The Study On Bird Community And Conservation In The Yanchiwan National Nature Reserve

The bird surveys were carried out with the methods of fixed sample plots andline transects in the Yanchiwan National Nature Reserve during the period fromNovember2012to September2013. On the basis of a comprehensive investigation,combined with the Shannon-Wiener diversity index, evenness index, richness index,dominance index are used for analysis the bird community composition in theYanchiwan National Reserve and the bird community in different habitats.In the survey area70bird species were recorded in the Yanchiwan NationalNature Reserve totally, belonging to12orders,24families. In them there are31residents and account for44.29%in the total bird species,29summer migrants andaccount for41.43%in the total bird species,8passing birds and2winner migrants. Inwhich there are57dispersed bird specie,13palaearctic species, and no orientalspecies. The dominant bird species in the Yanchiwan National Nature Reserve areWhite-rumped Snowfinch (Montifringilla taczanowskii), Saxaul Sparrow (Passerammodendri), Tree Sparrow (P. montanus), Crested Lark (Galerida cristata), HornedLark (Eremophila alpestri), Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus), Black-winged Stile(Himantopus himantopus), White Wagtail (Motacilla alba), Barn Swallow (Hirundorustica) and Common Raven (Corvus corax). Belonging these70bird species,6species are the first–degree national protection animal species and5of them areraptors,15species are the second–degree national protection animal species,6speciesare listed into the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of WildFauna and Flora (CITES) appendix Ⅰ,6species are listed into CITES appendix Ⅱ,one species is classified as an endangered species (EN) by the International Union ofConservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN),4species are classified as anvulnerable species (VU),2species are classified as an near threatened species (NT)and10species are classified as an low risk species (LR).The analyzed results among four typical habitats (desert shrubland areas, desertgrassland area, wetland area and village area) shows that there are25bird species inthe desert shrubland area,23bird species in the wetland area,21bird species in thedesert grassland area and17bird species in the village area. Both Shannon-Weiner index and evenness index in the wetland area is thehighest of all habitats, and the village area is followed, the desert shrubland area is thelowest of the four habitats. But for richness index, the desert grassland area is thehighest of all, and the wetland area is taking the second place, the village area is thelowest one. The similarity between desert grassland area and village area is fairlysimilar, but it is considerably less resembled between wetland area and desertshrubland area.It is because of the special geographic and ecological circumstances of theYanchiwan National Nature Reserve, the majority of the bird’s niche breadths index iszero. But the summit niche breadth is Ring-necked Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus),Asian Short-toed Lark (Calandrella cheleensis) and Hume’s Short-toed Lark (C.acutirostris) followed. By calculating the niche overlaps between dominant birdspecies and protected bird species, we elaborated the competition among the birdsunder the different resource conditions.As the Yanchiwan National Nature Reserve has been suffering the animalhusbandry, gold mining, global climate change and so on, deterioration of grasslandsand land desertification are becoming more and more serious, which influences thecommunity structure and diversity of birds to a certain degree.Based on the above investigations and studies, we put forward correspondingmeasures and suggestions in order to make better conservation of bird resources andhabitats in the Yanchiwan National Nature Reserve for the future. These measuresinvolve management of grassland, construction of soil and water conservation,werland monitoring and reseach, return grazing land to grassland and so on.