Autumn migration routes and wintering areas of juvenile Chinese Egrets(Egretta eulophotes)revealed by GPS tracking

Background:The vulnerable Chinese Egret(Egretta eulophotes)is a long-distance migratory waterbird whose migration and wintering information is poorly understood.This study aims to identify the autumn migration routes and wintering areas of juvenile Chinese Egrets and determine the migration movement traits of this species.Methods:Thirty-nine juvenile Chinese Egrets from the Fantuozi Island,an uninhabited offshore island with a large breeding colony of Chinese Egrets in Dalian,China,were tracked using GPS/GSM transmitters.Some feathers from each tracked juvenile were collected for molecular identification of sex in the laboratory.The GPS locations,recorded at 2-h intervals from August 2018 to May 2020,were used for the analyses.Results:Of the 39 tracked juveniles,30 individuals began their migration between September and November,and 13 successfully completed their autumn migration between October and November.The juveniles migrated southward via three migration routes,coastal,oceanic and inland,mainly during the night.The migration duration,migration distance,flight speed,and stopover duration of the 13 juvenile egrets that completed migration averaged 5.08±1.04 days,3928.18±414.27 km,57.27±5.73 km/h,and 23.08±19.28 h,respectively.These juveniles wintered in the coastal wetlands of Southeast Asia including those in the Philippines,Vietnam,and Malaysia,and only one successfully began its spring migration in June 2020.Conclusions:This study newly finds that the oceanic route taken by juvenile Chinese Egrets,suggesting that the juveniles are able to fly over the Pacific Ocean without a stopover.Moreover,our novel data indicate that coastal wetlands along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway are important areas for both autumn migration stopover and the wintering of these juveniles,suggesting that international cooperation is important to conserve the vulnerable Chinese Egret and the wetland habitats on which it depends.

Migration and wintering of vulnerable adult Chinese Egrets(Egretta eulophotes)revealed by GPS tracking

Knowledge of migratory bird requirements is critical to developing conservation plans for vulnerable migratory species.This study aimed to determine the migration routes,wintering areas,habitat uses,and mortalities of adult Chinese Egrets(Egretta eulophotata).Sixty adult Chinese Egrets(31 females and 29 males)on an uninhabited offshore breeding island in Dalian,China were tracked using GPS satellite transmitters.GPS locations recorded at2 h intervals from June 2019 to August 2020 were used for analysis.A total of 44 and 17 tracked adults completed their autumn and spring migrations,respectively.Compared with autumn migration,tracked adults displayed more diverse routes,higher number of stopover sites,slower migration speed,and longer migration duration in the spring.Results indicated that migrant birds had different behavioral strategies during the two migratory seasons.The spring migration duration and stopover duration for females were significantly longer than those for males.A positive correlation existed between the spring arrival and spring departure dates,as well as between the spring arrival date and stopover duration.This finding indicated that the egrets that arrived early at the breeding grounds left the wintering areas early and had a shorter stopover duration.Adult birds preferred intertidal wetlands,woodlands,and aquaculture ponds during migration.During the wintering period,adults preferred offshore islands,intertidal wetlands,and aquaculture ponds.Adult Chinese Egrets showed a relatively low survival rate compared with most other common ardeid species.Dead specimens were found in aquaculture ponds,indicating human disturbance as the main cause of death of this vulnerable species.These results highlighted the importance of resolving conflicts between egrets and human-made aquaculture wetlands and protecting intertidal flats and offshore islands in natural wetlands through international cooperation.Our results contributed to the hitherto unknown annual spatiotemporal migration patterns of adult Chinese Egrets,thereby providing an important basis for the conservation of this vulnerable species.

黄嘴白鹭集群繁殖对营巢地土壤重金属积累的效应(英文)

本研究采用电感耦合等离子质谱(ICP-MS)方法,测定福建漳浦菜屿岛黄嘴白鹭(Egrettaeulophotes)排泄物的重金属元素(V、Cr、Mn、Ni、Cu、Zn、Cd、Se、Pb)及半金属元素(As)的含量,分析比较黄嘴白鹭繁殖之前和繁殖之后的集群营巢地、非营巢地的表层土壤的重金属元素及半金属元素含量的变化。结果显示:在本次测定的所有排泄物和土壤样本中均未检出元素Se和Cd;非营巢地土壤中各元素的含量在繁殖前后都没有显著差异(p>0.05),营巢地土壤中的Zn和Pb元素的含量在繁殖前后有极显著差异(p<0.01)。营巢地和非营巢地土壤之间的元素含量比较结果发现,繁殖之前两地土壤之间的Zn含量存在极显著差异(p<0.01);繁殖之后两地土壤之间的Cu、Zn、As、Pb存在极显著差异(p<0.01),V、Ni存在显著差异(p<0.05)。上述数据说明黄嘴白鹭的集群繁殖活动对湿地和海岛生态系统之间的重金属转移起着重要作用,长时间则可能造成海岛营巢地土壤的重金属污染。