Artificial wetlands providing space gain for the suitable habitat of coastal Pied Avocet

Abstract

A large number of artificial wetlands have replaced natural wetlands along waterbird migration routes to supply breeding, resting and feeding grounds for waterbirds. Effective identification of potential artificial wetlands that could serve as suitable habitats for waterbirds can provide important reference for field investigation and waterbird conservation. In this study, the habitat suitability of the Pied Avocet in the Yellow River Delta (YRD), China was simulated with the optimized MaxEnt model based on its occurrence records and environmental variables. The results showed that the MaxEnt model could well predict the habitat suitability of the Pied Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) in the YRD. The suitable habitats were distributed in the specific areas of the coastal zone, and artificial wetlands such as salt pans and mariculture ponds were the main components in the high-suitability area. The top three environmental factors affecting habitat selection were the land use and land cover (LULC), distance to the coastline and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). This paper emphasizes the role of artificial wetlands in providing suitable habitat for waterbirds. In order to better protect the habitat of waterbirds and alleviate human-bird conflict in the YRD, some targeted suggestions were put forward for the management gap of artificial wetlands. This study has strong practical significance for the protection and habitat management of waterbirds in the YRD. The methodology we employed is transferable to other wetlands, where efficient management is inhibited due to a lack of comprehensive field investigations.