The impact of ecological water level on wintering migratory birds in Poyang Lake – Focusing on phytophagous geese

Poyang Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China and a globally important wintering habitat for migratory birds. The ecosystem health of Poyang Lake and the surrounding lakeshore wetlands is crucial for the wintering of birds. To better protect the health of bird wintering habitats, this study pr...

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Main Authors: Yuxin Li, Xi Dong, Chunming Hu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Ecological Indicators
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X24014031
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author Yuxin Li
Xi Dong
Chunming Hu
author_facet Yuxin Li
Xi Dong
Chunming Hu
author_sort Yuxin Li
collection DOAJ
description Poyang Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China and a globally important wintering habitat for migratory birds. The ecosystem health of Poyang Lake and the surrounding lakeshore wetlands is crucial for the wintering of birds. To better protect the health of bird wintering habitats, this study proposes an ecological water level calculation method that comprehensively considers zoning and phasing by establishing a coupled relationship between water level and ecosystem health. The results show that the ecosystem characteristics of the Poyang Lake lakeshore wetland are closely related to the water level. Based on the water level guarantee rate, the lake area can be divided into five sub-areas: 0%, 0–25%, 25–50%, 50–75%, and 75–100%, each with significant differences in vegetation characteristics. The average water levels in February, June, September, and November significantly impact the ecosystem health of the Poyang Lake lakeshore wetland and can serve as regulatory nodes for ecological water levels. Based on the life habits of geese and ducks, which are the dominant migratory bird species in Poyang Lake, the importance of ecological water level regulation is in the order of September, February, November and June, and the ecological water level in each month is recommended to be controlled as follows: the February average water level within the range of 6–8 m, ensure a minimum June average water level of 15 m, maintain the September average water level between 11–12 m, and stabilize the November average water level at 10 m. This thesis proposes a new way of studying the ecological water level of lakes, which can improve the existing research methods of ecological water level and better protect the ecosystem health of lakes and wetlands and fulfill their key ecological services.
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spelling doaj-art-c5cc4e016ac846a8a536d308ad0de3e32025-08-20T01:56:44ZengElsevierEcological Indicators1470-160X2024-12-0116911294610.1016/j.ecolind.2024.112946The impact of ecological water level on wintering migratory birds in Poyang Lake – Focusing on phytophagous geeseYuxin Li0Xi Dong1Chunming Hu2National Engineering Research Center of Industrial Wastewater Detoxication and Resource Recovery, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; Tianjin College, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Tianjin 301830, ChinaNational Engineering Research Center of Industrial Wastewater Detoxication and Resource Recovery, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, ChinaNational Engineering Research Center of Industrial Wastewater Detoxication and Resource Recovery, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China; Corresponding author.Poyang Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China and a globally important wintering habitat for migratory birds. The ecosystem health of Poyang Lake and the surrounding lakeshore wetlands is crucial for the wintering of birds. To better protect the health of bird wintering habitats, this study proposes an ecological water level calculation method that comprehensively considers zoning and phasing by establishing a coupled relationship between water level and ecosystem health. The results show that the ecosystem characteristics of the Poyang Lake lakeshore wetland are closely related to the water level. Based on the water level guarantee rate, the lake area can be divided into five sub-areas: 0%, 0–25%, 25–50%, 50–75%, and 75–100%, each with significant differences in vegetation characteristics. The average water levels in February, June, September, and November significantly impact the ecosystem health of the Poyang Lake lakeshore wetland and can serve as regulatory nodes for ecological water levels. Based on the life habits of geese and ducks, which are the dominant migratory bird species in Poyang Lake, the importance of ecological water level regulation is in the order of September, February, November and June, and the ecological water level in each month is recommended to be controlled as follows: the February average water level within the range of 6–8 m, ensure a minimum June average water level of 15 m, maintain the September average water level between 11–12 m, and stabilize the November average water level at 10 m. This thesis proposes a new way of studying the ecological water level of lakes, which can improve the existing research methods of ecological water level and better protect the ecosystem health of lakes and wetlands and fulfill their key ecological services.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X24014031Poyang LakeLakeshore wetland ecosystemEcological water levelNDVIPeriod divisionZone division
spellingShingle Yuxin Li
Xi Dong
Chunming Hu
The impact of ecological water level on wintering migratory birds in Poyang Lake – Focusing on phytophagous geese
Ecological Indicators
Poyang Lake
Lakeshore wetland ecosystem
Ecological water level
NDVI
Period division
Zone division
title The impact of ecological water level on wintering migratory birds in Poyang Lake – Focusing on phytophagous geese
title_full The impact of ecological water level on wintering migratory birds in Poyang Lake – Focusing on phytophagous geese
title_fullStr The impact of ecological water level on wintering migratory birds in Poyang Lake – Focusing on phytophagous geese
title_full_unstemmed The impact of ecological water level on wintering migratory birds in Poyang Lake – Focusing on phytophagous geese
title_short The impact of ecological water level on wintering migratory birds in Poyang Lake – Focusing on phytophagous geese
title_sort impact of ecological water level on wintering migratory birds in poyang lake focusing on phytophagous geese
topic Poyang Lake
Lakeshore wetland ecosystem
Ecological water level
NDVI
Period division
Zone division
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470160X24014031
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