Bird Diversity In The Wetland On The Southern Shore Of The Bohai Bay And The Impact Of Wind Farms On Birds

The wetland on the south coast of the Bohai Bay is an important stop-over site on the migration route of birds on the East Asia-Australasian Bird Flyway.This site has been set as an Important Bird Area by Birdlife International.It has abundant bird resources.As a wind energy-rich area,it is also one of the most developed wind energy resource areas in Shandong Province.In the process of the joint development of bird resource protection and wind energy resource development,research on the impact of wind farms on birds has attracted more and more attention.This study conducted a bird diversity survey and a study on the impact of wind farms on birds in the coastal areas of Binzhou and Dongying on the south coast of the Bohai Bay from October 2017 to September 2019.We tried to figure out the bird diversity of this area,and analyse the temporal and spatial variations of bird diversity.We also analysed the difference in bird diversity between wind farm sites and those without wind turbines,to figure out how wind farms affect bird diversity.We also investigated whether wind farms influence the behavior of birds,especially the fly height.Finally,reasonable suggestions have been made for the construction of wind farms.The main findings are as follows:(1)A total of 118 bird species have been recorded,belonging to 15 orders,39 families,of which,most species from the order Charadriiformes.The Berger-Parker dominance index(I)determination method is used to mark species with I>5%as dominant species.Based on the criterion,six species can be regarded as dominant species:Black-headed Gull,Greylag Goose,Common Coot,Great Cormorant,Black-winged Stilt,and Kentish Plover.In the composition of bird fauna 37 species are widely distributed,76 species in the Palaearctic realm,and only 5 species in the Oriental realm.The distribution of the fauna is mainly in the Palaearctic realm.The residence type is dominated by migratory birds.There are 51 species of migratory birds,29 species of migratory birds,21 species of summer migratory birds and 17 species of winter migratory birds.(2)Oriental Stork,Black Stork,Siberian Crane,Hooded Crane,Red-crowned Crane and Relict Gull are on the first class of "The Lists of National Protected Wildlife".There are 12 species on the second class of "The Lists of National Protected Wildlife".There are 64 species belong to China-Japan Migratory Birds Protection Agreement List,and 30 species belong to the Bird List of the China-Australia Migratory Bird Protection Agreement List.(3)In the survey sample area of this study,there was no significant difference in bird diversity index between Binzhou and Dongying areas(P=0.81),the similarity coefficient of bird species between the two sites was 74%,and shorebirds were the main species in Binzhou.In Dongying,most cranes and wild ducks are found.The diversity index of the same habitat from these two sites is also not significantly different(P tidal flat wetland=0.867,Priver wetland=0.977,Partificial wetland=0.268)(4)The Shannon-weiner index(H)for the four seasons is Hspring=2.76,Hsummer=2.74,Hautumn=2.87,Hwinter=2.39,and the number of species is 44,38,54 and 33 respectively.Diversity is the highest in autumn and lowest in winter.The number of bird species in the migration season in spring and autumn is greater than that in the breeding and overwintering periods,and the seasons change sharply.(5)It is recorded that there are 45 bird species in tidal flat wetlands,64 bird species in river wetlands,and 43 bird species in artificial wetland.The diversity indices of different habitats are:Htidal flat wetlands=2.95,Hviver wetland=3.10,Hartificial wetland=2.55,the river wetland and tidal flat wetland have little human interference,rich food resources,and are good habitats for birds.(6)A total of 19,547 waterbirdss from 5 orders and 9 families were recorded in the wind farm area,and a total of 19,547 waterbirds were recorded in the control area.Waders have the most species number and individuals,and there is no significant difference in bird diversity between the wind farm area and the control area(P=0.466,P>0.05).The two areas share 43 same bird species,with a similarity coefficient of 77%.The number of bird species in areas with wind turbines is lower than control area,but not significantly.(7)The number of birds in the wind farm area is autumn>spring>summer>winter,and there is no significant difference in the four season diversity from the control area(Pspring=0.584,Psummer=0.572,Pautumn=0.710.Pwinter=0.967),some waterbirds have adapt to the new environment and use the wind farm area as a habitat.(8)According to our survey,in the wind farm area,birds maintain a certain horizontal distance from the wind turbine in the spatial distribution,the nearest tens of meters to 200 meters,the farthest is 1000 meters,all affected by the rotation of the wind turbine blades out of range.(9)The influence height of the fan blades in the survey area is between 50 meters and 130 meters.Basically,when flying birds in the wind farm area,the basic choice is below 50 meters or above 130 meters.Therefore,birds familiar with the wind farm environment will adjust the flying height to avoid the wind turbine.(10)According to the results,there are a lot of key important bird species in this area.Although we didn't found dead bird bodies caused by windfarm collision,there was a large possibility that birds may hit the fan blade,especially birds migrates during night.We strongly recommend wind farm company to establish a system to monitor bird collisions and sites for new wind farms should be selected more carefully to reduce impact on birds.