Community composition and behavioral differences of migrating shorebirds between two habitats within a Suaeda salsa saltmarsh-mudflat wetland mosaics

doi:10.17520/biods.2020189

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims: The Suaeda salsa saltmarsh is a typical estuarine wetland along the coast of the Yellow Sea and provides an important stopover habitat for migratory waterbirds. From 2017 to 2019, we conducted a bird count and behavioral observation at Liaohekou National Nature Reserve to examine the community composition and behavioral differences of shorebirds in adjacent S. salsa saltmarsh and mudflat tideland habitats.
Methods: In adjacent S. salsa saltmarsh and mudflat tideland habitats, we counted and comparied the difference of shorebird community composition and behavior during low tide period.
Results: A total of 6,348 birds comprising 4 families and 28 species were recorded. Species richness was higher in the mudflat than S. salsa saltmarsh in the spring and autumn. Moreover, we found there were significant differences in shorebird community composition between the two habitats—theS. salsa saltmarsh was used more by large-bodied shorebirds (e.g., Numenius madagascariensis, N. arquata, Pluvialis squatarola) while the adjacent mudflat was used more often by small birds (e.g., Charadrius alexandrinus and Calidris alpina). These patterns indicated that the S. salsa saltmarsh has a distinct ecological function for the community formation and maintenance of species diversity of migratory shorebirds. In addition, behavioral data showed that foraging (58.71%-93.26%) was a dominant behavior of shorebirds for both habitats, but a significantly higher percentage of roosting behavior was found in the S. salsa saltmarsh, particularly during the spring stopover stage.
Conclusion: Our results indicate that the saltmarsh is an important roosting habitat for many shorebirds, and this function cannot be replaced by the adjacent intertidal mudflat. While the general biodiversity of the saltmarsh was lower than that of the mudflat, the large proportion of shared species-composition between the two habitats imply that these two habitats are complementary. As a unique combination for a wetland landscape, the S. salsa saltmarsh and mudflat play irreplaceable roles for providing stopover habitat and maintaining species diversity of shorebirds during migration.

Key words: Suaeda salsa saltmarsh, Numenius madagascariensis, habitat use, shorebirds, Liaohe Estuary wetland

Jing Zhang, Yu Bai, Ziqiang Huang, Zhengwang Zhang, Donglai Li. Community composition and behavioral differences of migrating shorebirds between two habitats within a Suaeda salsa saltmarsh-mudflat wetland mosaics[J]. Biodiv Sci, 2021, 29(3): 351-360.

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URL: https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/10.17520/biods.2020189

https://www.biodiversity-science.net/EN/Y2021/V29/I3/351

Figures/Tables 5

Fig. 1 Location of study site

Fig. 2 The difference in species richness (A) and abundance (B) of shorebirds between two habitats in different migratory seasons. Spring: n = 11; autumn: n = 17. The solid lines in the box denote the median value and box edges show the upper and lower quartiles. The maximum and minimum show the largest and lowest data point excluding any outliers and the solid circles show outliers.

Fig. 3 nMDS plots of shorebird community between two habitats (Suaeda salsa saltmarsh vs. mudflat) in two migratory seasons. FC, Numenius madagascariensis; EC, Numenius arquata; WH, Numenius phaeopus; CG, Tringa nebularia; CR, Tringa totanus; RT, Arenaria interpres; TS, Xenus cinereus; SR, Tringa erythropus; DU, Calidris apoina; BTG, Limosa lapponica; GK, Calidris tenuirostris; EO, Haematopus ostralegus; MS, Tringa stagnatilis; ST, Calidris acuminata; SA, Calidris alba; RN,Calidris ruficollis; GP, Pluvialis squatarola; KP, Charadrius alexandrinus; PG, Pluvialis fulva; LS, Charadrius mongolus; LR, Charadrius dubius; SG, Saundersilarus saundersi; BH, Chroicocephalus ridibundus; SI, Larus vegae; SB, Larus schistisagus; BT, Larus crassirostris; WT, Chlidonias leucopterus; LT, Sternula albifrons.

Table 1 Number of shared species and similarity coefficients of shorebirds among different seasons and habitats

	盐地碱蓬 Suaeda salsa saltmarsh		泥质滩涂 Mudflat
	春季 Spring	秋季 Autumn	春季 Spring	秋季 Autumn
盐地碱蓬(春季) Suaeda salsa saltmarsh (Spring)	8	6 (0.46)	6 (0.40)	8 (0.32)
盐地碱蓬(秋季) Suaeda salsa saltmarsh (Autumn)		11	7 (0.41)	11 (0.44)
泥质滩涂(春季) Mudflat (Spring)			13	11 (0.41)
泥质滩涂(秋季) Mudflat (Autumn)				25

Fig. 4 Percentage of different behavior of shorebirds between two habitats in different migratory seasons

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