Search Results (207)

This study highlights the spatial, seasonal, and climatic variations in bird species richness across Türkiye, a country with rich avian richness situated at the intersection of major migratory routes. Bird species richness was calculated for each province. Differences between regions, Köppen–Geiger climate classes, and seasons were analyzed using the Kruskal–Wallis method. Non-parametric analysis of longitudinal data in factorial experiments was also employed to determine seasonal differences within regions and climate classes. The results revealed significant spatial variations in species richness, particularly between temperate and cold climate regions. While seasonal differences were generally less pronounced, they were critical for both migratory and resident bird species. Wetlands, coastal areas, and transitional habitats were identified as biodiversity hotspots for both resident and migratory birds. This study underscores the need to integrate regional, climatic, and seasonal variations into ecosystem-based management plans. Protecting critical habitats, enhancing connectivity through ecological corridors, and adopting adaptive conservation strategies are essential for sustaining Türkiye’s rich avian diversity. These results provide valuable insights for conservation planning and emphasize the importance of addressing spatial and seasonal dynamics to ensure long-term biodiversity preservation. Full article

The Gahai wetland in Gansu, China, is a key wetland for nationally and globally threatened bird species. This research aims to quantify the economic value of wetland birds by the method of contingent valuation questionnaire, thereby providing a foundation for conservation of avian species. The result indicated that residents were willing to pay between 208 and 230 CNY (29–32 USD $) annually for bird protection, a total annual value of wetland birds in Luqu County ranging from 7.9 M to 8.8 M CNY (1.1–1.3 M USD $). Men, locals, and older individuals were more inclined to contribute and offered higher payments, albeit non-significant correlation between education level and annual income with the willingness to pay. While the depth of understanding of wetland pressures did not significantly influence the willingness to pay, it did show a positive correlation; those with more profound understanding tended to be more generous in their payments. Tibetan male residents were more likely to prioritize ecological and environmental protection due to their religious beliefs and cultural customs, which emphasize the reverence for and compassion towards birds. This research not only complemented and validated the applicability of the contingent valuation method in China but also underscores the considerations that should be taken into account when employing this method. Full article

Federated learning allows models to be trained on edge devices with local data, eliminating the need to share data with a central server. This significantly reduces the amount of data transferred from edge devices to central servers, which is particularly important in rural areas with limited bandwidth resources. Despite the potential of federated learning to fine-tune deep learning models using data collected from edge devices in low-resource environments, its application in the field of bird monitoring remains underexplored. This study proposes a federated learning pipeline tailored for bird species classification in wetlands. The proposed approach is based on lightweight convolutional neural networks optimized for use on resource-constrained devices. Since the performance of federated learning is strongly influenced by the models used and the experimental setting, this study conducts a comprehensive comparison of well-known lightweight models such as WideResNet, EfficientNetV2, MNASNet, GoogLeNet and ResNet in different training settings. The results demonstrate the importance of the training setting in federated learning architectures and the suitability of the different models for bird species recognition. This work contributes to the wider application of federated learning in ecological monitoring and highlights its potential to overcome challenges such as bandwidth limitations. Full article

A key challenge is how to effectively conserve habitats and biodiversity amid widespread habitat fragmentation and loss caused by global urbanization. Despite growing attention to this issue, knowledge of the seasonal dynamics of habitats remains limited, and conservation gaps are still inadequately identified. This study proposes a novel integrated framework, “Habitat Suitability–Risk–Quality”, to improve the assessment of the seasonal bird habitat quality and to identify priority conservation habitats in urban landscapes. The framework was implemented in Wuhan, China, a critical stopover site along the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. It combines the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) model to predict the seasonal habitat suitability, the Habitat Risk Assessment (HRA) model to quantify habitat sensitivity to multiple anthropogenic threats, and a refined Habitat Quality (HQ) model to evaluate the seasonal habitat quality. K-means clustering was then applied to group habitats based on seasonal quality dynamics, enabling the identification of priority areas and the development of differentiated conservation strategies. The results show significant seasonal variation in habitat suitability and quality. Wetlands provided the highest-quality habitats in autumn and winter, grasslands exhibited moderate seasonal quality, and forests showed the least seasonal fluctuation. The spatial analysis revealed that high-quality wetland habitats form an ecological belt along the urban–suburban fringe. Four habitat clusters with distinct seasonal characteristics were then identified. However, spatial mismatches were found between existing protected areas and habitats of high ecological value. Notably, Cluster 1 maintained high habitat quality year round, spanning 99.38 km², yet only 46.51% of its area is currently protected. The remaining 53.16 km², mostly situated in urban–suburban transitional zones, remain unprotected. This study provides valuable insights for identifying priority habitats and developing season-specific conservation strategies in rapidly urbanizing regions, thereby supporting the sustainable management of urban biodiversity and the development of resilient ecological systems. Full article

