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.

The current status, threats and protection way of Sanjiang Plain wetland, Northeast China

The Sanjiang Plain is a vast area of alluvial floodplains and low hills in northeast Heilongjiang Province. It is the largest tract of wetlands in China and East Asia outside of Siberia. 28 wetland nature reserves exist on the Sanjiang Plain, and three of them have been listed as wetlands of international importance to water bird conservation by the Ramsar Convention Bureau. The wetlands of Sanjiang Plain are noteworthy for its rich biodiversity, but they continue to decline in area and deteriorate in quality currently. The main threats or constrains, immediate cause, root cause and required response are analyzed in this paper, and the four aspects opinion such as improvement of watershed management, enhancement of protection and restoration of habitats and biodiversity, alternative livelihoods of rural residents living in and near natural wetland reserve, and reinforcement of capacity building of natural reserves are brought forward as the effective measures for the Sanjiang Plain wetland protection.

Economic Value Evaluation of Wetland Service in Yeyahu Wetland Nature Reserve,Beijing

Based on multi-source data,this paper evaluated the economic value of ecological services in the Yeyahu Wetland Nature Reserve,Beijing,China.The ecological services of wetland included gas regulation,water quality im-provement,biodiversity maintenance,erosion control,water supply,recreational opportunity,raw material supply and existence value.Multiple conventional evaluation methods were used to calculate the value of eight wetland services.The results showed that significant values came from biodiversity maintenance and recreational opportunity.The main reasons were as follows.Firstly,Yeyahu Wetland Nature Reserve was the habitat for migrant birds,and government had payed more efforts to protect precious birds.Secondly,the population is large in Beijing.People enjoyed going outside and enjoyed the natural and artificial wetland scenes.At the same time,most people were prepared to pay for wetland conservation.The decline of vegetation cover made the economic value of erosion control the lowest.While the shrink of water resource and the deteriorative water quality caused the economic value of water supply lower.The evaluation results could help decision-makers understand the present status of the Yeyahu Wetland Nature Reserve and provide a scientific basis for strategic decision.

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

Bird Species Diversity and Spatio-temporal Variation in the Sihong Hongze Lake Wetland National Nature Reserve in Eastern China

As an important hub on the East Asian-Australian Flyway(EAAF),Hongze Lake is an important migratory stopover and wintering site for hundreds of thousands of birds.However,research on bird community diversity in this area is still lacking.We conducted a bird survey from July 2020 to June 2021 using the line transect method on the terrestrial habitat,as well as the fixed-point method in the lake wetland at the Sihong Hongze Lake Wetland National Nature Reserve located in northwestern Hongze Lake,and analyzed the temporal-spatial variation in the bird community.The results showed that a total of 170432 detections of 215 bird species belonging to 18 orders and 55 families were recorded.In terms of species composition,the proportion of terrestrial birds was relatively high,followed by waterfowl richness,with high numbers of Anatidae species and shorebirds.For bird species abundance,waterfowl had the highest abundance of common coot(Fulica atra),belonging to the Rallidae family,followed by Anatidae and Ardeidae species.The abundance of shorebirds was extremely low,and that of non-waterfowl was also low.In terms of temporal patterns,the number of bird species and richness index were higher in spring and autumn but lower in winter and summer.The bird abundance was the highest in winter,and the remaining three seasons were similar in terms of bird abundance.The diversity index and evenness index were higher in spring,summer and autumn,and lowest in winter.For the spatial pattern,the open water in the western part of the reserve included the most densely distributed areas for birds,and the number of bird species and their abundance were both the highest in that part.There were significant differences in the bird community structures among the four habitats.The species number and richness index of birds in the reed habitat were the highest,and the bird abundance was also high,but the diversity index and evenness index were low.Although the bird abundance in the lake habitat was much higher than in the other habitats,the diversity index,evenness index and richness index were the lowest.The numbers of bird species and individuals in tourist attraction land and farmland were low,but the diversity index,evenness index and richness index were high.Our results reveal the spatial and temporal patterns of bird species diversity and abundance in Sihong Hongze Lake Wetland National Nature Reserve,and reflect the effects of different habitat types on bird diversity.

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.

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.