| Behai Wetland Provincial Nature Reserve(Beihai Wetland)in Tengchong,Yunnan Province,is located in the mountainous region in southwest China which is one of the 34 biodiversity hotspots in the world.It is also a priority area for biodiversity conservation in China.Beihai Wetland is a typical highland natural permanent shallow lake and marsh in Yunnan Province.It is the only highland volcanic weir lake in southwest China.It has been selected as one of the first 33 national key wetlands in China in 1994.Beihai Wetland is located on the Central Asia-India and East Asia-Australia routes of global migratory birds,and belongs to the No.244 Gao Li Gong Mountain Key Bird Area in the List of Key Bird Areas in Mainland China,which is an important habitat for migratory birds and is important for scientific research.Beihai Wetland has rich bird species resources,but the bird biodiversity therein lacks systematic and comprehensive scientific study.The conservation of the wetland and the utilization resources in Beihai Wetland need the support of species background information.In this study,we used the sample line method and sample point method to conduct several field surveys on the bird resources in the wetland.Together with the infrared camera monitoring data from Wetland Conservation Authority and records from bird watching websites,the bird species in different habitats in Beihai Wetland between 2016 and 2021 has been organized and summarized.To reveal the influence of landscape ecological features on bird biodiversity in Beihai Wetland,G-F index and Average Faunal Resemblance(AFR)zonal similarity index were used to analyse the coupling relationship between birds and their habitats.The results will provide scientific basis and data support for the long-term monitoring and conservation planning of bird resources in Beihai Wetland.The main findings of this study are as follows.(1)Beihai Wetland has a rich diversity of bird species.The total number of bird species in Beihai Wetland is 188,belonging to 17 orders,54 families and 125 genera.Among them,110 bird species belongs to Passeriformes,accounting for 58.51%of the total number of bird species,followed by Anseriformes(10.11%),Accipitriformes(6.38%),Pelecaniformes(5.85%),Charadriiformes(3.72%),and Gruiformes(3.19%).(2)On the status of rare and endangered birds shows that 6 bird species are listed in the IUCN Red List and 23 species are listed in the Red List of China’s Vertebrates in the Beihai Wetland.31 species belong to the List of Catalog of Wildlife under Key State Protection(2021),including one species of Class Ⅰprotection and 30 species of Class Ⅱ protection.21 species are included in the CITES Appendices,including one species in Appendix I and 20 species in Appendix Ⅱ.116 species,accounting for 61.70%of the total bird species in Beihai Wetland,are included in the List of Terrestrial Wild Animals of National Protection,which is beneficial or of economic or scientific research value.(3)In terms of bird fauna,123 species,accounting for 65.43%of the total number of bird species in Beihai Wetland,are widespread species,64 species,accounting for 34.04%,are belonging to oriental realm,only one species belongs to Palaearctic realm.(4)The results of the study on bird residence types show that there are 129 species of resident birds,42 species of winter visitor birds,16 species of summer visitor birds and 3 species of passage migrant birds in Beihai Wetland.Some birds have both types of residence.(5)The results of the study on bird primary diet show that most birds in Beihai Wetland eat a variety of foods and have multiple primary diet.Among them,92 species are insectivorous birds,78 species are omnivorous birds,41 species are carnivorous birds,8 species are seed predation birds,5 species are frugivorous birds,4 species are stem and leaf-eating birds,2 species are anthophagous birds,and one species is saprophagous bird.(6)The results of G-F index show that the overall F-index,G-index and G-F index of the bird species diversity in Beihai wetland are 26.809,4.685 and 0.825 respectively.This indicates that Beihai Wetland has rich bird species diversity.Among the different habitats,timberland has the richest bird species diversity with a G-F value of 0.729,followed by Beihai Lake with a G-F value of 0.697,water meadows with a G-F value of 0.628,cultivated land with a G-F value of 0.360 and village with a G-F value of 0.198.(7)The results of the AFR show that Beihai Wetland generally exhibits a high similarity between adjacent habitat groups and a low similarity between more distant habitat groups.The similarity coefficients are 0.783 and 0.673 for the closely related habitat groups:cultivated land-village,and Beihai Lake-water meadows,respectively.The similarity coefficients for the peripheral habitat groups including water meadows-cultivated land,cultivated land-timberland,village-timberland and water meadows-village are 0.568,0.534,0.523 and 0.435,respectively.The similarity coefficients for the peripheral habitat groups including Beihai Lake-cultivated land,water meadows-timberland,Beihai Lake-village and Beihai Lake-timberland are 0.366,0.335,0.295 and 0.190,respectively.The complex and diverse landscape pattern in Beihai Wetland provides diverse habitats and feeding spaces for a large number of bird species with different ecological types,leading to the high bird species richness therein and serving as a habitat and breeding ground for many rare and endangered wild birds.At the same time,as the key part of the wetland food chain,birds play important roles in the pollination of wetland plants,seed dispersal,control of insect,rodent pest and proliferation of some plant and animal species(such as fish,snails and algae species),maintenance of wetland water quality and the balance of the natural ecosystems in the wetland,and thus promotes the health and stability of ecosystem function in Beihai Wetland.Therefore,birds are an important part of Beihai Wetland ecosystem.Birds and their habitats form a mutually sustaining coupling relationship. |