Monitoring waterfowl populations is essential for informing habitat management, conservation strategies, and sustainable harvest regulations. Many target species such as mallards and northern pintails are keystone components of wetland ecosystems, serving as ecological indicators due to their sensitivity to environmental changes. The integration of drone technology and artificial intelligence (AI) is significantly transforming the field of wildlife conservation and habitat monitoring. Existing methods for waterfowl monitoring face critical challenges such as low accuracy in identifying overlapping image regions and limited segmentation accuracy in complex habitats. To address these issues, this paper presents an end-to-end system and several new methods for efficiently and accurately identifying waterfowl populations in their natural habitats using AI and drone imagery. We applied advanced deep learning models to drone imagery for detecting and counting waterfowl. To handle overlapping regions in consecutive images, we developed a bird-location-based method that quickly and accurately identifies overlaps. For habitat segmentation, we proposed an effective approach combining Meta’s Segment Anything Model (SAM) with a ResNet50 classifier. Additionally, we used ChatGPT to generate clear, easy-to-read reports summarizing detection results. Experimental results show that our bird detection model (Faster R-CNN) achieved 86.57% mAP, our habitat segmentation method reached 85.1% accuracy (average F1 score: 81.8%), and our overlap detection method maintained an error rate below 5% with faster performance compared to traditional techniques. These outcomes highlight the practical effectiveness of our integrated pipeline for wildlife conservation and habitat monitoring. Full article

This study employs a multi-model coupling and multi-scenario simulation approach to construct a framework for identifying and optimizing avian ecological corridors in the urban core of Kunming. The framework focuses on the ecological needs of resident birds (64.72%), woodland-dependent birds (39.87%), and low-mobility birds (47.29%) to address habitat fragmentation and enhance urban biodiversity conservation. This study identifies 54 core ecological corridors, totaling 183.58 km, primarily located in forest–urban transition zones. These corridors meet the continuous habitat requirements of resident and woodland-dependent birds, providing a stable environment for species. Additionally, 55 general corridors, spanning 537.30 km, focus on facilitating short-distance movements of low-mobility birds, enhancing habitat connectivity in urban fringe areas through ecological stepping stones. Eighteen ecological pinch points (total area 5.63 km²) play a crucial role in the network. The northern pinch points, dominated by forest land, serve as vital breeding and refuge habitats for woodland-dependent and resident birds. The southern pinch points, located in wetland-forest ecotones, function as critical stopover sites for low-mobility waterbirds. Degradation of these pinch points would significantly reduce available habitat for birds. The 27 ecological barrier points (total area 89.79 km²), characterized by urban land use, severely impede the movement of woodland-dependent birds and increase the migratory energy expenditure of low-mobility birds in agricultural areas. Following optimization, resistance to resident birds in core corridors is significantly reduced, and habitat utilization by generalist species in general corridors is markedly improved. Moreover, multi-scenario optimization measures, including the addition of ecological stepping stones, barrier improvement, and pinch-point protection, have effectively increased ecological sources, met avian habitat requirements, and secured migratory pathways for waterbirds. These measures validate the scientific rationale of a multidimensional management strategy. The comprehensive framework developed in this study, integrating species needs, corridor design, and spatial optimization, provides a replicable model for avian ecological corridor construction in subtropical montane cities. Future research may incorporate bird-tracking technologies to further validate corridor efficacy and explore planning pathways for climate-adaptive corridors. Full article

