Background:The Black-faced Spoonbill(Platalea minor)is a globally threatened species,nesting mainly in western Korea with smaller numbers breeding in Liaoning Province,China,and Far East Russia.Recent winter field sur...Background:The Black-faced Spoonbill(Platalea minor)is a globally threatened species,nesting mainly in western Korea with smaller numbers breeding in Liaoning Province,China,and Far East Russia.Recent winter field surveys to estimate the species'population size were almost totally conducted in coastal areas,but tracking studies showed that some individuals now winter inland.To ensure its long-term survival,we need a more comprehensive assessment of the current distribution and abundance of the species.Methods:We combined the most recent count data and satellite tracking information to update existing informa-tion about the population abundance and distribution of the Black-faced Spoonbill at all stages of its annual life cycle,and how these have changed during 2004-2020.Results:Black-faced Spoonbills mainly breed on the west coast of the Korean peninsula,while immature birds show a wider summer distribution throughout Yellow Sea coastal areas,when a few remain on wintering sites in the south.Combined tracking results and mid-winter counts confirmed known wintering sites on the east and south coasts of China,but showed that the species also winters on wetlands in the Yangtze River floodplain and in Southeast Asia.During 2004-2020,counts of wintering birds in coastal habitats increased from 1198 to 4864,with numbers wintering on the island of Taiwan contributing most to the overall increase.Latest counts found 5222 in 2021.We also identify key wintering and stopover sites as well as their current conservation status.Conclusions:This study revised the known summering and wintering ranges of the Black-faced Spoonbill and assessed the conservation status of key sites based on a combination of field survey and satellite tracking data.We recommend prioritisation of further field research to identify and survey inland wintering areas in the Yangtze River floodplain and summering areas of immature birds.More tracking of adult individuals and birds during spring migration is necessary to fill these information gaps.We also suggest establishing a Black-faced Spoonbill monitoring platform to store,share and show real-time distribution range and population abundance data.展开更多
Artificial/seminatural environments,such as aquacultural ponds,saltpans,and croplands,have recently been acknowledged as important habitats for coastal waterbirds.Although coastal waterbirds tend to use artificial hab...Artificial/seminatural environments,such as aquacultural ponds,saltpans,and croplands,have recently been acknowledged as important habitats for coastal waterbirds.Although coastal waterbirds tend to use artificial habitats around tidal flats as roosting sites during high-tide,it remains unclear whether the importance of surrounding habitats relative to tidal flats varies among landscape types,seasons,species,or tidal conditions.The Black-faced Spoonbill(Platalea minor)and Eurasian Spoonbill(P.leucorodia)are two closely related sympatric species in East Asia with narrow and wide distribution ranges and habitat requirements,respectively.We therefore expect that both species will use surrounding artificial habitats across seasons at high tides,but Blackfaced Spoonbills will use them less frequently than Eurasian Spoonbills.Here,we address these hypotheses in the Imazu tidal flat and its surrounding environments in southern Japan.We investigated the habitat use and behavioral patterns of both species through route and behavioral surveys during the fall migration and wintering seasons in 2021.We found that both species used surrounding habitats including artificial ones more frequently than the tidal flat regardless of the tidal condition or season,but spoonbills used these habitats more frequently in winter than in autumn.We also found that Eurasian Spoonbills foraged in surrounding artificial habitats more frequently than Black-faced Spoonbills.These results not only demonstrate how coastal waterbirds exploit surrounding habitats relative to tidal flats but also suggest that the importance of surrounding habitats varies among species and seasons.Our study thus emphasizes that valuing and managing surrounding habitats in addition to tidal flats are key to conserving globally declining waterbirds.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.31870369 and 31970433)China Biodiversity Observation Networks(Sino BON)。
文摘Background:The Black-faced Spoonbill(Platalea minor)is a globally threatened species,nesting mainly in western Korea with smaller numbers breeding in Liaoning Province,China,and Far East Russia.Recent winter field surveys to estimate the species'population size were almost totally conducted in coastal areas,but tracking studies showed that some individuals now winter inland.To ensure its long-term survival,we need a more comprehensive assessment of the current distribution and abundance of the species.Methods:We combined the most recent count data and satellite tracking information to update existing informa-tion about the population abundance and distribution of the Black-faced Spoonbill at all stages of its annual life cycle,and how these have changed during 2004-2020.Results:Black-faced Spoonbills mainly breed on the west coast of the Korean peninsula,while immature birds show a wider summer distribution throughout Yellow Sea coastal areas,when a few remain on wintering sites in the south.Combined tracking results and mid-winter counts confirmed known wintering sites on the east and south coasts of China,but showed that the species also winters on wetlands in the Yangtze River floodplain and in Southeast Asia.During 2004-2020,counts of wintering birds in coastal habitats increased from 1198 to 4864,with numbers wintering on the island of Taiwan contributing most to the overall increase.Latest counts found 5222 in 2021.We also identify key wintering and stopover sites as well as their current conservation status.Conclusions:This study revised the known summering and wintering ranges of the Black-faced Spoonbill and assessed the conservation status of key sites based on a combination of field survey and satellite tracking data.We recommend prioritisation of further field research to identify and survey inland wintering areas in the Yangtze River floodplain and summering areas of immature birds.More tracking of adult individuals and birds during spring migration is necessary to fill these information gaps.We also suggest establishing a Black-faced Spoonbill monitoring platform to store,share and show real-time distribution range and population abundance data.
文摘Artificial/seminatural environments,such as aquacultural ponds,saltpans,and croplands,have recently been acknowledged as important habitats for coastal waterbirds.Although coastal waterbirds tend to use artificial habitats around tidal flats as roosting sites during high-tide,it remains unclear whether the importance of surrounding habitats relative to tidal flats varies among landscape types,seasons,species,or tidal conditions.The Black-faced Spoonbill(Platalea minor)and Eurasian Spoonbill(P.leucorodia)are two closely related sympatric species in East Asia with narrow and wide distribution ranges and habitat requirements,respectively.We therefore expect that both species will use surrounding artificial habitats across seasons at high tides,but Blackfaced Spoonbills will use them less frequently than Eurasian Spoonbills.Here,we address these hypotheses in the Imazu tidal flat and its surrounding environments in southern Japan.We investigated the habitat use and behavioral patterns of both species through route and behavioral surveys during the fall migration and wintering seasons in 2021.We found that both species used surrounding habitats including artificial ones more frequently than the tidal flat regardless of the tidal condition or season,but spoonbills used these habitats more frequently in winter than in autumn.We also found that Eurasian Spoonbills foraged in surrounding artificial habitats more frequently than Black-faced Spoonbills.These results not only demonstrate how coastal waterbirds exploit surrounding habitats relative to tidal flats but also suggest that the importance of surrounding habitats varies among species and seasons.Our study thus emphasizes that valuing and managing surrounding habitats in addition to tidal flats are key to conserving globally declining waterbirds.
