  
Mingyi Zhou ◽  
Qianlai Zhuang ◽  
Liping Guo
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Coastal Wetlands ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Northeast China ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Coastal Wetland ◽  
Wetland Ecosystems ◽  
Flat Terrain ◽  
Soc Density

Wetland ecosystems contain large amounts of soil organic carbon. Their natural environment is often both at the junction of land and water with good conditions for carbon sequestration. Therefore, the study of accurate prediction of soil organic carbon (SOC) density in coastal wetland ecosystems of flat terrain areas is the key to understanding their carbon cycling. This study used remote sensing data to study SOC density potentials of coastal wetland ecosystems in Northeast China. Eleven environmental variables including normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), difference vegetation index (DVI), soil adjusted vegetation index (SAVI), renormalization difference vegetation index (RDVI), ratio vegetation index (RVI), topographic wetness index (TWI), elevation, slope aspect (SA), slope gradient (SG), mean annual temperature (MAT), and mean annual precipitation (MAP) were selected to predict SOC density. A total of 193 soil samples (0–30 cm) were divided into two parts, 70% of the sampling sites data were used to construct the boosted regression tree (BRT) model containing three different combinations of environmental variables, and the remaining 30% were used to test the predictive performance of the model. The results show that the full variable model is better than the other two models. Adding remote sensing-related variables significantly improved the model prediction. This study revealed that SAVI, NDVI and DVI were the main environmental factors affecting the spatial variation of topsoil SOC density of coastal wetlands in flat terrain areas. The mean (±SD) SOC density of full variable models was 18.78 (±1.95) kg m−2, which gradually decreased from northeast to southwest. We suggest that remote sensing-related environmental variables should be selected as the main environmental variables when predicting topsoil SOC density of coastal wetland ecosystems in flat terrain areas. Accurate prediction of topsoil SOC density distribution will help to formulate soil management policies and enhance soil carbon sequestration.

scholarly journals Comparison of Qinzhou bay wetland landscape information extraction by three methods

2014 ◽  
Vol XL-4 ◽  
pp. 21-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Chang ◽  
Q. Zhang ◽  
M. Luo ◽  
C. Dong
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Wetlands ◽  
Supervised Classification ◽  
Coastal Wetland ◽  
Object Oriented ◽  
Visual Interpretation ◽  
Wetland Area ◽  
The Third ◽  
Tasseled Cap Transformation ◽  
Qinzhou Bay ◽  
Landscape Information

Wetland ecosystem plays an important role on the environment and sustainable socio-economic development. Based on the TM images in 2010 with a pretreament of Tasseled Cap transformation, three different methods are used to extract the Qinzhou Bay coastal wetlands using Supervised Classification (SC), Decision Trees (DT) and Object -oriented (OO) methods. Firstly coastal wetlands are picked out by artificial visual interpretation as discriminant standard. The result shows that when the same evaluation template used, the accuracy and Kappa coefficient of SC, DT and OO are 92.00 %, 0.8952; 89.00 %, 0.8582; 91.00 %, 0.8848 respectively. The total area of coastal wetland is 218.3 km<sup>2</sup> by artificial visual interpretation, and the extracted wetland area of SC, DT and OO is 219 km<sup>2</sup>, 193.70 km<sup>2</sup>, 217.40 km<sup>2</sup> respectively. The result indicates that SC is in the f irst place, followed by OO approach, and the third DT method when used to extract Qingzhou Bay coastal wetland.

Bird population declines in the Chametla wetland (Southern Gulf of California): Evidence of stress at the assemblage level

2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 119-129
Author(s):  
G. Brabata ◽  
C. Battisti ◽  
R. Carmona ◽  
C.A. Sánchez-Caballero
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of California ◽  
Southern Oscillation ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Sharp Decrease ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Stopover Site ◽  
Entire Study ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Bird Assemblages ◽  
Bird Assemblage

The Chametla wetland is used by shorebirds as a stopover site during their autumn migration and it is also an important breeding area for several species of waterbirds. The objective of this work was to compare the bird assemblages in Chametla wetland during three sampling periods: 1) 1991–1992; 2) 1997–1998 which was subjected to El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) climate conditions and 3) 2005–2006. Bird communities were characterized in terms of species composition and diversity, using similarity analysis. Bird assemblage composition differed across years and seasons. Seasonal variations in composition and diversity were related to the presence/absence of phenological-characterized species (migratory vs. wintering species). The highest species richness was recorded under the ENSO period (1997–1998). We observed a sharp decrease in shorebird numbers, with evident stress at the assemblage level throughout the entire study period. There seems to be a transition of the bird assemblages from shorebird dominance to a dominance by long-legged wading birds and waterfowl species, which could be related to water level variation and changes in the quality/availability of food in the intertidal zone. The joint pressures of regional climate variation combined with local anthropogenic perturbations may lead to changes in bird assemblage in the Chametla wetland.

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