Mediterranean saline wetlands are significant ecological habitats defined by seasonal water availability and various biological communities, forming a unique ecotone that combines traits of both freshwater and marine environments. Moreover, they are regarded as notable natural and economic resources. Since the sustainable management of protected wetlands necessitates a multidisciplinary approach, the purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive picture of the hydrological, hydrochemical, and ecological dynamics of a man-made groundwater dependent ecosystem (GDE) by combining remote sensing, hydrochemical data, geostatistical tools, and ecological indicators. The study area, called “Le Soglitelle”, is located in the Campania plain (Italy), which is close to the Domitian shoreline, covering a surface of 100 ha. The Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), a remote sensing-derived index sensitive to surface water presence, from Sentinel-2 was used to detect changes in the percentage of the wetland inundated area over time. Water samples were collected in four campaigns, and hydrochemical indexes were used to investigate the major hydrochemical seasonal processes occurring in the area. Geostatistical tools, such as principal component analysis (PCA) and independent component analysis (ICA), were used to identify the main hydrochemical processes. Moreover, faunal monitoring using waders was employed as an ecological indicator. Seasonal variation in the inundation area ranged from nearly 0% in summer to over 50% in winter, consistent with the severe climatic oscillations indicated by SPEI values. PCA and ICA explained over 78% of the total hydrochemical variability, confirming that the area’s geochemistry is mainly characterized by the saltwater sourced from the artesian wells that feed the wetland. The concentration of the major ions is regulated by two contrasting processes: evapoconcentration in summer and dilution and water mixing (between canals and ponds water) in winter. Cl⁻/Br⁻ molar ratio results corroborated this double seasonal trend. The base exchange index highlighted a salinization pathway for the wetland. Bird monitoring exhibited consistency with hydrochemical monitoring, as the seasonal distribution clearly reflects the dual behaviour of this area, which in turn augmented the biodiversity in this GDE. The integration of remote sensing data, multivariate geostatistical analysis, geochemical tools, and faunal indicators represents a novel interdisciplinary framework for assessing GDE seasonal dynamics, offering practical insights for wetland monitoring and management. Full article

This paper focuses on the social effect assessment of the ecological governance of Poyang Lake wetland in Jiangxi Province. By distributing 1098 valid questionnaires to the surrounding residents and collecting them, this paper deeply explores the feedback on residents’ satisfaction and recognition regarding the effectiveness of wetland governance measures. Through the comprehensive use of the Order Logit model and descriptive statistical methods such as the mean and standard deviation, this paper deeply discusses the impact of the ecological management measures of Poyang Lake wetland on residents’ life quality, environmental protection awareness, and community well-being. The study found that the wetland ecological management project was widely praised, and the overall satisfaction of residents was as high as 87.5%, reflecting a significant social effect. Further analysis revealed that satisfaction was affected by multiple factors, including age, education, quality of life (including increased leisure and recreational space and enhanced regional identity), and improvement in environmental quality (including increased bird species diversity, improved water and air quality, and improved infrastructure). Residents’ cognition of wetland function is multi-dimensional and profound, but they still need to strengthen standard science education in deep-level ecological functions such as species protection. Based on the research conclusion, three policy suggestions are proposed: first, the government should strengthen ecological education and enhance the public awareness of environmental protection; second, the government should pay attention to the win–win of ecology and people’s livelihoods and promote the harmonious coexistence of wetland protection and community development; and third, the government should improve the relevant infrastructure, strengthen environmental protection facilities, scientific research monitoring and legal construction, and lay a solid foundation for the sustainable protection and utilization of wetland resources. Full article

Comprehending the alterations in wintering grounds of migratory birds amid global change and anthropogenic influences is pivotal for advancing wetland sustainability and ensuring avian conservation. Frequent extreme droughts in the middle and lower Yangtze River region of China have posed severe ecological and socio-economic dilemmas. The integration of internet-derived, crowdsourced geographic data with remote-sensing imagery now facilitates assessments of these avian habitats. Poyang Lake, China’s largest freshwater body, suffered an unprecedented drought in 2022, offering a unique case study on avian habitat responses to climate extremes. By harnessing social and online platforms’ media reports, we analyzed the types, attributes and proportions of migratory bird habitats. This crowdsourced geographic information, corroborated by Sentinel-2 optical remote-sensing imagery, elucidated the suitability and transformations of these habitats under drought stress. Our findings revealed marked variations in habitat preferences among bird species, largely attributable to divergent feeding ecologies and behavioral patterns. Dominantly, shallow waters emerged as the most favored habitat, succeeded by mudflats and grasslands. Remote-sensing analyses disclosed a stark 60% reduction in optimal habitat area during the drought phase, paralleled by a 1.5-fold increase in unsuitable habitat areas compared to baseline periods. These prime habitats were chiefly localized in Poyang Lake’s western sub-lakes. The extreme drought precipitated a drastic contraction in suitable habitat extent and heightened fragmentation. Our study underscores the value of crowdsourced geographic information in assessing habitat suitability for migratory birds. Retaining sub-lake water surfaces within large river or lake floodplains during extreme droughts emerges as a key strategy to buffer the impacts of hydrological extremes on avian habitats. This research contributes to refining conservation strategies and promoting adaptive management practices of wetlands in the face of climate change. Full article

