Seasonal Abundance and Diversity of Birds of Prey and Owls in Al Wathba Wetland Reserve in Abu Dhabi, UAE

Inland wetlands in Abu Dhabi Emirate are wintering and stopover sites for migratory birds of prey. We conducted long-term regular monitoring surveys in Al Wathba Wetland Reserve (AWWR) from January 1995 to December 2022. Both diurnal and occasionally nocturnal surveys were undertaken to record the migratory raptors and owls in the Wetland Reserve. During the study, a total of 1282 regular monitoring visits were undertaken and 27 species of diurnal raptors and owls representing five families and three orders were detected. These represent 57% of the total species of birds of prey recorded in the UAE. Overall, 63% of all the species that we observed were Accipitriformes followed by 26% Falconiformes and 11% Strigiformes. We found that changes in mean daily temperature have a positive effect on raptor species diversity and abundance in the Wetland Reserve. The species encounter rate was higher in low temperature as compared to high temperature and overall regression equation was statistically significant F (4, 1126) = 8.49), p = 0.00). However, the numbers of raptors did not vary significantly across the years (p = 0.51). Western Marsh-harrier (Circus aeruginosus) and Greater Spotted Eagle (Clanga clanga) were recorded to be the most abundant species in the wetland reserve followed by Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus). However, the encounter rate of globally threatened Greater Spotted Eagle was detected to have significantly decreased since 2016. Moreover, 63% of the species detected were uncommon and rarely recorded such as 1) Saker Falcon 2) Lanner Falcon 3) Long-eared Owl & Merlin, which were the rare records from the wetland reserve. Furthermore, 27 years of regular monitoring in the wetland have yielded diverse diurnal raptors and owl fauna (H) = 0.83, (E) = 1.43 (Shannon Diversity Index). The results demonstrate that long-term monitoring surveys in arid environments are essential to determine the trends in the raptor populations and to document rare and globally important species.

Ecological Environment Status and Protection Measures of Wetland Nature Reserve

In order to better promote the restoration and sustainable development of the natural ecological environment,it is necessary to study the wetland system as an important part of the ecosystem,put forward some common problems faced by wetland nature reserves,and propose relevant solutions based on the problems.This paper describes the relevant theoretical basis for the ecological environment protection of the wetland nature reserves,the problems faced,and the relevant solutions as reference for relevant personnel.

Hengshui Lake China’s Key Wetland Nature Reserve

WETLAND, an important eco-logical sys-tem, is of inestimable scientific, ecological, social and economic value. Bestowed liberally with nature’s bounty, China boasts various types of wetland, and during the past years has built over 130 wetland nature reserves, of which ten percent are

Permafrost changes in the Nanwenghe Wetlands Reserve on the southern slope of the Da Xing'anling‒Yile'huli mountains,Northeast China

The Nanwenghe Wetlands Reserve in the Yile'huli Mountains is a representative region of the Xing'an permafrost.The response of permafrost to climate change remains unclear due to limited field investigations.Thus,longer-term responses of the ground thermal state to climate change since 2011 have been monitored at four sites with varied surface characteristics:Carex tato wetland(P1)and shrub-C.tato wetland(P2)with a multi-year average temperatures at the depth of zero annual amplitude(T_(ZAA))of−0.52 and−1.19℃,respectively;Betula platyphylla-Larix gmelinii(Rupr.)Kuzen mixed forest(P3)with T_(ZAA) of 0.17℃,and;the forest of L.gmelinii(Rupr.)Kuzen(P4)with T_(ZAA) of 1.65℃.Continuous observations demonstrate that the ecosystem-protected Xing'an permafrost experienced a cooling under a warming climate.The temperature at the top of permafrost(TTOP)rose(1.8℃ per decade)but the TZAA declined(−0.14℃ per decade),while the active layer thickness(ALT)thinned from 0.9 m in 2012 to 0.8 m in 2014 at P1.Both the TTOP and TZAA increased(0.89 and 0.06℃ per decade,respectively),but the ALT thinned from 1.4 m in 2012 to 0.7 m in 2016 at P2.Vertically detached permafrost at P3 disappeared in summer 2012,with warming rates of+0.42 and+0.17℃ per decade for TTOP and T_(ZAA),respectively.However,up to date,the ground thermal state has remained stable at P4.We conclude that the thermal offset is crucial for the preservation and persistence of the Xing'an permafrost at the southern fringe.

Evaluation of Ecosystem Services Value of the Zoigê Wetland Nature Reserve by Multiple Criteria

Understanding the value of ecosystem services is useful for the decision making and sustainable management of the wetlands. It would be better to integrate ecological, economic and social factors into ecosystem service valuation. The general value of the Zoigê Wetland Nature Reserve in the southwest China by integrating a social welfare weight, which is determined by a three-level analytic hierarchy process, was calculated. Through analyzing the functions, stakeholders and ecosystem services of the Zoigê Wetland Nature Reserve, the six main services, including substance production, flood control, gas regulation, climate regulation, recreation, and biodiversity conservation,were selected; and a three-level hierarchical structure model was established. The top(goal) level of the model refers to the total ecosystem services value of the Zoigê Wetland Nature Reserve, the middle level(stakeholder level) refers to stakeholders at different scales, and the bottom level(service level) refers to individual services provided by the Zoigê Wetland Nature Reserve. The results indicated that the ecosystem services value of the Zoigê Wetland Nature Reserve was 320.38×10~8yuan RMB in 2011. If including the social welfare, the value increased to 2258.68×10~8yuan RMB. The value of biodiversity conservation accounted for the largest proportion, which were 53% without the social welfare and 75% with it. And without the social welfare, flood control, gas regulation, climate regulation of the Zoigê Wetland Nature Reserve accounted for 26%, 11% and 8% of the total value, while the proportion that substance production and recreation values were of the total value were very small. Meanwhile, with the social weight,flood control, gas regulation, climate regulation, recreation of the Zoigê Wetland Nature Reserve accounted for 10%,13%, 1% and 1% of the total value, then the weight of substance production value was also the smallest.