黄河流域水鸟保护优先区及空缺

Identifying conservation priority sites and gap for the waterbirds′habitat in the Yellow River Basin,China

黄河流域为迁徙水鸟提供重要的繁殖地、越冬地和停歇地。然而,黄河流域正面临着农业开垦、城市化、水资源分布不均等一系列的生态安全问题,威胁迁徙水鸟种群及其栖息地稳定性。因此,识别黄河流域重要的水鸟栖息地分布区域,分析当前的保护现状对于开展水鸟及栖息地保护至关重要。以黄河流域为研究区,搜集整合来自国内外观鸟网站(eBird、全球生物多样性信息库(GBIF)和中国观鸟记录中心(BirdReport))、文献和水鸟调查报告中的水鸟调查数据,沿用三个国际上通用的水鸟重要栖息地识别标准,确定了黄河流域水鸟保护优先区。在此基础上,使用水鸟栖息地重要性指数确定水鸟保护优先区保护优先等级,结合国家自然保护地名录,分析水鸟保护优先区保护空缺状况。结果显示:黄河流域共有47个水鸟保护优先区,主要分布在黄河流域中游和下游,其中河南省和山东省水鸟保护优先区较多。满足水鸟保护优先区识别标准的水鸟共14种,其中,极危物种有2个,濒危物种有1个,易危物种有5个。水鸟保护优先区保护优先等级处于I、II和III类的分别有2个、8个和37个。有20个水鸟保护优先区处于保护空缺状态,占总数的42.55%,主要集中在黄河中游和下游,其中,水鸟保护优先等级处于I类或II类的地块有3个,建议将这些保护空缺地以自然保护区、保护小区或国家公园形式纳入湿地保护地体系,并加强长期监测。

The Yellow River basin,which covers nine provinces and autonomous regions in China,is home to various types of wetlands.The wetlands in the Yellow River basin provide key breeding,wintering and stopover sites for migratory waterbirds along the East Asian⁃Australasian Flyway(EAAF).However,the Yellow River basin is also confronted with many ecological safety challenges,such as agricultural reclamation,urbanization and unequal distribution of water resources,which are posing a major threat to migratory waterbirds and their habitats.As a result,it is important to identify key habitats for waterbirds and assess their protection status.Compared with the Yangtze River basin and coastal wetlands,however,the Yellow River basin still lag behind in terms of survey and monitoring on waterbirds and their habitats,and no synchronized and systematic survey and monitoring activities have yet been conducted.For this reason,it is necessary to collect the survey data from different parties and to assess key distribution areas of waterbirds and their habitats in the Yellow River basin.According to the three internationally recognized criteria for identifying key habitats for waterbirds,we define the priority areas for waterbird conservation in the Yellow River basin,on the basis of collecting and collating waterbird survey data from domestic and international bird⁃watching websites(i.e.,eBird,GBIF,and BirdReport),relevant literature and waterbird survey reports.The habitat importance index of waterbird is employed to rank the site priority of waterbird protection priority areas,and to categorize them into three priority levels:Classes I,II,and III.We have analyzed and identified the priority areas that have not yet been included as the protected areas for waterbirds based on the national list of natural protected areas.Our findings suggest that 47 priority areas for waterbird conservation have been defined in the Yellow River basin,which are mainly distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the river basin,particularly Henan and Shandong provinces.Fourteen waterbird species can meet the criteria of priority areas for waterbird conservation,among which two species are listed as critically endangered,one as endangered and five as vulnerable.Two,eight and 37 sites are listed as priority level of Classes I,II and III for waterbird protection respectively.20 priority areas have not yet been included as protected areas for waterbirds,accounting for 42.55%of the total priority areas.These priority areas are mainly found in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River basin.Among three unprotected sites are identified as priority areas of Classes I or II respectively.We suggest that these priority areas should be incorporated into the wetland protected area system including nature reserves,protected areas or national parks,and long⁃term monitoring needs to be strengthened.