Globally, coastal wetlands are among the most dynamic and important environments due to their wide range of environmental services, from which coastal communities benefit. Mexico has coastal wetlands that are a priority in the Pacific Flyway in America, since every year millions of shorebirds use these wetlands to reproduce and rest during their migration, in addition to various species that live there and are under some protection standard or in danger of extinction. In addition, these Mexican wetlands are also spaces from which important growing coastal communities benefit. However, the conservation of these coastal sites will be compromised in the coming decades by sea level rise and increasing pressure derived from coastal development, which directly impact the potential loss of space and consequently the decrease in migratory bird populations. This work identifies hydrodynamic changes and the effects of sea level rise in five coastal wetlands in Mexico and the Pacific Flyway in America, focusing on the future availability of space and the potential loss of ecosystem services under projected scenarios. The results generated give us a knowledge base to design strategies focused on the conservation and resilience of these wetlands in the face of sea level rise. Full article

In recent years, the altered hydrological regimes and frequent extreme hydrological events in its watershed have significantly affected the stability and biodiversity of the dish-shaped lakes (DSLs) ecosystem in Poyang Lake. This study uses long-term water level records from the Xingzi hydrological station, multi-source remote sensing imagery, and field surveys to assess how altered hydrological regimes and frequent extreme hydrological events influence the coupled hydro-ecological evolution of DSLs under different gate-controlled conditions. The results reveal the following: (1) After 2003, average monthly water levels declined by 0.84 m, shifting prolonged inundation depths from the 10.0 to 14.0 m range into the 5.5 to 9.5 m range. Extreme hydrological events disrupted the hydrological regimes, triggering a clear “collapse–recovery” succession in submerged plants and major shifts in shoal wetland vegetation. (2) Gate-controlled DSLs (GC DSLs) mitigated many of these impacts by reducing the autumnal drawdown in the water area change rate to 0.324 km²/d, curbing the upward expansion of emergent and hygrophytic vegetation during high-water-level years, and stabilizing habitats during low-water-level years, although different management strategies and substrate characteristics may still lead to divergent habitat trajectories. (3) The habitat heterogeneity exhibited by the DSLs’ vegetation communities along the elevation gradient had differential effects on migratory birds, and GC DSLs can offer migratory birds relatively stable resting habitats and food resources during extreme hydrological events. The study recommends that DSL management should adopt a hierarchical dynamic regulation strategy to balance natural hydrological fluctuations with human interventions, thereby strengthening the resilience of DSL wetland habitats to extreme hydrological events. Full article

Intensive farming in urban suburbs often causes habitat loss, soil erosion, wastewater discharge, and agricultural productivity decline, threatening long-term benefits for the local community. We developed a nature-based solution for sustainable land restoration by establishing “Green Treasure Island” (GTI). The aim of this study is to evaluate the ecological restoration effectiveness of GTI and explore its feasibility and replicability for future applications. The core eco-functional zone of GTI—a 7 hm² forested wetland—embedded a closed-loop framework that integrates land consolidation, ecological restoration, and sustainable land utilization. The forested wetland efficiently removed 65% and 74% of dissolved inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus from agricultural runoff, raised flood control capacity by 22%, and attracted 48 bird species. Additionally, this biophilic recreational space attracted over 3400 visitors in 2022, created green jobs, and promoted local green agricultural product sales. Through adaptive management and nature education activities, GTI evolved into a landmark that represents local natural–social characteristics and serves as a publicly accessible natural park for both rural and urban residents. This study demonstrates the feasibility of creating GTI for improving ecosystem services, providing a practical, low-cost template that governments and local managers can replicate in metropolitan rural areas worldwide to meet both ecological and development goals. Full article

