Investigation On Bird Diversity In Yuncheng Wetland Provincial Nature Reserve Of Shanxi

Yuncheng Wetland Provincial Nature Reserve of Shanxi,which lies in the middle reaches of the Yellow River,with a total area of 86 861 hm2,was the largest and only wetland nature reserve in Shanxi Province.The bird diversity of Yuncheng Wetland Nature Reserve is the richest in Shanxi Province.The Reserve was established in May 2001,however there is no detailed research reports about global birds yet.In this study,the bird resources in Yuncheng Wetland Nature Reserve of Shanxi were investigated from 2014 to 2016.The species,quantity and dynamic change of birds were analyzed.The results were as follows:1.205 bird species were recorded and they belonged to 18 orders,54 families,among which passeriformes birds in a total of 24 families,80 species,accounted for 39.02%of the total species of birds in this area;charadriiformes birds,8 families and 37 species,accounted for 18.05%;anseriformes birds,1 families and 22 species,accounted for 10.73%;the waterbirds(Podicipediformes,Ciconiiformes,Phoenicopteriformes,Anseriformes,Charadriiformes,Gruiformes and Coraciiformes),a total of 87 species,accounted for 42.44%of the total species of birds in this area,reflecting the characteristics of wetland birds.133 species of Palaearctic birds,16 species of Oriental realm birds and 56 species of wide-distributed birds were included in this area.The Palaearctic birds were the main part in bird fauna.There were 54 species of residents,56 species of summermigrants,35 species of winermigrants and 59 species of traveling birds in this area.2.3 species were listed as Grade I National Protected Birds,and they were Ciconia nigra,Haliaeetus albicilla,Otis tarda.27 species were listed as Grade II National Protected Birds,which included Platalea leucorodia,Cygnus cygnus,Aix galericulata,Buteo hemilasius,Grus grus,etc.13 species belonged to the protected birds of Shanxi Province.Anser cygnoides were listed as endangered species in the IUCN red list.Falco naumanniand,Otis tarda are listed as vulnerable species in the IUCN red list.105 species were covered by the Sino-Japan Agreement on the Protection of Migratory Birds.32 species were listed in the list of Sino-Australia Agreement on the Protection of Migratory Birds.3.We analysised the birds diversity to 4 seasons,the Shannon-Wiener index of autumn is the highest,followed by summer',spring' and winter'.In contrast,the G-F index of spring is the highest,followed by summer',autumn' and winter'.The species of birds in spring was more than summer',and autumn',but interspecific differences in individual number was large in spring,which resulted in the lower Shannon-Wiener index compared with the summer' and autumn'.The diversity indexes at the genus level and the family level of autumn was lower then spring' and summer'.4.The habitats of the reserve were divided into 7 classes,including river wetland,lake wetland,marsh wetland,constructed wetland,beaches,plantations and villages.We found that the species of the marsh wetland bird was the highest,the quantities of river wetland was the highest by analysing the birds diversity of 7 different habitats.The birds diversity was rich in lake wetland,constructed wetland and beaches.The Shannon-Wiener index of the 3 habitat types were 3.447(constructed wetland),2.808(lake wetland),2.790(beaches).The G-F index of the 3 habitat types were 0.649(beaches),0.643(lake wetland),0.642(constructed wetland).According the Sorensen index of above 7 habitat types,the similarity between the lake wetland and constructed wetland is the hightest.5.In the investigation of the reserve of January,2016,3 778 Cygnus cygnus were recorded.We found that the major habitat of the C.Cygnus was Sanwan of Pinglu county and Shengtian lake of Ruicheng county.There were about 200 to 300 Grus grus perching in the reserve in winter.They mainly distributed in the Hejin beach,Wanrong beach and Salk Lake.The major habitat of G.Grus has been greatly changed comparing with the 1980s' to 1990s',now they mainly distributed in Xi Beach of Wanrong county.The quantities of G.Grus drastically reduced.6.The breeding birds in the reserve including Recurvirostra avosetta,Himantopus himantopus,Charadrius alexandrines,Glareola maldivarum,Fulica atra,Ardea cinerea,etc.The main breeding grounds of Recurvirostra avosetta,Himantopus himantopus and Charadrius alexandrines was Yunchen salt pond,which have a large area of salt marshes.The main breeding grounds of Glareola maldivarum was Xi Beach of Wanrong county.The duck pond of the Salt-lake was the main breeding grounds of Fulica atra.The Ardea cinerea mainly nesting and breeding in Bawcock Hillside of Pinglu county.7.There were some issues in this reserve,such as excessive reclamation on beaches,environmental contamination of the wetland,bird hunting secretly and the weak awareness of local farmers in bird protection,etc.It is necessary to solve these problems.We suggested that relevant departments should formulate scientific and rational planning about exploitation and utilization,take measures to restore the wetland,spread the importance of bird protection to the public,establish a long-term monitoring mechanism of birds.