Understanding the impact of climate change on waterbirds, particularly those of conservation concern, is essential for their long-term management and effective conservation. In arid regions such as North Africa, wetlands of international importance have been affected by severe drought events, but their impact on waterbirds is still not well understood. Here, we assess the population dynamics of four emblematic resident species (Aythya nyroca, Marmaronetta angustirostris, Oxyura leucocephala, and Porphyrio porphyrio porphyrio) in a North African Ramsar site (Garaet Hadj Tahar marsh, Northeast Algeria), and determine the climatic variables (temperature, precipitation, and drought index) that best predict the change in abundance in wintering and breeding seasons. We used a long-term survey of regular counts during the wintering and breeding seasons of 2002–2019. The temporal trend of waterbird abundance differed between species and seasons. Species showed different sensitivities to different climatic variables at different time windows preceding the wintering and breeding seasons. We found that the population dynamics of the endangered O. leucocephala in the wintering and breeding seasons were best predicted with the drought index, whereas those of P. p. porphyrio were best correlated with maximum temperature. Population dynamics during the wintering and breeding season of the two other species were best explained with either maximum temperature, precipitation, average temperature, or drought. Species responded differently to warming and drought. The most endangered species (O. leucocephala) showed population declines in drier years, whereas less threatened species (A. nyroca, M. angustirostris, and P. p. porphyrio) exhibited either positive or negative correlations. The observed temporal increase in vegetation cover was positively correlated with the wintering population size of O. leucocephala, as well as the breeding population size of P. p. porphyrio and M. angustirostris. These findings highlight the urgent need for climate-adaptive conservation strategies to sustain wetland biodiversity and ecosystem resilience in the face of increasing climate stressors, aligning with the global sustainability goals for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management. Our results suggest that future increases in temperatures and drought severity might threaten endangered waterbirds and benefit more common species in the region. Full article

Establishing a resilient bird habitat network (BHN) and identifying ecological strategic areas for protection are critical for conserving biodiversity and maintaining ecosystem stability in wetland cities. However, existing ecological network studies often overlook dynamic resilience that incorporates explicit species information, and their scenario-based assessments lack systematic evaluation metrics. This study, using Wuhan—an international wetland city—as a case study, integrates Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt), remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) and circuit theory to identify a high-quality BHN. A comprehensive resilience assessment and optimization framework is developed, grounded in structure–function–quality indicators and informed by resilience and complex network theory. Key findings include: (1) The network comprises 147 habitat patches and 284 ecological corridors, demonstrating marked spatial heterogeneity. Habitats are predominantly located in the southern and southwestern regions of Wuhan, concentrated in contiguous green spaces. In contrast, habitats in the urban core are fragmented and small. Corridors are mainly distributed in the southwestern and central metropolitan areas. (2) Under deliberate attack, considering resilience centrality, the network’s resilience declined more slowly than in scenarios based on traditional centrality measures. Across combined node and corridor attack simulations, two critical resilience thresholds were identified at 30% and 50%. (3) The ecological strategic space is primarily composed of key habitat patches (58, 108, 117, and 27) and corridors (119–128, 9–12, 122–147, 128–138, 76–85, and 20–29), mainly located in the southern region of Wuhan, particularly around Liangzi Lake and Anshan National Wetland Park. This study advances a dynamic framework for BHN resilience assessment, planning, and restoration, providing scientific guidance for enhancing ecological security and biodiversity conservation in urban wetland environments. Full article

Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are important vectors of avian haemosporidian parasites. Understanding their host preferences is crucial for elucidating transmission routes of vector-borne pathogens. In Slovakia, such knowledge is limited, particularly in forested wetlands. This study aimed to identify Culicoides species, their host preferences, and haemosporidian parasites in a wetland ecosystem at the Bird Ringing Station in Drienovec. Midges were collected in 2022 using UV light traps at two sites. In total, 2344 Culicoides individuals of 19 species were collected. Host blood was identified and DNA subsequently extracted from 36 engorged females, revealing feeding on three mammal and five bird species. The most frequently identified host was roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), predominantly fed upon by Culicoides obsoletus (Meigen 1818). Notably, avian haemosporidian DNA was detected for the first time in Slovakia in three Culicoides females. In two Culicoides alazanicus Dzhafarov 1961 individuals, DNA of Haemoproteus asymmetricus (TUPHI01) and Plasmodium matutinum (LINN1) was confirmed, both associated with avian blood from Turdus sp. One Culicoides festivipennis Kieffer 1914 female carried Haemoproteus tartakovskyi (HAWF1) and fed on Coccothraustes coccothraustes. These findings highlight the potential role of local Culicoides species in transmitting avian pathogens and underscore the importance of monitoring their ecology. Full article